At least Maynilad Water Services Inc. has been candid about its shortcomings. The west zone concessionaire acknowledged insufficient potable water from its existing sources, citing various factors behind the ongoing service interruptions in Muntinlupa City.
Earlier, Scuttlebutt reported that Mayor Ruffy Biazon was dissatisfied with the explanations provided by Maynilad representatives regarding the recent daily water disruptions.
Residents in several barangays experienced intermittent water supply over the past few days, prompting public frustration and complaints.
In a town hall meeting called by Biazon, Maynilad officials admitted the company is having difficulty providing a continuous water supply to households in the city, mainly because of problems at its treatment plant that draws water from Laguna Lake.
“We need to distribute or allocate hours. We have to distribute the water because of the number of customers that we have to serve,” Greg Antonio, head of Maynilad’s Water Production South, told participants in the meeting.
Antonio admitted that Maynilad is currently rationing water to many areas in Muntinlupa. “There are eight hours in the morning, eight hours in the afternoon, and eight hours at night,” he said. “That’s the rationing.”
In instances when there is really no water, Maynilad resorts to delivering water through tankers.
Alfred John Gallego, head of Maynilad’s Muntinlupa–Las Piñas Business Area, said the company’s treatment plant handling water from Laguna Lake was unable to cope with strong winds that generate powerful waves on the lake’s surface.
“We can see that wind conditions have not been favorable to us, though we know it’s seasonal,” Gallego said at the same meeting.
“We need to protect our plant to prevent a surge of water that is not according to design,” he said.
He said Maynilad reduces the volume of water processed by the treatment plant to avoid compromising water quality.
Gallego admitted that the concessionaire also draws on other water sources, such as La Mesa Dam. He did not, however, discuss whether the company is also looking at other water sources. He said, though, that Maynilad “crosses into the north area” for water supply.
He also said the existing Maynilad pipelines are no longer sufficient to carry additional water volume. He added that their main source of water, Angat, is always prone to the effects of El Niño or prolonged dry spells.
“Although it’s a protected water source, it’s still affected (by El Niño),” Gallego said of Angat.
That, he said, is the reason Maynilad was prompted to also tap water from Laguna Lake. He said the company has a study showing water sourced from the lake would last for four years if there are no rains or runoff water from tributaries and other rivers.
He said Laguna Lake’s connection to Manila Bay via the Pasig River makes it an ideal water source. “But the reality is we have to treat it,” Gallego said, adding it is done through “reverse osmosis.”