Up to 18 dry hours a day under new Manila Water rationing plan
MANILA, Philippines — Areas in the east concession zone can expect from six to 18 hours without water, service provider Manila Water said.
The Ayala-led water concessionaire will implement a new water rationing schedule starting March 14, which would last throughout the summer.
Manila Water corporate communications head Jeric Sevilla said even areas currently experiencing 24 hours of water supply would experience service interruption in the new schedule.
"Para po masiguro na lahat po ay magkakaroon ng tubig at certain times of the day, ngayon po lahat ng customers ng Manila Water po magpapaskil po kami ng panibagong schedule sa aming accounts per barangay," Sevilla said in an interview with radio dzMM.
(To ensure that everyone will have water supply at certain times of the day, for all customers of Manila Water we will post a new schedule to our accounts per barangay.)
The schedule will indicate what time the affected areas will experience no water and when it will return.
"Makakaranas 'yung mga customers natin ng anywhere between six hours to 18 hours na walang tubig," Sevilla said.
(Our customers will experience no water anywhere between six hours to 18 hours.)
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This new scheme would ensure that the water service provider's reservoirs will be refilled and would also protect the integrity of their water treatment facilities, according to Sevilla.
Sevilla reiterated that this new schedule would persist througout the season as until the rains come, which are not expected for a few months as summer is just starting and the country is also experiencing El Niño.
"'Yan po ang magiging schedule araw-araw all throughout the summer hanggang sa magkaroon po tayo ng additional supply o umayos po 'yung lebel ng La Mesa Dam," Sevilla said.
(That will be the schedule every day all througout the summer until we get additional supply or the level of La Mesa Dam gets better.)
Manila Water COO Geodino Carpio earlier admitted that the predictability of water service interruption was difficult to achieve at the moment.
Carpio said that understand if there were customers got angry with them as they lost water even though their areas were not included in the initial list that would be affected by operational adjustments.
Last week, Manila Water announced that several cities in Metro Manila and areas in Rizal province would experience "low pressure to no water" supply. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
An environmental watch group advises the public to conserve water all the more as parts of the country grapple with the effects of drought brought by the onset of El Niño.
In a statement, the EcoWaste Coalition calls on Metro Manila households to take water conservation more seriously while also calling on establishments to intensify water conservation measures.
“We join our water authorities in asking household, businesses and government institutions in Metro Manila to use water more wisely amid the declining water level in Angat, Ipo and La Mesa Dams,” Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste national coordinator, says.
She adds: “Let us all aim for zero water waste to reduce the impacts of low water supply during the summer months to the people, especially the poor, and the environment.”
The water level in La Mesa Dam is now below critical level at 68.93 meters due to the summer season and the El Niño phenomenon.
Maynilad customers in Caloocan, Malabon and Quezon will experience low pressure to no water starting 1 p.m. today, June 27.
The emergency water service interruption is expected to last till 9 p.m.
"We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you," Maynilad says in a tweet.
Manila Water is now operating an additional 34 deep wells in its concession area to help meet the demand of customers while the new water sources are being completed.
As of June 9, 2019, 43.42 million liters of water per day have been drawn from these deep wells and is seen to bring more water supply upon full operation of more deep wells in the coming months.
"The operation of these deep wells is vital to recovering our service towards 24/7 supply at 7 psi or pressure up to the ground level as one of the means of augmenting the water supply deficit," Manila Water Corporate Strategic Affairs Group Head Jeric Sevilla says.
Manila Water President Ferdinand dela Cruz says in a statement that he will abide by the decision of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to pay a financial penalty upon over its momentary inability to meet its service obligations to provide round-the-clock water supply to consumers.
The MWSS board has sanctioned Manila Water Company Inc. with a total of P1.134 billion fine and an additional P600 million fund for development of a new water supply source following the water shortage last month that affected parts of Metro Manila and neighboring towns.
The imposition of penalties on Manila Water was due to its failure to comply with Article 10.4 of the concession agreement or the 24-hour available supply in its service areas.
The MWSS Board sanctions Ayala-led Manila Water with P1.15 billion in fines following the supply mess last month.
— The STAR/Maureen Simeon
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