Maynilad reduces reliance on Angat Dam amid El Niño

Maynilad is reducing its reliance on the Angat Dam to ensure continued water services amid the El Niño phenomenon, the West Zone water concessionaire said Tuesday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB report from Allan Gatus, Maynilad said its facilities were very prepared for drought due to the El Niño.

Some of their preparatory measures included water recovery operations to get water from floods and mud.

Ronaldo Padua, Maynilad Water vice president and head of water supply operations, said the firm has long prepared to increase their capacity even before the drought season came.

The total treatment capacity reached around 2,893 million liters per day. The firm said it only has an 83% dependency on the Angat Dam, since it has other sources, including Laguna Lake, and three treatment plants.

In 2019, Angat Dam's water level reached 157.96 liters, prompting authorities to implement rotational water outages.

Now, the reservoir's water level is lower at 150.42 liters, but Maynilad guaranteed that water supply is still sufficient.

However, Maynilad still asked customers to conserve water, as they cannot guarantee that there will be no water interruptions.

In a press release, Maynilad said it has undertaken P10 billion worth of rehabilitation works in its La Mesa facilities. These improvements include enhanced water recovery, treatment improvements, and other facility upgrades.

"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," said Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Christopher Jaime Lichauco in a statement.

"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. — VDV, GMA News