Maynilad upgrades La Mesa facilities to brace for El Niño

MANILA, Philippines — Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) upgrades its La Mesa water treatment facilities to strengthen its preparations for the strong El Niño phenomenon in the coming months and reduce its reliance on the Angat-Ipo Dam, its primary source of raw water.

The upgrades are designed to help the company manage changes in raw water quality, recover more water during treatment, and maintain a stable supply even when water availability becomes more challenging, Maynilad head of corporate communications Jennifer Rufo said.

“The upgrades allow us to better manage more variable raw water conditions, recover more of the water already in the system, and give our operations greater flexibility when supply conditions become more challenging,” Rufo said.

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Upgraded water facilities

The improvements include enhanced capabilities to manage turbidity, or the cloudiness of water caused by suspended particles, as well as to extract sludge containing dirt, clay and sand during the treatment process.

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Maynilad has also constructed additional lagoons to increase its water storage capacity, providing a buffer during periods of reduced water inflow from the Angat-Ipo system or adjustments in raw water allocations.

Another improvement allows the facility to recover water used to clean its filters and return it to the treatment process instead of discarding it.

The company also converted a former lagoon into a reservoir to provide additional storage when supply conditions deteriorate.

Water Production North head Christopher Gaon said the improvements would give Maynilad more options when its usual sources encounter problems.

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“When we encounter problems with the Angat-Ipo Dam, we have other options that we can use to augment our water supply,” Gaon said.

“We will treat the water again so that it can be used. This way, even if disruptions occur, we will still have another source of water.”

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Preparations go beyond El Niño

Maynilad’s upgrades to its La Mesa water treatment facilities are intended not only to prepare for the upcoming El Niño but also to help the company address future water supply challenges, vice president and head of water supply operations Ronaldo Padua said.

Maynilad had to implement rotational water disruptions during the 2019 El Niño, disrupting households in Metro Manila and Cavite.

The improvements were prompted in part by the company’s experience during the 2019 El Niño, which highlighted the need to prepare for more challenging water supply conditions, Padua said.

“Preparations for El Niño did not happen overnight. It took us more than five years to prepare for this,” he said.

The construction took time because Maynilad had to keep the plant operational throughout the upgrades to ensure that consumers continued receiving water.

“We had to ensure that the plant continued operating throughout the upgrades, as it could not be shut down. We carried out the infrastructure improvements in phases, one at a time, which took a considerable amount of time,” Padua said, adding that construction and materials procurement also take time.

At least 1.2 million households are expected to benefit from the upgraded facilities, Padua said.

He added that consumers had already benefited from the improvements, citing the company’s efforts to remove high levels of manganese from its water in July.

“Past experiences have driven us to upgrade these treatment plants because a large portion of our consumers depends on them,” Padua said.

Water conservation, contingency measures

Despite these preparations, Padua urged consumers to use water responsibly, saying conservation remains important in managing demand and preserving water levels at Angat Dam.

“Responsible water use remains a major factor in managing demand and preserving water levels at Angat Dam,” he said.

Padua said Maynilad could not guarantee that water interruptions would be avoided altogether, but the company aimed to ensure that no customer would go 24 consecutive hours without running water.

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“That is part of our obligation: no customer should go 24 hours without running water. We will implement water rotation schedules, and we have tankers ready for deployment to areas far from our network,” he said. /cb