Maynilad pours P10B into water supply upgrades
WATER and wastewater services provider Maynilad serves 17 cities and municipalities comprising the West Zone of the Greater Metro Manila area. It is the private concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System for the West Zone service area.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of Maynilad
Maynilad Water Services Inc. has set aside nearly P10 billion in rehabilitation and upgrades at its La Mesa facilities to strengthen water supply reliability amid changing raw water conditions and the threat of El Niño.
The Pangilinan-led firm said Tuesday that the investments, covering completed and ongoing projects over several years, are expected to improve water treatment capabilities, expand recovery capacity, and provide additional storage to help the West Zone concessionaire manage supply constraints during dry periods.
A major component is the upgrade of La Mesa Water Treatment Plant 1 (LMTP1), which can now handle raw water turbidity of up to 2,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), significantly higher than its original design capability of around 300 NTU.
Similar improvements are underway at LMTP2 to raise its treatment capability to the same level.
The upgrades will allow Maynilad to manage more challenging raw water conditions, particularly as the Angat-Ipo system has experienced turbidity levels reaching around 1,800 NTU in the past.
“We continue to invest in La Mesa because water supply resilience depends not only on how much raw water is available, but also on how efficiently we can treat, recover, and manage the water already within our system,” Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Christopher Jaime T. Lichauco said.
“These improvements give us additional operating flexibility as raw water conditions change and support our continuing preparations for potentially drier conditions associated with El Niño,” he added.
According to Maynilad, it is also expanding its water recovery and augmentation systems, which are designed to provide a combined capacity of 125 million to 170 million liters per day (MLD) once fully operational.
Two recovery systems are already operating, while the third is scheduled for completion in December.
The company has also converted former sludge lagoons into raw water reservoirs, with Lagoons 3 and 4 currently providing 133 million liters of storage, or about two-thirds of the planned 200-million-liter capacity.
The additional storage will give Maynilad greater flexibility during periods of reduced inflows from the Angat-Ipo system or adjustments in raw water allocation.
Maynilad’s two La Mesa treatment plants have a combined design capacity of 2,400 MLD, with LMTP1 accounting for 1,500 MLD and LMTP2 contributing 900 MLD.
Other improvements include upgrades to sedimentation, filtration, sludge management, monitoring and control systems, alongside the replacement of aging equipment.
The investments form part of Maynilad’s broader strategy to strengthen water supply security through alternative sources, reduced water losses, additional storage, and distribution network improvements.