Blocking water pipe has engineers in bind

The P560-million “floodwater interceptor project” of the DPWH on Blumentritt, Manila, is designed to hold rainwater coming all the way from Quezon City and divert it to a Tondo creek and then to Manila Bay. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–With the rainy season only a few weeks away, water authorities have admitted they have “no clear direction and solution yet” to resolve the underground blockages to a major flood control project in  Manila.

Cherubim Mojica, chief of Maynilad Water Services’ corporate communications office, was referring to a portion of the government’s P560-million floodwater interceptor project in Blumentritt, Manila, which has been delayed by the presence of an underground facility belonging to the utility firm.

Representatives of Maynilad and the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) office in the National Capital Region were scheduled to meet again Tuesday to discuss their plans to realign of the Maynilad water pipe at the intersection of Juan Luna and Hermosa streets.

Catchment project 

The pipe with a diameter of 1.2 meters lies directly in the path of the floodwater catchment project, which is 3.3 kilometers long, 6 meters wide and 3 meters deep.

Realigning the pipe would require Maynilad to resort to water service interruptions in some parts of Metro Manila and the neighboring province of Cavite.

The realignment was originally scheduled during the Holy Week break to minimize the impact of the water service interruptions but this did not push through because the agencies concerned were not yet ready.

“The water interruption has always been our concern, which is why the original pipe realignment plan was scheduled over the Holy Week to minimize any inconvenience to our customers. But with a regular work week and the school season, we are all the more concerned with the impact of a water service interruption on our customers,” Mojica told the Inquirer.

Citing a defective 30-year-old valve, Maynilad was forced to cancel the service interruptions that were supposedly set from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday in about 800 barangays in the metropolis and Cavite province.

Additional costs 

DPWH-NCR project engineer Edgardo Ramos explained that the agency’s Bureau of Design and flood control office were “still reviewing the proposed engineering solutions” for the stalled project, as well as “possible additional project costs.”

“These have been the subject of a series of meetings between the DPWH and Maynilad,” he said.

The floodwater interceptor project was begun in July last year with a completion target of 300 days although only about 30 percent of the work has been completed so far due to right-of-way issues and the presence of the Maynilad underground facility, among other problems.

DPWH engineers had “requested for more time to review their engineering options and designs,” said Mojica.

Mojica added that their pipe realignment project “remains an option until the DPWH finalizes its engineering plans for the flood interceptor project.