MEZ water consumption drops on lean operations

CEBU, Philippines - Due to streamlined operations at the Mactan Export Zone that resulted to decrease in power and water consumption of the locators, water provider Mactan Rock Industries Inc. now offer its excess water supply to commercial and industrial establishments as well as household users.

Mactan Rock Industries Inc. (MRII) chairman Antonio Tompar yesterday said that the company now has an excess of at least 300 cubic-meter of water a day, “as people have been retrenched and operational schedules adjusted, demand of water also shrunk.”

Tompar said the excess water can now be availed by industries and commercial establishments on the island, as the company can easily connect pipes within the “sub-out” areas.

“Some companies [at the zone] are not operating anymore, some have cut down their operations, thus we have an excess supply now,” Tompar said.

Mactan Rock used to supply 1,500 cubic-meter potable and non-potable water requirement at the zone. Now, the demand went down to 1,200 cubic meters a day, he said.

While some companies outside the zone are still sourcing water supply from outside sources, Tompar said this is the opportunity for some companies to avail of the excess water from the zone, including interested household consumers.

The company is using desalination process technology for the zone’s overall water requirement. Water is sourced from the brackish surface water and seawater, converted into potable water for people’s use and manufacturing requirement.

Non-potable water is used for manufacturing operations, cleaning, irrigation works, among others.

According to Tompar, this water supply although refined via desalination process, can be sold at a cheaper price competitive to the prevailing water rate source via traditional means, because of the availability of energy-saving desalination machines.

“We have energy-saving equipment now, so we can sell desalinated water at a very competitive cost,” Tompar said.

MRII is now operating 30 desalination facilities in Cebu, supplying a total of 40,000 cubic meters a day.

Aside from MEZ, MRII operates water desalination facilities that supplies water requirement in different resorts around the Island, such as Hilton Resort, Vistamar, Coral Point, Microtel Resort, among others.

Mactan Rock is providing water technology solutions to over 350 industries around the country. It is the first company in Asia that introduced the desalination process, which will purify seawater into potable water.

In 2005, the company installed a P15 million desalination plant at Mactan Export Zone (MEZ) to resolve water shortage supply in the two economic zones.