THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said that a total of 222,221 customers of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. affected by the water service interruptions in areas served by the concessionaire’s Putatan water treatment plants will receive a rebate.

In a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, Joel A. Dominguez, department manager of MWSS regulatory office’s operations monitoring, said that 18,032 customers who were without water supply for more than 24 hours will receive a rebate of P376.78.

Up to 204,189 customers who experienced intermittent supply from December 2022 to January 2023 will receive a rebate of P101.30.

Last week, the MWSS directed Maynilad to rebate P27.48 million to its customers affected by the recurring service interruptions such as Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, and areas in Cavite, including Bacoor, Imus, Noveleta, Rosario, and Cavite City.

Greg R. Antonio, Maynilad’s head for water production, said Maynilad is now working to bring the Putatan plant’s operation back to normal.

“There are still maintenance activities that are still being done. Those maintenance activities are projected to be completed by the first quarter,” he said.

Mr. Antonio added that for customers in the southern part of its franchise, a 24/7 water supply cannot be achieved until the completion of the Poblacion water treatment plant, which can produce about 150 million liters per day (MLD).

“We always try to bring uninterrupted water supply. We are lacking flexibility in terms of alternative supply, the completion of Poblacion will cushion this,” he said.

In an earlier statement, Maynilad said the Poblacion water treatment plant in Muntinlupa was 53% completed. It added that its Julian modular treatment plant (MTP) had been completed but was awaiting a permit to operate.

Julian MTP, which is located in Maynilad’s pumping station in Imus, has a capacity of 4 MLD once operational.

Earlier this month, Maynilad blamed the water interruptions on the reduced production of its treatment plant in Putatan, damaging its sludge removal equipment.

The west zone concessionaire added that the prolonged water service interruptions were due to the rise in turbidity levels of the raw water from Laguna Lake.

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. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

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