Beginning Wednesday, 12 July, commercial units and households served by Maynilad Water Services Inc. will begin to experience service interruptions as consequence of below minimum operating level of water at Angat Dam, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said.
It also warned that diminished contribution to the national grid by hydroelectric units from Bulacan, Laguna, Pangasinan and Isabela have narrowed power reserves enough for the authorities to issue alert level yellow.
Both are consequences of below normal operating water level at Angat Dam seen impacting on 591,000 Maynilad Water-served households who may expect interruptions from 7:00 PM up to 4:00 AM the next day.
Patrick James Dizon, MWSS division manager for Angat-Ipo operations, said the interruptions could begin as early as Wednesday but may also be scheduled to Friday if rainfall replenishes the dam.
Dizon also said Manila Water customers will not be affected by the water interruptions.
Citing historical data, Dizon likewise noted the Angat reservoir is replenished by rainfall even on El Nino years from mid-July to October.
As of Saturday morning, water elevation at Angat Dam stood at 179.99 meters.
In a separate statement, the Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has expanded its water conservation directive to include all residents of the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjacent provinces.
In a bulletin, the WRMO mandates barangay, condominium and subdivision managers to advise residents to conserve water and shun activities that consume large amounts of water such as watering of lawns and washing of vehicles.
The WRMO said residents are encouraged to promote rainwater collection for non-potable use and to re-use laundry and dishwashing wastewater for watering plants.
The WRMO likewise directed local government units in the NCR to fast track the approval of pipe repairs of water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad.
Earlier, the WRMO issued guidelines on the effective implementation of water conservation measures by government offices through their building administrators.
Also, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the El Niño has depleted water levels in dams that result in lower power generation from hydro power plants.
Yellow alerts are issued as power reserves in the grid narrow although interruptions are not yet imminent.
The hydro power plants under close watch include the 280 megawatt (MW) Angat in Bulacan, 720 MW Kalayaan in Laguna, 345 MW Magat in Isabela and the 435 MW San Roque in Pangasinan.
DOE undersecretary Rowena Guevara on Friday ruled out power outages induced by El Nino as power demand this year has proven 500 megawatts lower than previous.
