Maynilad: Creating a green impact
West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) implements a number of programs and projects to protect and nurture the environment to fulfill its mission of providing safe, affordable, and sustainable water solutions to its customers,
Shortly after its re-privatization in 2007, Maynilad implemented a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Air Pollutant emissions inventory program, which aims to establish baseline data for the company’s carbon emissions using an Inventory Management Plan that covers the entire organization. The inventory defines Maynilad’s management plan to improve energy utilization, reduce its power consumption and, ultimately, cut its GHG emission.
Through this program, Maynilad became the first Philippine company to receive the ISO 14064:2006 certification for the verification of its GHG or carbon footprint quantification and reporting initiative from TUV Rheinland. The standards define international best practice in the management, reporting and verification of GHG data. These greenhouse gases are the precursors of global climate change.
More recently, Maynilad made its initial foray into renewable energy by building two one-megawatt PV (photovoltaic) solar farms at the La Mesa Compound in Quezon City. This is in line with the company’s environmental sustainability and operational efficiency initiatives.
The two solar power farms augment the power requirements of La Mesa Treatment Plant 1 and several pumping stations within the La Mesa Compound—facilities that operate 24/7 to treat and distribute water for Maynilad customers. Each solar farm is expected to reduce the electricity consumption of Maynilad’s La Mesa facilities by around 90,000 (kWh) kilowatt per hour, as well as minimize carbon emissions by 21 tons per month.
Further supporting this initiative is Maynilad’s “Plant for Life” – the company’s flagship environmental conservation program, which aims to recover denuded watersheds and thus protect the water supply of millions of consumers. It rallies volunteers from the public and private sector to help recover forestlands through the annual planting of trees.
Originally conceptualized to reforest the watersheds in Angat, Ipo, and La Mesa, this tree-planting initiative later became a multi-site reforestation program that included areas along the Manila Bay coast and Laguna Lake. Since the program’s inception in 2007, Maynilad has already planted more than one million indigenous trees and mangroves covering a land area of 755 hectares.
Maynilad also became the first company in the country to include indigenous peoples in this reforestation program when it tapped the Dumagats’ support in caring for saplings planted at the Ipo watershed.
The company also embarked on a partnership with the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) for the reforestation and afforestation of the Laguna Lake watershed. The program seeks to restore and introduce land cover, which will alleviate environmental issues at the Laguna Lake watershed and promote environmental values among surrounding communities.
Maynilad allots ₱19 billion for new sewer lines
Recently, it announced it is investing ₱19 billion over the next five years for the expansion of its sewerage services with the installation of 121 kilometers of new sewer lines.
In a statement, the firm said the new sewer pipelines — to be laid in portions of Manila, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela,
Bacoor, Las Piñas, Caloocan, and Quezon City — will catch used water generated by around 2.1 million customers.
This wastewater will be conveyed to Maynilad’s Sewage Treatment Plants for proper treatment before being discharged to the ecosystem.
“The installation of new sewer lines is part of our effort to protect community health and the environment through proper sewage collection and treatment,” said Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Randolph T. Estrellado.
He added that, “We hope for the continued support of the local government units so that we can fast -track the implementation of these pipelaying projects in their area.”
To minimize public inconvenience resulting from these pipe-laying activities, Maynilad said it closely coordinates with the barangays and communities.
Affected roads are also immediately restored with temporary asphalt pavement to make the roads passable to motorists.
Moreover, Maynilad regularly monitors its contractors to ensure that their work sites are fully enclosed by board-up barricades and have appropriate lighting and traffic/warning signs.
Maynilad is currently operating and maintaining 625 kilometers of sewer lines, and 22 wastewater treatment facilities that have a combined capacity to treat around 664 million liters of wastewater per day.
Maynilad stated that it also is targeting to boost its water supply by an additional 50 million liters per day (MLD) by December 2023 as initial output of the treatment plant it is building in Poblacion, Muntinlupa.
In a statement, the firm said construction of the new Poblacion Water Treatment Plant (WTP) — which will be Maynilad’s third facility to tap Laguna Lake as an alternative raw water source to the Angat Dam — is now 53 percent complete.
Once fully operational by the first half of 2024, this facility will have the capacity to produce 150 MLD of potable water for the southern portion of Maynilad’s concession area, particularly Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, and Cavite.
At present, Maynilad has two treatment plants in Putatan, Muntinlupa, that provide 300-MLD of water supply for around 1.7 million customers in the south.
“Our production of 300 MLD is stretched to meet the current requirements of our customers in the south,” said Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Randolph T. Estrellado.
He noted, “Hence, whenever extreme conditions necessitate reduced production, there is no extra supply so some of our customers experience service disruption. The additional output that we will get from the Poblacion WTP will help to address that.”
The Poblacion WTP is part of Maynilad’s ₱220 billion service enhancement program from 2023 to 2027 that is focused on promoting enhanced water sustainability and climate resiliency.