MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. (MWSI) said it may put up a third water-treatment plant in Putatan, Muntinlupa, if it sees further delays in government’s construction of the Kaliwa Dam.
MWSI COO Randolph Estrellado said the facility will also have a capacity of 100 million liters per day, the same as the firm’s second treatment plant already being constructed.
MWSI, the concessionaire for the west zone of Metro Manila, estimates the facility that will source water from murky Laguna Lake to cost P4 billion.
Estrellado said the company has already informed the Metropolitan Water Sewerage System (MWSS) of MWSI’s intention as part of Maynilad’s still-to-be-approved business plan. He added the company will start construction of the new plant by 2021.
“In the business plan submitted in March, we told regulators [MWSS] that if we do not see Kaliwa Dam significantly moving by 2021, we will already initiate moves to build a third Putatan treatment plan,” Estrellado said.
MWSI already operates Putatan treatment Plant 1 while its second treatment plant under construction is eyed for completion by May next year. It costs about P5.74 billion with the same capacity.
There were a series of water interruptions in the southern part of Metro Manila during the summer, mainly in parts of Muntinlupa and Las Piñas. According to Estrellado, the interruptions were caused by the difficulty of MWSI’s treatment plant in treating water from Laguna Lake due to high sediments caused by El Niño. Laguna Lake is not a perfect source of water since it too polluted to treat, he explained.
There is no other main water source being pumped to the southern portions of Metro Manila as it is too expensive to pump water if it will come all the way from Angat Dam, where most of the water supply of the country’s major metropolis comes from. As a result, people in the area rely mostly on deep-well water for their daily use, according to Estrellado. He added deep-well water damages aquifers.
Metro Manila currently sources 93 percent of its water needs from Angat Dam, which also sits on a fault line and the source is already insufficient to meet the demand with population growth.
Estrallado added the third treatment plant is important for the smooth delivery of water services in Southern Manila should Kaliwa Dam, to be located in Quezon province, gets further delayed.
The government is still tweaking the terms of the construction of the proposed P18.75 billion Kaliwa Dam, situated in the towns of General Nakar and Infanta, Quezon, which aims to provide 600 million liters of water per day.
The project will be funded through official development assistance from China.
“I understand they’re reviewing the TOR [terms of reference] because I think there was only one qualified bidder for the first time. So they are now reviewing the TOR so that there will not be a failed bid,” Estrellado said. “Our estimate is that by 2020, if Kaliwa Dam is not built then we need a new source outside of what we have today, which is why we told regulators that if we don’t see any significant time by 2021, because it will take three years to build a new treatment facility, from acquiring the land and process.”