Metro’s 52nd flood pumping station built in San Juan

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has unveiled its newest floodwater pumping station in San Juan City, bringing the number of these facilities to 52 across the capital.

The P139-million pumping station along C. Leyva Street in Barangay Balong Bato was formally inaugurated on Friday, though the MMDA said it already went into operation last week when it helped spare the city from floods caused by torrential monsoon rains.

“For the first time in 50 years, San Juan did not experience flooding after this pumping station became fully operational,” MMDA chair Francis Tolentino said in a statement.

The facility has two pumps that can siphon off water at two cubic meters per second, a 18.72-hectare catchment area, two sets of trash screens for garbage retrieval and an 11-member team to man the facility 24 hours a day.

Two more pumping stations are being built in San Juan—in Barangays Salapan and Rivera—which are set for completion on Sept. 30 and Oct. 15, respectively, he said. Jaymee T. Gamil