Metro
But to avoid a repeat of last summer's water shortage which severely affected around 1.2 million households, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has reduced the water allocation to Metro Manila's two water distribution concessionaires from
The NWRB took this drastic action last year after
Given this challenging water supply situation ahead of summer,
are set to implement a rotational water supply scheme in Metro Manila, even as they assured that no household will suffer a lack of water for 24 hours straight. Several areas have been experiencing water service disruptions since October as a result of
Maynilad and MWC currently serve some 16.5million consumers in the east and west zones of Metro Manila and some parts of Rizal, Laguna, Cavite and Bulacan. The two water concessionaires have assured their customers that they have already crafted mitigation plans as early as last year,andare now implementing proactive measures to ease Metro Manila's water woes this summer.
Maynilad, for one, has announced that it will mount cloud-seeding operations starting this month and deploy modular water treatment plants that will draw water from small rivers in Cavite.The cloud-seeding operations will depend on weather reports from PAGASA on whether there are seedable clouds near
Mayniladis alsooptimizing the use ofits two Putatan water treatment facilities in Muntinlupa, which draw water from
The concessionaireinherited one of the oldest pipe networks in
In December last year,Maynilad finished reactivating deep wells. It is also expected to soon finish its Cavite dam.
On top of these, Maynilad is pursuing more mitigation steps, like deploying69mobile water tankers and putting up32stationary water tankers. With its NRW management program, Maynilad has managed to recover 979 MLD dailya volume large enough to fill 390 Olympic-sized pools per day that can supply potable water to 1.
7- million households in the metropolis. For his part, Paduasaid that while these measures are being implemented, consumers are still expected to practice water conservation to ensure that water remains available to every household in Metro Manila's west zone.
And because the simultaneous withdrawal of water from the pipelines affects water pressure, Maynilad has strongly advised its customers to just store enough water that they will need for the duration of a service interruption. Some customers may also experience slight water discoloration upon resumption of service.
Discoloration is a natural consequence of service interruptions, as the returning flow of water tends to scrape the mineral deposits from the internal lining of pipes.Maynilad is reminding customers to let the water flow out until the supply clears.
The implementation of daily rotational service interruptions will be in effect for as long as the raw water allocation given to Maynilad from
According to NWRB, if every Filipinos saves four liters of water a day, this would mean savings of 60 million liters per day. These water savings can go a long way in ensuring that water levels in
Meanwhile,
This means that Metro Manila's water woes could get worse in the next half-decade before it could get any better. Thus, water conservation remains an indispensable element in ensuring that Metro Manila and nearby areas do not suffer a repeat of last year's water shortage.
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