Manila Water signs offtake agreement for Wawa project

MANILA, Philippines — The Wawa water project will commence soon  after the government and the private sector signed an offtake agreement.

In a regulatory filing, Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. said it recently inked a raw water supply offtake agreement with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and WawaJVCo. Inc.

WawaJVCo is a joint venture company formed by Prime Metroline Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers Corp.

Manila Water said the offtake agreement would be for a term of 30 years and involves the supply of raw water from the Wawa and Tayabasan rivers.

The first phase will involve the supply of 80 million liters per day (MLD) of raw water by Dec. 31, 2021 while the second phase will involve the supply of an additional 438 MLD of raw water by Dec. 31, 2025.

“This is among the medium-term water supply augmentation measures identified to provide water security and sustainability to the consumers of Manila Water in the east service area,” the company said.

The proponents hope to break ground on the project by next year.  The project involves the development of a water supply facility at the Wawa catchment area traversing the municipality of Rodriguez and city of Antipolo, both in the province of Rizal.

The Wawa joint venture company will construct and establish facilities to capture and divert water for municipal use from the Wawa River to provide either raw or treated water to water distributors and consumers in Metro Manila and surrounding communities.

It was in March when the Ayalas and Enrique Razon Jr. formalized the construction of 80-meter dam in Montalban to ensure sufficient water supply in the east zone area.

MWSS owns  80 MLD which is needed for Manila Water to cope with its water requirement before Kaliwa Dam becomes operational.

The 80 MLD is supposed to be developed by Manila Water, being a concessionaire of the MWSS. The volume is also expected to solve one to two years of possible water supply deficit.

Manila Water is already breaching the supply allocated for them amid increasing demand of about 1640 MLD. It is even utilizing supply from the La Mesa Dam which is supposed to be for reserves.