Maynilad putting up P2-billion sewage plant

MANILA, Philippines — West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has started the construction of its P2.05-billion sewage treatment plant, expected to be its largest facility in terms of capacity.

The Pangilinan-led water company recently broke ground on the Las Piñas water reclamation facility that will further boost its sewerage coverage expansion. This is in line with the group’s effort to reduce pollution loading in the Manila Bay.

The Las Piñas facility is the newest project of Maynilad that is designed to comply with water quality guidelines and general effluent standards of 2016, a standard mandated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Once completed in 2021, it will be Maynilad’s largest sewage treatment plant in terms of capacity, treating about 88 million liters of wastewater per day.

The facility will use anaerobic-anoxic-oxic technology to remove pollutants from wastewater to be collected from about 600,000 Maynilad customers in 20 barangays in Las Piñas before its discharge to the Zapote River, which eventually flows out to the Manila Bay.

Maynilad is pouring in P100 billion over the next five years to accelerate the improvement and expansion of its water and wastewater services.

This year alone, Maynilad is spending P17 billion, higher than the P10 billion it invested in 2018.

A huge portion of Maynilad’s capex will be used to build new sewage treatment plants and lay sewer lines in various parts of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Cavite.

The facilities are expected to expand the water company’s sewerage coverage to 47 percent.

Maynilad currently operates 19 STPs, two sewage and septage treatment plants and one septage treatment plant with a combined treatment capacity of 662,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the country in terms of customer base. It serves the areas of Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, and certain portions of Manila, Quezon City, Makati and Cavite.

It is owned and managed by Maynilad Water Holdings Co. Inc., a joint venture between Metro Pacific Investments Corp., DMCI Holdings and Marubeni Corp.