West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. is ramping up infrastructure investment and system optimizations to safeguard supply as the summer season approaches and weather officials warn of a potential El Niño phenomenon.

In a statement, the company, which serves millions of consumers across parts of Manila and Cavite, said it is pivoting toward a more diversified supply strategy to reduce its long-standing reliance on Angat Dam.

By maximizing output from existing treatment facilities, including modular treatment plants and its “mew water" recycled water initiatives, Maynilad aims to stabilize service levels even as temperatures rise and household demand spikes.

Central to this resilience strategy, Maynilad said, is a significant expansion of storage capacity. Maynilad is currently advancing the construction of a 200 million-liter raw water reservoir at the La Mesa Compound, alongside a 40 million-liter treated water reservoir in Valenzuela.

These facilities are designed to act as a buffer, allowing the utility to manage supply fluctuations and maintain consistent pressure across its network during peak usage hours.

Beyond surface water, the utility said it is aggressively tapping groundwater resources. The company has begun the activation and rehabilitation of deep wells in strategic locations to provide localized supply support. This move is coupled with an intensified Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction program.

By focusing on leak detection and sophisticated pressure management, Maynilad intends to recover significant volumes of “lost” water, effectively increasing the available supply for customers without requiring additional raw water allocations from overstretched reservoirs.

The company said these preparations are a standard evolution of its annual operational planning, though the current efforts carry more weight given the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s recent alerts regarding shifting climate patterns.

Maynilad stated that their primary objective remains the continuity of service, noting that infrastructure measures are being refined to meet the specific challenges of the current year.

While the utility continues to invest in technical solutions and system efficiency, it also signaled that consumer behavior remains a critical variable in the supply-demand equation.

Maynilad urged its customer base to practice responsible water consumption to prevent unnecessary strain on the network. These collective measures represent a multi-front approach to water security as the region braces for the traditional heat of the Philippine summer and the looming threat of prolonged drought conditions.