Manila Water prequalifies for Vietnam project

Ayala-led utility firm Manila Water Co. has been prequalified to bid for a six-year performance-based leakage reduction and management contract in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

In a statement, Manila Water said it has partnered with Vietnam-based Construction Technology Development JS Co. to bid for the project, part of a $44-million World Bank loan to Saigon Water Corp. (Sawaco).

Sawaco supplies water to residents of Ho Chi Minh, the largest city in Vietnam with a population of more than six million.

Manila Water said the project aims to reduce water losses by 10 percentage points or the equivalent of 125,000 cubic meters per day, which can serve as additional supply to the city.

The contract covers a wide range of activities which include the establishment of around 100 district monitoring areas to manage leakage and system expansion works.

Other companies that were prequalified to bid include Biwater Man Lee Ltd. (Hong Kong), Eastern Water-Universal Utilities and Water & Environment (Thailand-Vietnam), Salcon Engineering Bhd. -Wide Bay Water (Malaysia-Australia) and Singapore Utilities International (SUI), Ley Choon Construction and Engineering, Pan Asia Water Solution (PAWS) and VIWASEEN (Singapore-Vietnam).

Sawaco will release shortly the bid documents to the prequalified bidders.

Over the past nine years, Manila Water has made significant improvements in raising the level of efficiency in the distribution of water in the east zone of Metro Manila. One of its major achievements is its effort to substantially bring down the high level of non-revenue water (NRW) or systems losses due to to leaks and illegal connections.

From a high of 63 percent in 1997 when it started operations, NRW in Manila Water’s concession area has gone down to 30.3 percent as of December last year. The unprecedented feat in reducing NRW has enabled Manila Water to increase 24-hour water availability from a low of 26 percent in 1997 to a high of 98 percent.

Manila Water’s concession area covers 23 cities and municipalities, namely: Marikina, Pasig, the southeastern portion of Quezon City, Cainta, San Juan , Mandaluyong, Makati, Sta. Ana and San Andres in Manila, Taguig, Pateros, Rodriguez, San Mateo and other Rizal towns.

Manila Water is setting aside at least P30 billion over the next five years to develop new major water sources and further expand its distribution network within the east zone. Of this amount, P5 billion will be spent this year to ensure the reliability of the company’s system.

Last year, the company invested P4.8 billion for the rehabilitation and expansion of its service coverage.