Damaged Maynilad valve triggers flood in Sta. Mesa

MANILA, Philippines – About 3,000 cubic meters of water were wasted and caused flooding along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard in Sta. Mesa, Manila after an isolation valve of Maynilad Water Services broke down on Wednesday night.

The water spill caused flood from Santol to Pureza streets from 11 p.m. the other night to around 10 a.m. yesterday. It snarled traffic on the westbound lane of the boulevard, and on Legarda and Mendiola streets.

Vendors at the Sta. Mesa market said the flow of water was so strong.

Water service in Sta. Mesa and in 11 barangays in Sampaloc district was cut. Normal supply was expected to resume last night.

Maynilad officials said the water spill was caused by the breakdown of a primary pipe’s isolation valve located on Piña and Altura streets.

Rene Dimaano, chief of the Maynilad non-revenue water department, said their workers were supposed to extract water from pipelines serving the Sampaloc area.

The extraction was meant to pave the way for the repair of an old, 1,050-millimeter pipe from 9 p.m. on Wednesday to 9 a.m. yesterday.

Maynilad engineer Ryan Jamora said a control valve located on V. G. Cruz street had to be closed to control the overflow.

Jamora said the closure of the V. G. Cruz valve would affect water supply to over 200,000 Maynilad consumers in the southern part of Manila and Metro Manila.

He said about 109,000 residents of Sta. Mesa and Sampaloc would be affected by the service interruption.

Low-pressure or no water will be experienced in some Maynilad service areas in Manila, Cavite, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Parañaque and Pasay.

Maynilad assured affected residents that normal water supply would resume as soon as the repair is completed.

It deployed several water tankers to provide water to affected households.