Maynilad Water Services Inc., the water utility unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., will spend around P28 billion until 2029 to replace over 1,000 kilometers of water pipes in its concession area in Metro Manila and Cavite province to drive down non-revenue water to 20 percent.
“We must admit that at 43 percent, non-revenue water is really high,” Ramon Fernandez, Maynilad president and chief executive officer of Maynilad, told a business forum. “But we will spend P4 billion every year for seven years (starting 2023) to replace 1,000 kilometers of water pipes,” he said.
Since the Metro Pacific group acquired Maynilad from the government in 2007, Maynilad has replaced around 2,000 kilometers of the 3,000-kilometer pipeline in the concession area, bringing down NRW to 43 percent from 68 percent.
The cost of bringing down the percentage of lost water was P33 billion, according to Maynilad.
Maynilad has 1.5 million connections, equivalent to over 9 million consumers, in Manila, except the districts of San Andres and Sta. Ana, Makati, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Velenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, and cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario.
Randolph Estrellado, chief operating officer of Maynilad, said once the 1,000 kilometers of water pipes at replaced, it will provide extra water supply equivalent to that produced by Maynilad’s three treatment plants drawing water from Laguna Lake for the needs of some 300,000 consumers in Cavite province, Paranaque and Las Pinas.
Maynilad has two operating water treatment plants in Muntinlupa, with a third to start operations in the fourth quarter. Each plant has a capacity of producing 300,000 cubic meters of water every day.
Fernandez said the third plant will start producing 50,000 cubic meters of water per day in the fourth quarter, with the balance of 100,000 cubic meters to come on stream early in 2024. “But we plan to use this additional supply as buffer and not for new customers,” he said
On the plan to curtail water supply in it concession area, Fernandez said it will likely be fully implemented at the end of the month unless the National Water Resources Board increases Maynilad’s water allocation which was cut last month to 48 cubic meters per second from 52 cubic meters as water level dropped in Angat Dam, which accounts for 90 percent of water supply in Metro Manila.
Fernandez said even with the recent 20 meter rise in the water level at Angat Dam, the water board refused to raise the water allocation in anticipation of the El Nino episode expected to begin in the last quarter of this year.
