Consumers will be paying more for their water services starting next year after the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System or MWSS approved the rate hike requests of the water concessionaires.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, MWSS Regulatory Office chief regulator Patrick Lester Ty deemed that the approval, which primarily considered inflation, was necessary to help the companies support their network upgrades and expansions and avoid a water crisis.

"We adjusted rates by inflation. All these figures are studied by the MWSS which needs to make sure these follow the international threshold of monthly salary of regular households. We feel that this is a necessary burden to ensure that proper service is given to consumers," Ty told reporters.

Public's understanding

"I am asking the public for their understanding. We do this so we can guarantee that there will be no water crisis. We do everything to ensure there will be no water crisis moving forward," he added.

The approved hike comes in tranches, the first one of which was implemented earlier this year.

As part of the second tranche of the rate rebasing, both concessionaires can increase their rates from 2023 to 2027 as long as they meet the requirements set by the MWSS RO.

West zone concessionaire Maynilad was allowed by the MWSS to increase its rates by P7.87 per cubic meters or cu.m to P47.57/cu.m. in 2024 from P39.70/cu.m. in 2023.

The computation took into account P1.40/cu.m. for inflation, and P6.47/cu.m. for capital spending.

Once implemented, the price adjustments will translate into an additional P4.74 per month for low-income lifeline customers, P26.61 for regular lifeline customers, P100.67 for those consuming 20 cu.m. per month, and P205.87 for those consuming 30 cu.m. per month

As of October, Maynilad has so far spent P16.653 billion — P3.191 billion for non-revenue water or NRW management, P38.32 million for expansion services, P4.121 billion for operations support programs, P4.397 billion for water sources programs, P4.255 for sewerage programs, P20.04 million for sanitation programs, and P630.09 million for customer service and information capex.