Manila Water taps additional deep wells

MANILA, Philippines — East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Co. Inc. has operated additional deep wells to further augment supply in its service areas.

The Ayala-led water firm is currently operating additional 34 deep wells in its concession area where more than 43.42 million liters of water per day have been drawn.

The move is seen to bring more water supply upon full operation of more deep wells in the coming months.

Before the reactivation of the new deep wells, Manila Water is able to source more than nine MLD from five deep wells in Curayao in Rodriguez, Rizal.

On top of this, deep wells from Rizal now collectively yield an additional 25 MLD.

There are now 19 additional deep wells in operation in Rizal, nine of which are in Antipolo City, while in Metro Manila and Taguig, two additional deep wells have been rehabilitated.

There are more deep wells under rehabilitation and are expected to add up to nine MLD to the available supply.

New deep wells are also being constructed in various locations within Manila Water’s service areas with yield from these new wells projected to reach up to 40 MLD.

Manila Water spokesperson Jeric Sevilla said these deep wells are necessary to help meet the demand of customers while the new water sources are being completed.

“The operation of these deep wells is vital to recovering our service towards 24/7 supply at seven psi or pressure up to the ground level as one of the means of augmenting the water supply deficit,” he added.

Latest data showed that supply gap is still at 31 MLD despite water availability reaching 99.72 percent of east zone customers receiving eight hours or more of water service with regulatory standard of seven psi (pound per square inch) of pressure, reaching up to the ground floor.

Customers of the east zone, from low-income families to commercial and industrial establishments, suffered major inconveniences because of the unprecedented water shortage that began March 6 with the implementation of the scheduled water service interruption scheme.