Maynilad allots P170M for meter replacements

MANILA, Philippines - Maynilad Water Services Inc. has earmarked P170 million for a meter replacement program aimed at improving the billing of accounts across the West Zone.

In a statement yesterday, Maynilad said the replacement program will cover the upgrade of 150,000 residential water meters.

The meter replacement program, Maynilad said, is expected to improve billing accuracy and reduce the meter malfunctions which contribute to the company’s commercial losses.

Commercial losses pertain to the volume of water lost due to either theft or errors in handling of data in the meter.

The West zone water concessionaire estimates that 24 percent of its water losses are accounted for by commercial losses.

In January, Maynilad started to replace small meters manufactured from year 2005 and below to reduce the meter inaccuracies and commercial losses.

“Water meters of residential customers have an economical optimum life span of seven years. Through our timely replacement of water meters, our customers can be assured that we accurately record and bill their consumption,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ricky Vargas said.

The water concessionaire said earlier that it is looking to raise P2 billion at the latter part of the year to fund its development projects.

The planned borrowing, Maynilad said, would be on top of the P8.5-billion capital expenditures for this year.

Maynilad announced earlier this month that it would be spending more than P2.64 billion to improve and expand water services in Cavite, Muntinlupa, Las Pinas and Parañaque.

The water concessionaire has likewise allocated P186.5 million to expand water services by laying over 25 kilometers of pipelines in Valuenzuela City this year.