Maynilad restores normal water supply

MANILA, Philippines — Customers of Maynilad Water Services Inc. can now expect stable water supply following days of service interruption due to Typhoon Ulysses.

In its advisory yesterday, Maynilad said it has restored the normal production of its La Mesa treatment plants in Quezon City as the turbidity in the raw water coming from Ipo Dam has decreased to manageable levels.

“Our major reservoirs have been refilled overnight, enabling us to gradually restore water service in all areas,” Maynilad said.

From 70 percent of its customer base suffering from limited to no water supply, only nine percent have yet to receive normal supply and are relying on the delivery of potable water via tankers, according to Maynilad.

Majority of the affected customers have normal water supply as of yesterday morning.

Only a few areas – mostly those in the elevated portions of Quezon City, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Bacoor, and Imus – still experience a limited supply availability window but Maynilad said this will improve today.

The heavy rains brought by Ulysses caused turbidity in the raw water from Ipo Dam to reach an unprecedented level of over 6,000 nephelometric units. This is way above the previous historical high of 1,800 NTU which was experienced in 2012. The usual turbidity level is only at around 10 to 15 NTU.

Meralco continues restoration efforts

Meanwhile, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said the number of customers without power due to Ulysses was at 187,705, representing 2.78 percent of the firm’s customer base, as of 11 a.m. yesterday.

Customers in Bulacan accounted for the bulk of the affected customers at 108,012.

This was followed by Rizal with 43,996 customers and Metro Manila with 30,069 affected customers.

Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said earlier that the company is targeting normal operations by today.