Manila Water shuts down bottled water business

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. is permanently closing its purified water retail business after five years of operations due to recurring losses and economic challenges brought about by the pandemic.

In a regulatory filing, Manila Water said the Healthy Family Business Division of its wholly owned subsidiary Manila Water Total Solutions Corp. would cease operations effective Oct. 31 due to its inability to financially sustain business operations.

“While the Healthy Family Business Division in recent years made strong efforts to improve operations and profitability, the ever-increasing competition in the bottled water industry and the recent economic challenges have proved too difficult to cope and keep the business afloat,” Manila Water said.

The Healthy Family brand was launched in 2015 and has since been known for providing quality and affordable purified drinking water to its customers.

Five years ago, Manila Water ventured into the business of distributing bottled water, adding a new revenue stream for a company that has been mainly supplying water and wastewater services.

Healthy Family is a five-gallon bottled water which utilizes a fully-automated closed-loop production system eliminating human intervention to prevent contamination.

Meanwhile, MWTS, shall continue to exist and operate based on its primary purpose to engage in water and wastewater and environmental services.

MWTS is a wholly owned corporation of Manila Water engaged, among others, in the provision of consultancy and related services for the implementation of water and used water network-related projects.

The two-pronged strategy of MWTS is to develop and scale after-the-meter services with special focus on real estate developers and to develop and launch new business models in the East Zone market and beyond.