MWSS to build P3 billion water tunnel in Bulacan

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) plans to build a new tunnel from Ipo Dam to Bigte, in Norzagaray, Bulacan worth over P3 billion to improve Metro Manila’s water security.

In a filing with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), the MWSS is pursuing the construction of tunnel 5 under the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project (AWTIP).

The MWSS said a new tunnel is urgently needed to continuously mitigate the risk of a partial or total disruption of water supply to Metro Manila.

The proposed project will improve the reliability and operation flexibility and water security in the Umiray-Angat-Ipo raw water conveyance system.

It will also provide operational flexibility to the raw water transmission system during the maintenance or repair of the existing tunnels, particularly tunnel 1 that was constructed in 1939.

“The new tunnel will increase system capacity and will enable the system’s full design capacity to be augmented and allowing the upstream tunnels downstream aqueducts to be sequentially closed, inspected, and rehabilitated or decommissioned,” it said.

Located in Barangays Bigte, San Mateo and San Lorenzo in Norzagaray, Bulacan, the proposed tunnel   will run for 6.4 kilometers and will have a diameter of 4.3 meters. It will be parallel to tunnel 4, which was commissioned in July 2020.

Once completed, it will deliver an additional 19 cubic meters per second volume of water from Ipo Dam Reservoir to Bigte Transition Basin.

Capital expenditure for the project is expected to reach P3.17 billion, covering all necessary planning and approvals, development of the site and construction of related infrastructures.

“This investment will generate considerable long-term economic benefits on a local, regional and even on a national scale,” the MWSS said.

MWSS, a government-owned and -controlled corporation, owns and operates the bulk water system serving the whole of Metro Manila and parts of Cavite and Rizal.

The Umiray–Angat–Ipo dam system supplies about 90 percent of water to nearly 13 million residents in Metro Manila.

This is where concessionaires Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. source, treat and distribute water to customers.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines, serving over 1.4 million customers. It maintains and operates 6,831 kilometers of primary, secondary and tertiary pipelines.

It serves the west zone or the areas of Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, and certain portions of Manila, Quezon City, Makati and Cavite.

In contrast, Manila Water serves the east zone, which encompasses parts of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, most parts of Quezon City, portions of Manila as well as several towns in Rizal.