Waterless Holy Week in parts of Metro Manila, Cavite

BRING OUT THE BUCKETS Scenes like this may again become a familiar sight in parts of Metro Manila and Cavite province this Holy Week. Maynilad on Thursday said service improvement works from April 16 to 20 will cause supply cutoffs lasting five to 30 hours. —JAM STA. ROSA

Maynilad Water Services Inc. is improving its service, but its customers in some parts of Metro Manila’s west zone and in Cavite province will suffer for it during Holy Week.

Taps in parts of the west zone are already going dry at certain hours due to high demand, although Maynilad has not declared a shortage.

Come Holy Week, there will be no water in parts of Manila, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Quezon City, Parañaque, Pasay, and Las Piñas in Metro Manila and Bacoor in Cavite, Maynilad announced on Thursday.

Maynilad advised its customers in those areas to store water at least three days before the scheduled service interruptions.

Why Holy Week?

The company said that from April 16 to 20, it would carry out maintenance work, pipe decommissioning, pipe interconnection and valve replacement, as well as leak detection and repair, in those areas.

Maynilad said it scheduled the service improvement work for Holy Week because it expected few customers to be home.

Many Metro Manilans travel to the provinces to be with their families during Holy Week, or crowd beach and mountain resorts, with outbound traffic peaking on Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday.

By Maundy Thursday, the metropolis is quiet—offices, schools and stores are closed—but not really thinly populated as most residents avoid the hassle of travel and stay home to rest during the long holiday.

They are the ones who will forgo baths and cook and drink less during the waterless hours from Holy Tuesday to Black Saturday.

Ronaldo Padua, head of water supply operations at Maynilad, said the duration of service interruptions would be different in the areas affected by the improvement works.

“Some will have no water for five hours only, while others will have no water for 30 hours,” Padua said.

“We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” he added.

Water delivery

He said the company had 40 tankers ready to deliver water to its customers in the affected areas.

Earlier this month, Maynilad resorted to service interruptions in some parts of its concession area because of increased demand caused by the summer heat, which brought down the water level in the company’s reservoirs fast.

To prevent faster depletion of supply, Maynilad interrupted service from midnight to 4 a.m. on April 5 in parts of Quezon City and Valenzuela.

In March, when supply shortage hit the Metro’s east zone due to a miscalculation by the concessionaire, Manila Water Co. Inc., Maynilad also resorted to service interruptions of up to 12 hours  in Las Piñas and Muntinlupa and nearby Bacoor, Cavite City, Imus, Noveleta and Rosario in Cavite.