Maynilad improves non-revenue water recovery

MANILA, Philippines — West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has recovered some 979 million liters per day (MLD) of water under its non-revenue water management program.

Maynilad said the recovered volume is enough to fill up roughly 390 Olympic-size pools every day and supply about 1.7 million households with potable water.

“Our almost P25 billion capital investment in NRW management over the past 12 years enabled us to recover a water volume that is equivalent to constructing a new dam,” Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado said.

“This additional supply has gone a long way in supporting our drive to expand services to previously unserved areas,” he added.

Besides NRW management, another initiative that provided additional supply for distribution was the tapping of Laguna Lake as an alternative raw water source apart from Angat Dam.

Maynilad began drawing water from the lake as early as 2010 after constructing its Putatan water treatment plant in Muntinlupa. The company currently has two treatment facilities in the area with a combined output of 300 MLD.

As population continues to grow, Maynilad continues to tighten its water network through pipe replacement and leak repair activities, to enhance efficiencies and make more water available for its growing customer base, which currently stands at around 9.6 million people – up from only 6.1 million in 2006 before Maynilad’s re-privatization.

“These infrastructure enhancements, as well as the two additional treatments plants we built in Putatan, helped to boost available supply and stave off water shortages,” Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said.

“However, Metro Manila’s continued over-reliance on Angat Dam as our single major raw water source is a supply risk that the government is now seeking to address,” he added.

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.

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