Water concessionaires told: Look for alternate sources due to stronger El Niño
Water concessionaires told: Look for alternate sources due to El Niño
By GMA News
+
Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.
Metro Manila’s water concessionaires have been instructed to look for alternative sources as a more severe El Niño looms across the country.
In a 24 Oras report from Gabriel Gonzales on Thursday, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) said that Metro Manila will have a reduced water supply in October due to a more severe El Niño.
The NWRB has advised the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and either water concessionaires to look for alternative water sources as to not deplete the Angat Dam.
While the Angat Dam has increased its reserves following the enhanced Southwest Monsoon, it is still slightly lower when compared to its high normal level.
“Sa ngayon po kasi ay pwede pong i-tap ng MWSS at mga konsesyonaryo 'yung mga other sources po nila 'no kagaya po dito sa may Laguna Lake, dito po sa may bandang Cavite at dito rin po sa may bandang Upper Wawa 'no. May mga pwede po silang mapagkunan ng karagdagang tubig para po matugunan 'no 'yung ibang pangangailangan ng mga kababayan po natin,” NWRB Executive Director Sevillo David Jr. said.
(For now the MWSS and other concessionaires could tap their other sources like the Laguna Lake, around in Cavite, and the Upper Wawa Dam. They have other water sources to be able to provide for the needs of our citizens.)
The NWRB said that there is a possibility that the MWSS water allocation will be lowered from 53 cubic meters per second to 44 cubic meters per second.
State weather bureau PAGASA has already forecast fewer rains, so the water conversation efforts needed to start now to make sure water supplies lasted until 2027, David said.
The MWSS said water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad have already signified preparations for the El Niño phenomenon. The agency is guarding the activities of the two firms to ensure continued supplies.
"Sa Manila Water, na-deliver na po nila ang phase 1 ng East Bay at 'yung pagma-maximize ng existing facilities nila katulad ng Cardona at Calawis…’Yung Maynilad naman, ang inutusan natin sa kanila ay magtayo po sila ng mga modular treatment plant po sa Cavite at pina-adjust po natin ang kanilang non-revenue water,” MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Ty said.
(For Manila Water, they delivered phase 2 of the East Bay and the maximizing of the facilities in Cardona and Calawis… for Maynilad, we instructed them to put up a modular treatment plant in Cavite and we had them adjust their non-revenue water.)
The MWSS said that there were no expected widespread water outages. If there were, they would be localized and short-term. Consumers also do not need to worry about increased water prices, the agency said.
A few residents of Caloocan City have already started to save water.
At a carinderia in Barangay 12, Caloocan City, Thess Serdon was waiting for the dirty dishes to accumulate before she washed them. Resident Rodolfo Decena on the other hand was planning to reuse water.
“Yung mga pinaglabahan, itatabi para magamit sa ibang kwan, sa CR, ganun… mga drum mayroon na,” Decena said. (The water for laundry, we will just set it aside to use it for other things, for the toilet, like that… we have drums already.)
Follow facebook.com/gmanewsonline for real-time news and developments in the Philippines and around the world.
—Jean Mangaluz/RF, GMA News
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.