Maynilad eyes P4-B water treatment plant

SYDNEY, Australia— Maynilad Water Services Inc. is looking to address a potential water shortage in Metro Manila should there be no substantial progress in the development of the Kaliwa dam project four years from now, a ranking official said.

Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado said the company is mulling the possibility of building a new water treatment plant to enhance water supply reliability in the southern part of Metro Manila.

Estimated to cost P4 billion, the new facility is seen to provide an additional 100 million liters per day (MLD) of potable water.

“We’re working with the government to ensure that the Kaliwa dam gets completed. Based on our latest estimates, if the Kaliwa dam is not completed by 2024, then we will have a lack of supply,” Estrellado said.

“In a business plan we submitted last March, we told the regulators if we don’t see the Kaliwa dam significantly moving by 2021, we will already initiate moves to build a third Putatan treatment plant cause supply is not sufficient anymore,” he added.

The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam project will be undertaken through China’s funding assistance. Various Chinese contractors are now vying for the project.

“We need to build a second dam. The Angat dam lies in a fault line,” Estrellado said.

“And also because of population growth, if we project demand versus the supply that is available from Angat, even with the additional supply you build in Putatan plus the projected reduction in non revenue water, the water that will be available is still insufficient to meet the growing demand in the south.

And our estimate is by 2025 if the Kaliwa dam is not built, then we need a new source outside of what we have today which is why we told the regulators if we don’t see any significant movement in Kaliwa dam by 2021, we want to build the third Putatan treatment plant,” he added.

Maynilad is currently building the P6.75-billion Putatan treatment plant 2 in Muntinlupa which will provide an additional 150 MLD of potable water.

The facility will enhance supply reliability for approximately 1.2 million Maynilad customers in Muntinlupa, Las Piñas and Cavite. It is expected to be completed in May 2018.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the country in terms of customer base. It serves the areas of Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon, and certain portions of Manila, Quezon City, Makati and Cavite.

The utility firm is owned and managed by Maynilad Water Holdings Co. Inc., a joint venture between Metro Pacific Investments Corp., DMCI Holdings, and Marubeni Corp.