WEST ZONE water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. moved the scheduled water interruptions in parts of its service area to Oct. 29 (11 a.m.) until Nov. 1 (11:59 p.m.) to give customers more time to prepare.

The water provider said in a statement that the water interruptions originally planned on Oct. 25 to Oct. 28 was moved after a huge number of customers requested for additional time to get ready.

Maynilad previously announced that the water interruptions will be caused by a pipe realignment activity along Sobriedad St. corner Cristobal St. in Sampaloc, Manila to give way for a flood control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“The new schedule coincides with the break for Undas (All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day) when people typically go to the provinces and fewer customers are expected to be home, thus mitigating the impact of the service interruptions on consumers,” Maynilad said.

Further, Maynilad said the areas set to be affected by the water interruption and their corresponding interruption schedules are the same.

Areas that will experience water interruptions include parts of Las Piñas, Makati, Manila, Parañaque, Pasay, as well as parts of Cavite province such as Bacoor, Cavite City, Imus City, Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario.

The water provider previously disclosed that 28% or 421,000 water service connections, equivalent to 2.9 million customers, will be affected by the interruption.

“Given the deferment, Maynilad will also use the extra time to further increase our available complement of mobile water tankers and stationary water tanks, with the assistance of local government units and the local fire bureaus,” it said.

Patrick Lester N. Ty, chief regulator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Regulatory Office, urged customers in a separate statement to report deviations from the schedules of the announced service interruptions.

“The MWSS-Regulatory Office advises the public to observe social distancing at the tankering sites to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus,” Mr. Ty said.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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