Maynilad to share supply with Manila Water

MANILA, Philippines – Maynilad Water Services will be conducting cross-border flow or water sharing with Manila Water, as the latter deals with a supply shortage.

While water sharing could be done as early as March, Maynilad water supply operations head Ronaldo Padua said they can surely transfer supply to Manila Water by April. (READ: LIST: Areas affected by Manila Water service interruption)

This came after Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Administrator Reynaldo Velasco had a meeting with Maynilad on Monday, March 11.

“The maximum limit for sharing is really 50 MLD (million liters per day). We will have to study [how much will we need to give] depending on the situation,” Padua told Rappler on Tuesday, March 12.

That would be enough to supply 50,000 households if it were to be used for 24 hours, added Padua. Initially around 8 MLD to 10 MLD can be doled out.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Padua also said that the scheme will be done on a “staggered” basis. The areas where Manila Water and Maynilad facilities meet will be served the quickest.

“This would depend on the boundary. There are a lot of points for interconnection so it would depend on the area where we could finish first. So, the first areas we see are the areas here in Quezon City,” Padua said.

As for the southern area, Maynilad’s facilities in Parañaque City will be supplying to Manila Water’s Taguig City consumers. Padua noted that they will have to do additional work to divert Maynilad’s supply to Mandaluyong City and Pasig City.

Maynilad, the West Zone water concessionaire, was previously the beneficiary of cross-border flow from Manila Water during a period of El Niño. But Padua said they have improved their facilities since then.

“[With] what we experienced in 2010, we saw that it’s because we don’t have enough reserve water capacity, so we need it,” he said.

“It’s also hard to get a big land area like La Mesa Dam in Metro Manila so we resorted to small reservoirs.”

Maynilad invested in water reserves and pump stations, which Padua said helped them prepare in times of depleted water supply from the Angat Dam and the La Mesa Dam.

“We still rely on Angat Dam, but we still need small reservoirs in different locations in our pipe network. [It’s] partly correct [that] we don’t rely that much on Angat because we use Laguna Lake as an additional water source,” he added. – Rappler.com