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Manila Water chief says sorry, holds self accountable for water shortage


Manila Water president Ferdinand dela Cruz on Monday took the blame for the shortage of water supply in the areas the company is serving in Metro Manila.

During the early morning hearing of the House Committees on Metro Manila Development and Housing and Urban Development, Dela Cruz appealed for understanding from the constituents of the lawmakers as regards the water crisis.

"Ipinararating ko bilang pangulo ng Manila Water ang paghingi ng kapatawaran sa inyong mga constituents who are also our customers in our concession area," he said.

"I am holding myself accountable for the sudden drop in our service levels to your constituents whom we have consistently served over the past 21 years with 24/7 water availability and sufficient water pressure," he added.

The joint House panels held a meeting to discuss the water shortage issue in some areas in Metro Manila to hear from concerned officials themselves the circumstances that led to the water crisis.

Dela Cruz narrated that on March 6, the La Mesa Reserve breached its critical level of 69 meters, preventing Manila Water from getting 100 to 150 million liters per day from the reservoir.

"Without this extra 150 million liters per day of untreated water from the La Mesa Reserve, we cannot fully serve the demand, for 24 hours at sufficient pressure, of our customer base which has grown over the years," he said.

Dela Cruz said Manila Water had plans programmed to reduce its dependence from the La Mesa Water Reserve such as taking water from the Laguna Lake through the Cadona Water Treatment Plant Project, reactivating decommissioned deep wells and developing new deep well sources but they "were met with technical issues and implementation delays."

"Faced with a reality of a Supply Deficit of about 150 million liters day, the main idea was to spread this now more limited supply to the same customer base by reducing the pressure in the system. This was implemented as the level of La Mesa came close to the critical level of 69 meters," Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz said that while they are currently on a supply deficit situation, they are aiming to further increase water availability for more predictable hours at ground floor level to 99 percent of their service coverage by end of March.

They are also aiming to provide more sustainable relief to areas with no water aside from tankering by developing localized network solutions to supply water to high or hard to reach areas, he added.

"Nais po naming maiwasan ang pila-balde hanggat maaari," Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz said they will do their best to supply water to their customers despite the current supply situation.

"We do not want to give false expectations which will only further disappoint you. We will constantly update the public on our progress on our 99 percent water availability at low pressure target by end March and how we are doing on the hard to reach areas," he said.

"Given the realities of the available supply and the implementation requirements of the supply augmentation from other sources outside Manila Water, we only foresee normalcy towards the end of May," he added. —KG, GMA News

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