East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Company continues to meet the standard and demand for 24/7 water supply, which the company commits to maintain through its service improvement plan, as well as contingency and augmentation plans, to benefit its growing customer base.

During the recently held 2022 5th Rate Rebasing Public Consultation Drive (PCDr) for the East Zone, Jalajala Councilor Gina Bonita thanked the company for accomplishing the resolution of the municipality of Jalajala in Rizal to provide 24/7 water supply as well as provide drinking and handwashing facilities to all public schools in the area. “At kami po ay nagpapasalamat dahil ginawa ito during the pandemic… At ito po ngayon ay pinakikinabangan ng ating mga eskwelahan.”

For his part, Manila Water customer, Gino Agapito, said, “Ako po ay isang work-from-home employee.  Since pandemic, paiba-iba ang aking work shift every week. Natutuwa po ako sa service ng Manila Water dahil kahit anong oras ako gising at magbukas ng gripo, ay always available ang tubig.” 

Even during the height of the pandemic, Manila Water made sure to supply its customers with clean and safe water, 24/7. “Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we remain relentless in improving our services and infrastructure to fulfill our commitments to our stakeholders and the environment,” said Manila Water President and CEO Jocot De Dios. 

Manila Water was able to adapt and implement different ways of work amidst the new realities brought about by the pandemic which led to the continued provision of 24/7 water supply to its customers as well as the resumption of previously suspended services and activities, while complying to government health and safety guidelines.

Contingency and Augmentation

With its customer population growing from 3.1 million to 7.4 million currently, and available supply fast outpacing demand for water, ensuring business continuity and uninterrupted service to customers remain the primary objectives of the Company. Manila Water continues to work with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System closely (MWSS) and the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) in developing new water sources even as the agencies have approved the implementation of the much-needed interim additional sources.

These include the maximization of the 100 million-liter-per-day (MLD) capacity of the Cardona Water Treatment Plant, which draws water from Laguna Lake; the operation of deep wells that can provide an additional 115 MLD; and the operation of the 20-MLD Marikina Portable Water Treatment Plant, which can treat water from the Marikina River.

Manila Water also implements operational adjustments when needed, such as backwash recovery or re-treating the wastewater byproduct of the water treatment process while ensuring the efficiency of its network distribution, maximizing its distribution reservoirs and operating line boosters so that uninterrupted water supply continues to reach elevated and far-flung areas of the concession.

Service Improvement Plan

The company has also put forth its service improvement plan to continuously meet its service obligations. The service improvement plan highlights four sustainability pillars necessary to ensure the viability of the environment which sustains the water cycle, and on which the company establishes its operations even for the long-term.

These pillars are Water Security, to ensure adequacy of water resources for current and future customers; Service Accessibility, to expand service coverage to more communities in the East Zone; Service Continuity, to ensure that customers continue to receive high-quality service even in the event of natural calamities; and Environmental Sustainability, to safeguard the sustainability of the environment that supports the East Zone.

To fulfill its plan, Manila Water is set to spend P181 billion in the next five years beginning 2023 to 2027, of which a significant level of the expenditures will be to implement capital expenditure programs amounting to P105 billion for both its water and wastewater projects.

De Dios affirmed that Manila Water continues to support and work with MWSS for the development and implementation of short- to long-term projects to ensure sustainability of future water supply which include the Calawis Antipolo Source System and the East Bay Water Supply Project which will source water from the eastern flank of Laguna Lake.

Other projects being eyed as medium- to long-term water sources aside from harnessing Laguna Lake include the New Wawa Dam Project in Rizal Province, the Kaliwa Dam Project and the Kaliwa River Project which will harness water from Kaliwa River downstream of Quezon Province.
 
Furthermore, the construction of the new 15-kilometers aqueduct and 6.4- kilometer tunnel is already completed in coordination with MWSS which will provide another 1,600 MLD to flow towards La Mesa Dam, optimizing the flow of excess water from Ipo to La Mesa Dam. 

Apart from these, systems losses or non-revenue water (NRW) was significantly reduced, from a dismal 63% of production pre-1997 to the current world-class rate of 12%. This translates to increased operational efficiency and more water saved and subsequently distributed to customers.