MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) has earmarked P1.7 billion this year to boost the company’s sewerage coverage within its concession area and lessen soil and water pollution brought about the direct discharge of untreated wastewater from Metro Manila households.
Maynilad is one of two agents and contractors of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). The other is Manila Water Co.
Both companies have until 2037 to complete 100-percent sewerage coverage for the Metro Manila, which is currently home to over 12 million people.
Only about 15 percent of households in Metro Manila are connected to sewer lines that lead to wastewater treatment facilities, aggravating the already sorry state of rivers that lead out to larger water bodies, such as Laguna de Bay or Manila Bay.
In a statement, Maynilad said about P1.4 billion will be used to lay some 35 kilometers of conveyance systems in Las Piñas and Muntinlupa. These systems will catch wastewater generated by households and convey these for treatment to the three Sewage Treatment Plants in the area. The STPs has a combined treatment capacity of 148 million liters of wastewater per day, serving about 1 million residents when fully completed.
Meanwhile, P260 million has been set aside for sewer-network repairs and installation of new sewer-service connections in the west concession area.
The remaining P70 million will go to the maintenance and operations of wastewater facilities to ensure the reliability of Maynilad’s sewer network.
“It is a challenge for us to facilitate the completion of wastewater projects, given the impact to the traffic of laying new conveyance systems,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said. “Nonetheless, these projects are important so we can catch harmful effluents before discharge to the environment. We need the support of the local government and the communities to accelerate sewerage-coverage expansion.”
Aside from the 2018 wastewater projects, Maynilad is set to complete the construction of a new STP in Parañaque this 2018. Also, the company just recently started commissioning its newest STP in Pasay City.
Maynilad’s wastewater-infrastructure network currently includes three septage treatment plants, 19 STPs, 40 pumping stations, 22 lift stations and more than 500 kilometers of sewer lines.
Maynilad is the MWSS agent for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area and considers itself the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. Manila Water’s concession area is the East Zone.
The West Zone is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), 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.
The East Zone includes Mandaluyong, Marikina, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Makati and parts of Quezon City and Manila. Manila Water’s concession area also includes Antipolo City, Angono, Baras, Binagonan, Cainta, Cardona, Jala-jala, Morong, Pilillia, Rodriguez, Tanay, Taytay and San Mateo in Rizal Province.