More areas now enjoy reliable water supply

More and more households continue to benefit from piped-in water service connection from Manila Water as a result of the firm’s expansion projects.

In a statement issued recently, the water firm said commercial and industrial establishments, too, are connecting to the distribution network that provides clean, potable and reliable water services.

It said that as of June, Manila Water has a total of 836,338 water service connections, of which 22,396 connections were installed for the first six months of the year with 565 as commercial and industrial connections.

The steady increase in new customers were mainly driven by the high degree of efficiency in the central distribution system and increased water supply availability, the firm said.

It added that water quality in the east zone is of the highest quality and fully compliant with the parameters of the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water.

At the onset of the privatization of state-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in 1997, only 26 percent enjoyed 24-hour water supply, seven days a week, the statement said.

It added that nonrevenue water, or water loss due to leaks and illegal connections, were also at an all-time high at 63 percent.

After 43 years and P50 billion in capital improvement projects invested, Manila Water said it has been able to reduce the level of its system loss to 11.5 percent as of June, unprecedented in the water industry.

With the recovery of water loss, the huge volume of water recovered now supplies more than 99 percent of the 6.1 million residents in the entire east zone with 24-hour water.

The firm said water supply is also now available even to the elevated city of Antipolo, the eastern towns of San Mateo and Rodriguez as well as to the southern city of Taguig.

Besides ensuring reliable water supply, Manila Water is also now giving emphasis on wastewater management with the construction of more sewage treatment plants in a bid to revive the major river systems in Metro Manila.

Manila Water is the private concessionaire of MWSS, and also serves parts of Quezon City and Manila, Marikina, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pateros.