BORACAY—West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is on track to reduce its non-revenue water (NRW) from last year’s 39.9 percent on the back of strong leak detection and pipe replacement efforts.
Maynilad charts path to cut costly non-revenue water
Published Jun 4, 2025 05:53 pm
Maynilad, the country’s biggest water concessionaire in terms of customer base, is eyeing to bring down its NRW level to 34 percent this year.
In a media forum here, Maynilad Central NRW Head Ryan Jamora said the rate currently stands at 36.2 percent as of the first quarter.
Maynilad defines NRW as the difference between the amount of water a utility puts into a distribution system and the amount it bills to customers.
NRW is primarily driven by water leaks, illegal connections, inaccurate metering and billing, unauthorized withdrawal from fire hydrants, and unbilled authorized use.
Given the factors at play, including prevention schemes and other expenses, the revenue cost of the NRW has not yet been defined by the company.
Jamora, however, said a clear consequence of this include insufficient water pressure, persistent supply disruptions, quality concerns, and even road deterioration caused by surfacing leaks.
NRW, which incurs physical and commercial losses, has been a thorn to the west zone concession since it was privatized in 1997, standing at 67 percent.
During the early years of the company, under the Lopez group, minimal investments were seen in addressing water losses.
Only when the group of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan took the reins of Maynilad in 2007 when significant efforts were made to bring down NRW.
As specified under its 2023-2027 business plan approved by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Maynilad is targeting an average of 25 percent by 2027 and 20 percent by 2030.
To keep on track of its target of 34 percent for 2025, the water firm has approximately spent ₱1.15 billion on various upgrades and mitigation measures.
As of March 31, a total of 18,070 pipe leaks have been repaired. This keeps the company on course to match or even surpass the total of 57,562 leaks it repaired in 2024.
Maynilad is expected to further amplify through advanced technologies such as correlators, acoustic loggers, and ground microphones across its metered areas.
It has likewise committed to implement more targeted pipe replacement projects to further cut water losses.
Since the inception of the MWSS-approved plan, Maynilad has spent a total of ₱11.96 billion on NRW management. This is 39 percent of the planned funding of ₱31 billion from 2023 to 2027.