Manila Water Company has put into motion its water supply contingency and augmentation plans in preparation for the coming summer months and in light of lower-than-projected levels at Angat Dam.

The firm said in a statement that it is working and coordinating closely with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to help ensure that customers will experience continuous water supply even during peak demand periods.

These contingencies include the maximization of the 100 million-liter-per-day (MLD) capacity of the Cardona Water Treatment Plant, which draws water from Laguna Lake.

It also involves the operation of deep wells which can provide additional 115 MLD and operation of the 20-MLD Marikina Portable Water Treatment Plant, which can treat water from the Marikina River.

Manila Water President and CEO J.V. Emmanuel "Jocot" A. De Dios acknowledges that all these measures to safeguard customer interest would not have been possible without the support of key government agencies.

“We are very grateful to MWSS and its Board for approving these projects as well the NWRB for allowing us to harness groundwater through deepwells as part of our contingency and augmentation measures,” he said.

De Dios added that, “We are grateful that NWRB decided to maintain its allocation to MWSS at 48 cubic meters per second (CMS) from Angat Dam for January, and we continue to put our plans into motion to support MWSS’ call for continuous supply in our concession area given the current pandemic and as we head towards the summer season.”

Apart from these, operational adjustments will also be implemented such as backwash recovery or re-treating the wastewater byproduct of the water treatment process, and water pressure management across the East Zone when needed. Additional inflows to the La Mesa Reservoir may also be harnessed from the nearby Alat Dam.

Although these supply augmentation measures are in place, Manila Water continues to advocate responsible use of water with its government partners, MWSS and NWRB.

While the government and the concessionaires work together to provide the needed water supply, the public is encouraged to use water wisely and responsibly to minimize water wastage.

De Dios also affirms that Manila Water continues to support and work with MWSS for development and implementation of short- to long-term projects to ensure sustainability of future water supply which include the Calawis Antipolo Source System and the East Bay Water Supply Project which will source water from the eastern flank of Laguna Lake.

Other projects being eyed as medium- to long-term water sources aside from harnessing Laguna Lake include the New Wawa Dam Project in Rizal Province, the Kaliwa Dam Project and the Kaliwa River Project which will harness water from Kaliwa River downstream of Quezon Province and the nearby Kanan/Agos River Project.

Furthermore, the MWSS project for the construction of the new 15-kilometers aqueduct and 6.4- kilometer tunnel is now on stream which will provide another 1,600 MLD to flow towards La Mesa Dam, optimizing the flow of excess water from Ipo to La Mesa Dam.