Why We Appreciate Maynilad Water Services Now More Than Ever

Ever since I got married, Maynilad has been our water provider at home. I know we are quite lucky in our area because it is very rare that we experience water interruptions at home. If ever there was an emergency leak or a pipe has been damaged during road repairs on our street, we have a water tank that sustains us, and water would be just enough till the supply from Maynilad comes back.

But I’m aware that this doesn’t happen in all places around Metro Manila. I can remember that there were months when angry Maynilad and Manila Water customers rant in the news almost daily, expressing their disappointment because of lack of water supply. I also remember the news how hard it was for some schools and hospitals when there was long time shortage of water.

Water is really precious for all of us and we will always prefer that there’s water rather than having electricity, if ever we need to choose. Currently, I’ve heard from the news that a daily rotational water interruption is still being implemented in some areas of the city. I can imagine how difficult it is for the families affected. But you know what, if you will see and hear about how Maynilad really works to ease the difficulty of the customers, I’m sure your disappointments will be alleviated. More than that, you might also be inspired to do your share. Just like me.

Just this week, I had the rare opportunity to tour Angat and Ipo dams, where the water supply for Maynilad customers really comes from, and the La Mesa Water Treatment Plant of Maynilad. I didn’t expect how beautiful these man-made dams are, with all these trees and mountains surrounding them. We trekked for more than an hour to reach Angat Dam and though the roads were steep, the view on the top was amazing. It was worth the travel and together with the mommy bloggers from Mommy Bloggers Philippines, we had a great time taking pictures together. Currently, though, the place is not open to the public so we were just thrilled that we were allowed to be there.

I learned so many new things during the tour right from the time we reached Angat Dam down to the last part of the tour which was the treatment plant at the LaMesa Compound. Let me share them with you in my own words.

First of that is that the water being collected in Angat Dam comes from the rain and the water from the mountains. Not all this water is given down to us consumers at home. The water is also being shared for power generation (electricity) and for irrigation (to water the plants).

From Angat Dam, raw water flows down to the much-smaller Ipo Dam which is being shared by 2 water concessionaires  – Manila Water and Maynilad, with each of them servicing different locations in Metro Manila. The amount of water coming from Angat Dam to these 2 concessionaires is being allocated (or portioned) by a government agency which is the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).

When there are fewer rain showers like during summer or when there’s what we call El Nino, the level of water in Angat Dam is depleted naturally. When this happens, NWRB reduces the amount of water being supplied to the concessionaires or MayniladandManila Water. These are the times when Maynilad needs to enforce daily rotational water interruptions.

Just like us moms during money crisis, we are forced to budget accordingly, “maghigpit ng sinturon” as we always do.

But you know what, unknown to many, even I don’t know all these before the tour, that Maynilad has a lot of activities to augment our water supply. They just don’t wait there till the government gives them water to process.  Here are some of the things they did:

1. Maynilad made Putatan Water Treatment Plant (PWTP)which draws and treats water from Laguna Lake and produces 150 million liters per day.
2. A second PWTP was made which now adds 150 million liters per day of water to the water supply.
3. Reactivating existing deep wells
4. Ongoing repairs of leaks
5. Purchasing mobile treatment plants that can extract and treat water from Cavite rivers.
6. Deploying water tankers around the metro
7. Conducting cloud seeding operations

What’s in the future of Maynilad? I’m so happy to read about MWSS’splan about a possible ultimate solution to stop our water interruptions and that is to develop a new water reservoir —one of the same size as Angat Dam. For me, I’ll be very much hopeful that this comes true, for our kids to secure their water supply in the future, now that it seems that climate change is really wreaking havoc to the weather patterns.

But what about us? Well, in every relationship, it always takes two to tango, as the saying goes.

According to NWRB, if every one of 15 million Filipinos saves four liters of water a day( = 4 liters of Coca Cola), we can collectively save 60 million liters per day. Such water savings can go a long way in ensuring that water levels in Angat Dam will recover enough for NWRB to increase allocation for the MWSS.

We can definitely do that, right? And I think we can save even more if we will just be conscious of our water usage. Simply using a glass when brushing our teeth will save us half a liter of water. When moms do the laundry, we can recycle the water and use it to clean the bathroom or to mop the floor. When we see leaking pipes on our streets, let’s call Maynilad Hotline 1626 right away.

The Maynilad tour really made me appreciate the company and all its efforts for the community.  But it doesn’t mean that everyone needs to go to the tour to feel the same. Just think of how long these waters need to travel from the mountains down to us, and how many processes these water need to undergo in Maynilad before they become usable. All these should be enough to compel us to do our own share of conserving water. So when the next water interruption happens, if ever, we are already prepared.

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