Maynilad spending P41 billion for wastewater services

MANILA, Philippines — West zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has earmarked P41 billion to improve and expand its wastewater services.

Maynilad said part of the amount was used to construct 19 new wastewater treatment facilities and upgrade three existing ones since the company’s re-privatization in 2007.

The budget will also be used to purchase 89 new vacuum trucks for septic tank cleaning, install 180 kilometers of new sewer lines, and maintain the sewerage system, among others.

A portion of the money would also go to the construction of four additional sewage treatment plants (STP) in Valenzuela, Las Piñas, and Tunasan and Cupang in Muntinlupa.

Maynilad was able to expand sewerage services to some two million people by the end of 2019, up from only around 600,000 in 1997 when MWSS operations were first privatized.

“Maynilad only got out of corporate rehabilitation in 2008, so we had just 11 years to work on expanding wastewater services. Despite this, we managed to build new wastewater facilities that now prevent untreated effluents from polluting our waterways,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said.

Among Maynilad’s recently completed STPs are those in Pasay and Parañaque, bringing the total combined sewage treatment capacity of its 22 wastewater facilities to 664,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

Maynilad is set to spend P200 billion more to expand its wastewater infrastructure until 100 percent sewerage coverage in the west zone is attained by 2037.

It 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.