East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Company, Inc. has started the construction of its 42nd sewage treatment plant, which will cost P4.2 billion to build.
In a statement, Manila Water said it already broke ground for the construction of Mandaluyong West Sewerage System Project, which is part of the P4.2-billion Aglipay Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).
Located in Barangay Old Zaniga, Mandaluyong City, Aglipay STP is the 42nd sewage treatment facility of Manila Water in Metro Manila’s East Zone and will have a treatment capacity of 60 million liter per day (MLD) of wastewater to be collected from 2,115 hectares of catchment area spanning across Mandaluyong, San Juan and Quezon Cities.
The construction of the STP is expected to be completed by 2024, while the sewer network is targeted for completion by 2025.
The facility’s capacity is expandable up to 120 MLD after the complementing network of 53 kilometers of sewer lines is completed.
The Mandaluyong West Sewerage System is designed to serve a population of up to 652,000, Manila Water said.
“This project is a vital component of Manila Water’s wastewater masterplan which aims to provide 100 percent sewer and sanitation coverage to the entire East Zone by 2037,” said Abelardo P. Basilio, Manila Water Operation’s Chief Operating Officer.
Under the 2008 writ of continuing mandamus issued by the Supreme Court, Manila Water, as a Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) concessionaire, is required to improve and expand its sewerage services to make sure that all the wastewater that is being released to Manila Bay has been treated properly.
As of now, only more than 15 percent of water consumers within the metropolis are connected to sewer lines.
Full sewer and sanitation coverage, according to MWSS, should be 100 percent by 2037.
Aglipay STP is the first wastewater treatment facility of Manila Water that will utilize the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) process with Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) technology, which will promote treatment efficiency and improve effluent quality.
The East Zone concession is a 1,400 square kilometer area that covers 23 cities and municipalities in Metro Manila and Rizal. These include Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, and parts of Quezon City and Manila.
The towns of Angono, Baras, Binangonan, Cainta, Cardona, Jalajala, Morong, Pililia, Rodriguez, Tanay, Taytay, Teresa, San Mateo and Antipolo in the province of Rizal are also part of the East Zone.