MANILA - Around 900 barangays in Metro Manila will face water disruption starting September 16 to help manage the water level in Angat Dam during El Niño.
Maynilad Water Services said it will implement rotating service interruptions in the affected areas daily from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. [affected areas: https://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/09/02/15/list-areas-affected-rotating-water-interruption]
Maynilad said it is plotting a specific supply interruption schedule per area to ensure that affected customers will have some water supply daily, even within a limited supply window.
During the first week, however, these schedules will not yet be adopted as Maynilad strives to limit the service interruption during off-peak hours.
"At this initial phase of system adjustments, we shall implement the supply interruptions daily from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. only. This off-peak schedule will be gradually extended until, at full implementation, we will adopt the different supply interruption schedules for each area," said Maynilad Water Supply Operations Engr. Ronaldo Padua.
Padua noted that despite recent rains, supply at Ipo Dam is not enough to sustain the company's water production for the long term.
"The Ipo Dam is only a diversion control dam and has a small capacity--5.9 MCM (million cubic meters) versus Angat Dam's 850 MCM. So it is barely enough to meet Metro Manila's water requirement for two days," he said.
The water concessionaire will be acquiring more water tankers and refurbishing its stationary water tanks to serve those areas that are expected to have less than 12 hours of water supply.
Maynilad is an agent and contractor of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain areas), Quezon City (certain areas), Makati (certain areas), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon-all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.