By MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR It’s been two full months into 2020, but the series of water supply mess that was experienced across Metro Manila last year still haunts East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Company, Inc. In a statement, the Ayala-led company revealed that it booked a consolidated net income of ₱5.5 billion for 2019, which is lower by 16 percent from the ₱6.5 billion it earned in 2018. “This has been anticipated considering the challenges the company faced last year, with the East Zone concession severely impacted by the water supply shortage in March,” Manila Water said. In 2018, Manila Water’s operation was largely backed by its Manila Concession, bolstered by the regulatory approval of its higher tariff adjustment and business plan. Things completely changed for the company last year when its Manila Concession’s net income for the year declined by 22 percent to 5.1 billion while the Philippine government is now bent on overhauling Manila Water's concession agreement with Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). From January to December last year, Manila Water’s costs and expenses for the East Zone also increased 32 percent to ₱6.3 billion, mainly driven by the ₱534 million penalty imposed by MWSS and additional service recovery and operations costs. To recall, the decline in La Mesa dam water levels caused Manila Water’s service availability within its Manila Concession to drop significantly. For its severely affected customers, Manila Water implemented a one-time Bill Waiver Program. Then in July last year, raw water allocation from Angat Dam hit its lowest, with releases limited to 35 cubic meters per second for the MWSS Concessionaires. To mitigate the impact of low raw water supply, Manila Water pushed for network efficiency to maintain service availability, with at least 7 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, enough to reach the ground floor level, enabling it to serve more than 7 million people in the East Zone with safe and reliable water supply, covering over 1.3 million households and with more than 5,000 kilometers of network pipeline. Likewise, Manila Water affirmed its wastewater commitment of providing 32 percent coverage of the East Zone by 2021. “Wastewater coverage in the East Zone is now over 30 percent, equivalent to 2 million people served through nearly 400 kilometers of laid sewer network. This is a significant increase from only 3 percent coverage when Manila Water took over operations from MWSS in 1997,” Manila Water said.