Maynilad to invest P7.63B for service improvements in South

West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. will invest P7.63 billion for improvements of its services in Parañaque, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas cities and in Cavite. This will include P4.1 billion to be allocated for wastewater management projects such as sewage treatment plants in Pasay and Muntinlupa and conveyance systems in Muntinlupa and Parañaque; P2.4 billion for the extension of primary, secondary and tertiary water pipelines in Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Parañaque and Cavite; P240 million for water availability and pressure projects; and P194 million for water loss reduction projects in Bacoor, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas. Maynilad will also spend P700 million to expand the capacity of its Putatan WaterTreatment Plant in Muntinlupa by 50 million liters per day (MLD). Maynilad has allocated P17.2 billion for its capital expenditures for 2013, more than twice what it spent for water and wastewater projects in 2012 and is the company's biggest capital expenditure since its privatization in 1997. According to the company, its number of customers in the south has risen by 230 percent since 2007 to  263,231 accounts by the end of 2012, which it attributes to the completion of primary pipelaying projects along Aguinaldo Highway, Coastal Road, Daang Hari Highway, Molino Boulevard, P. Burgos Avenue and Tirona Highway. Maynilad is the concessionaire for the National Capital Region's West Zone, which covers parts of Manila, Quezon City and Makati as well as Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon. It also provides water to Cavite City, Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario in the province of Cavite. — BM, GMA News