Maynilad finds 36 illegal connections in Baseco water lines

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Maynilad on Friday said it found 36 illegal connections to its water lines in Baseco, Manila.

In a "24 Oras" report from Mark Salazar on Friday, officials from Maynilad dug into a spot that was suspected of having illegal connections to their lines.

Not more than two feet into the ground, 11 illegal connections were found connected to a pipe. These connections were found with the use of a device that listened to the rush of water underground.

Last Monday, Maynilad began its anti-illegal connection operations for the year. Since the efforts began, 36 illegal connections have been found and covered. By repairing these lines, around 180,000 liters per day have been saved.

The illegal operations were discovered in Baseco in 2025. Water was also being sold from these illegal operations.

“Nagkaroon po tayo ng decision last year… na palitan na po 'yung kabuuan ng linya ng tubig doon sa area dahil sa dami ng illegal connections na nakapag-cause na mawalan ng tubig, hindi na lang humina 'yung supply ng tubig sa area,” Maynilad Business Area Spokesperson Rona Librella said.

(We had a decision last year… to replace the entirety of the water lines there because of the volume of illegal connections that cause water outages, not just the weakening of water supplies in the area.)

“Yung 36 po na natanggal natin this past week ay hindi pa po iyan lahat, meron pa kaming na-identify at meron pa tayong magiging follow-up operations,” she added.

(The 26 that we removed this past week is not all of it; we have identified more and we will have follow-up operations.)

Last year, 12 people were arrested because of illegal connections, with seven of them involved in syndicated operations like selling stolen water. However, only five have undergone inquest proceedings.

Librella said that illegal operations like these weaken the water supply of paying customers, and it may also affect the quality of water because of possible contamination. —LDF, GMA News