Manila Water completes pilot project in Myanmar

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. has completed its pilot project in Myanmar.

Manila Water and partners Mitsubishi Corp. and Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) have reduced non-revenue water in Yangon City from 54 percent to 14 percent after the completion of the project.

Non-revenue water refers to water produced and lost which can be due to leaking pipes, illegal connections, or inaccurate metering.

The pilot project included the formation of district metering areas, technical and non-technical surveys, system loss reduction and management, among others.

Water recovered was brought back in the system, increasing water pressure by two per square inch (PSI) and improving access to water supply of the estimated 4,000 residents of the project areas.

Registered billed volume has also doubled with the replacement of water meters, increasing revenues for the YCDC which is the administrative body responsible for water management, infrastructure, pollution-control, and many others in Yangon.

“YCDC is interested in co-developing a plan under PPP (private-public partnership) to address further reduction of non-revenue water on a larger scale and deliver piped potable water supply at reasonable cost to the public,” Manila Water Asia Pacific president and chief executive officer Virgilio Rivera Jr. said.

The pilot project is part of the memorandum of understanding signed by the three parties in 2014 to address the needs of the city’s water system.

Locally, the company has reduced eastern Metro Manila’s system loss to 11 percent from 63 percent during the start of its concession period.

Manila Water caters to the East Zone which encompasses parts of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, most parts of Quezon City, portions of Manila, as well as several towns in Rizal.