La Mesa upgrade nears completion

West zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is set to finish its P7.9-billion La Mesa treatment plants after the government eased quarantine restrictions in the metro.

Maynilad has deployed over 400 workers at La Mesa Treatment Plants 1 and 2 in Quezon City to expedite the completion of the facilities.

The returning workers passed antibody screening tests prior to redeployment, and are now required to follow stricter safety protocols.

“Completion of this project is essential to ensuring water service reliability for our customers, given the challenges posed by increasingly variable raw water quality from Angat Dam,” Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado said.

The P7.9-billion upgrade involves increasing the facilities’ capacity to treat higher raw water turbidity, retrofitting of structures for improved earthquake resiliency and automating processes.

The two treatment plants produce 2,400 million liters of water per day, and serve around 90 percent of Maynilad’s 9.7 million customers.

The upgrade, which started in 2017, is being done in phases so that the facilities can operate without interrupting water services for customers.

Apart from the upgrade of existing treatment facilities, Maynilad’s roadmap toward addressing water security challenges include the construction of new treatment facilities, pumping stations and reservoirs, sustained network enhancements through pipe replacements and leak repairs, and development of smaller alternative raw water sources to accommodate a growing population.

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.