Maynilad prepares for El Niño

The water level in Angat Dam, the primary source of Metro Manila’s drinking water needs, has been fluctuating near the critical level. Even with the onset of the rainy season in our country, the water level in Angat dam has been going down instead of going up. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier warned about the prolonged period of dry spell that will last until the first quarter of next year.

Normally, we have an average of at least 20 typhoons each year. We’ve already had 10 typhoons so far this year.

These are the telltale signs of the El Niño phenomenon.

Based on earlier PAGASA projections, El Niño will stretch all the way to our summer season next year, at least until May to June, top officials of Maynilad Water Services Inc. feared. Ronaldo Padua and Jennifer Rufo, vice president and head of water supply operations and official spokesperson, respectively, of Maynilad, echoed such fears during our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday.

“Recent rains helped improve Angat Dam’s level somewhat, while inflows from the Ipo and La Mesa watersheds are also helping augment raw water availability,” Padua cited. “However, Angat remains below critical level and is still Maynilad’s main raw water source. For this reason, Maynilad is preparing contingency measures should raw water or production conditions worsen.”

Maynilad is one of the two concessionaires under the regulatory oversight of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), supplying water for Metro Manila residents. Maynilad serves the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon, all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the municipalities of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite province.

Padua disclosed Maynilad has been coordinating with the MWSS, PAGASA, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and other concerned agencies, including the respective local government units (LGUs) in the Maynilad West Zone, in addressing the demand-and-supply situation for raw water due to the projected long period of El Niño.

For now, Padua hastily clarified, Maynilad has not yet announced Angat-related rotational service interruptions as current operations are being managed through available sources, network optimization, pressure management, expanded storage, water loss reduction and coordinated actions with government agencies and LGUs, all the way down to barangays.

Monitored last Tuesday, the water level of Angat Dam has slowly receded to 156.22 meters, or a drop of 0.13 M that is 3.78 M below its critical level of 160 M. As of 2 p.m. Wednesday (July 15), water level in Angat Dam receded further to 155.91 M.

In July 2019, cloud-seeding operations were conducted to induce rains to fall over Angat Dam’s watershed areas when its water elevation fell below its critical level. The Department of Agriculture is reportedly set to conduct cloud-seeding operations over the critical watersheds.

Currently, water allocation coming from Angat has been reduced to 48 cubic meters per second (CMS) from 52 CMS three months ago. It was then the irrigation water allocation was halted in May to some 25,000 hectares of irrigated rice lands in Bulacan and parts of Pampanga. Angat’s contribution to run the hydro-power plants supplying electricity to the Luzon grid was likewise reduced due to the continuing decline in water elevation of the dam.

If the water level of Angat Dam falls to its most critical point, Rufo warned, Maynilad’s water allocation will be prioritized for the raw water requirements of Metro Manila residents.

On the bright side, Rufo reassured its customers Maynilad is in a “better position” to cope with the impact of El Niño with the preparations done ahead. Rufo pointed to the completion of several new water treatment facilities and augmentations done on the existing water sources of Maynilad, aside from Angat dam.

These additional facilities, Rufo enumerated, included the 450 million liters per day (MLD) of design treatment capacity from Laguna Lake through Putatan Water Treatment Plants 1 and 2 and the Poblacion Water Treatment Plant, all located in Muntinlupa City. New water facilities in Parañaque and Valenzuela, with 12-MLD, is targeted for commissioning in 2026. To date, she placed Maynilad’s total treatment capacity at 2,873 MLD, up by 173 MLD since 2019 and supported by additional treatment facilities and supply augmentation projects.

Rufo reported Maynilad’s non-revenue water reduction efforts are also in place, which recovered 256 MLD in 2025 and brought average NRW to 32 percent as of the first quarter of 2026. She recalled the previous experience of El Niño in 2019 and 2023 gave impetus for Maynilad to undertake these measures which are now paying off.

“If service adjustments become necessary, Maynilad will issue official area-specific advisories so affected customers, local government units and barangays can prepare,” Rufo pointed out.

Rufo reminded all their water customers they can enroll online via the My Water Bill portal (in the Maynilad website) to receive “Maynilad Alerts” through SMS (text messages) and email for notifications before any water supply interruptions or scheduled maintenance or unexpected outages, and get billing-related matters. Or they may dial Maynilad’s hotline 1626, she added.

“Maynilad encourages customers to use water responsibly, avoid wastage, repair household leaks, report street leaks or illegal connections and monitor Maynilad’s official channels for updates,” she urged.

On the brighter side, Padua cited Maynilad also has a reservoir capacity of 780 million liters, up from 692 million liters in 2019, with total capacity expected to increase further upon completion of the Parada and La Mesa reservoir projects from where Maynilad can draw water.

On the horizon, he quipped, the soon-to-rise expanded reclamation areas at Manila Bay may be the site of the new water treatment facility of Maynilad.