Maynilad to resume full water service by June 15

MANILA, Philippines — After the government received a surge of complaints on water supply and quality issues from the West Zone, concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. vowed to resume full water production not later than June 15.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) made the statement yesterday, two days after it ordered Maynilad to explain why many customers were complaining about the “prolonged and recurring” water supply and quality issues in the West Zone, specifically in Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Parañaque and portions of Cavite.

The regulator said it was alarmed at the complaints even if Maynilad has an allocation of over 2,400 million liters per day at its Novaliches portal and is working to solve the problems in its Putatan Water treatment plant.

The MWSS-RO reported that it held a meeting with Maynilad on Thursday, where the company explained that it had to stop the supply of water in the southern part of the West Zone because of a large amount of algal blooms in Laguna Lake which reduced water production and delays in the delivery of algae mitigating equipment.

“As the MWSS-RO directed to fast track the resolution of these persisting issues, the concessionaire committed to significantly improve water production by (today) and to resume full production not later than 15 June,” the regulator said, referring to the West Zone.

Maynilad said it is “doing everything it can” to revert to normal operations, including delivering potable water via mobile tankers and setting a daily supply availability schedule..

“This situation is temporary, as the onset of the rainy season is expected to dissipate the effect of the algal bloom on the lake’s raw water quality,” it added.