By Madelaine B. Miraflor
West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) has started the construction of its largest Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), which will have the capacity to treat 205 million liters of wastewater per day (mld).
(MANILA BULLETIN)
On Monday, officials of Maynilad, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, and some local government units (LGUs) have led the ground breaking ceremony for the ₱10.5-billion project called CAMANA (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas) Water Reclamation Facility.
This facility is expected to be online in two years, said Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez.
According to him, the completion of this project will increase his Maynilad’s sewerage coverage to 47 percent, up from only 6 percent in 2006.
As part of this, which is seen to benefit Maynilad customers in South Caloocan, Malabon, and Navotas, the company will lay about 85 kilometers of accompanying sewer lines to catch wastewater from households and establishments and convey it to the facility.
The CAMANA facility is a major portion of Maynilad’s ₱200-billion wastewater investment plan from 2019 to 2037 that will involve the construction of 26 new STPs and installation of about 425 kilometers of new sewer lines, among other projects.
The company is also currently constructing other STPs in Valenzuela, Las Piñas City, and Tunasan and Cupang in Muntinlupa.
In a statement, Maynilad said that the CAMANA will use advanced Modified Ludzack Ettinger (MLE)-Conventional Activated Sludge technology to remove pollutants from wastewater before its discharge to the Maypajo Creek, which eventually flows out to Manila Bay.
It is designed to comply with the Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standards of 2016 (DAO 2016-08)—a more stringent standard mandated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Currently, Maynilad operates and maintains 22 wastewater facilities that have a combined treatment capacity of about 663,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.
It is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is the concessionaire of the MWSS for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (all but portions of San Andres & Sta. Ana), Quezon City (west of San Juan River, West Avenue, EDSA, Congressional, Mindanao Avenue, the northern part starting from the Districts of the Holy Spirit & Batasan Hills), 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 towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.