Maynilad to pour in P200 billion for wastewater

MANILA, Philippines — West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is spending P200 billion to complete its wastewater program as part of the concession’s agreement for a full sewer and sanitation coverage by 2037.

The Pangilinan-led water firm said the investment would go to the construction of 26 new sewage treatment plants with a combined treatment capacity of 1,600 million liters per day.

It will also cover the installation of some 425 kilometers of new sewer lines that will catch the wastewater generated by around 10 million Maynilad customers, and the operation and maintenance of all wastewater facilities, among others.

“Maynilad only started investing heavily in the wastewater infrastructure after it got out of corporate rehabilitation in 2008 and expanded water service to more areas,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said.

“Despite this, we managed to increase sewerage coverage in the west zone to 20 percent of our 9.5 million water-served population,” he said.

The planned investment is on top of the P39 billion expenditures and committed costs that Maynilad put into wastewater projects and services since 1997 when operations were privatized.

These investments enabled the company to reach an additional 1.3 million customers, bringing total customers served to almost two million last year.

Meanwhile, customers in unsewered areas are covered by Maynilad’s septic tank cleaning services.

“As we work on expanding our wastewater services, we also closely collaborate with our government partners so that other pollution sources that harm Manila Bay will be addressed,” Fernandez said.

Maynilad now operates 22 wastewater treatment facilities with a combined treatment capacity of about 663,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

The water firm is currently constructing STPs in Valenzuela City and in Tunasan and Cupang in Muntinlupa.

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 Inc. and Marubeni Corp.