AYALA-LED Manila Water Co., Inc. said it had installed 5,135 sewer connections within Metro Manila’s east zone concession as of November last year, bringing the total to 191,784 since the time it took over the service from the government.
“The target for the company in terms of used water services is full sewer and sanitation coverage of its entire concession area by 2037,” the company said on Wednesday.
The statement comes after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced that it had started a project to clean up the Manila Bay using government funds but with the technical help of stakeholders including the water concessionaires.
DENR had said that the polluted water in the bay came mostly from esteros that are inhabited by informal settlers. It also put some of the blame on the lax application of laws by local government units.
Manila Water said it “consistently intensifies its campaign towards proper wastewater management” in its coverage area through its “Used Water Master Plan.” It said the total connections serve up to 191,784 households, including the 5,849 homes added during the January-November period last year.
It also said a total of 855 kilometers of sewer pipes had been cleaned within the same 11-month period.
The company said it operates and maintains 38 sewage treatment plants and two septage treatment plants, to ensure that used water collected from its customers is treated and cleaned before being discharged back into Metro Manila’s waterways.
Manila Water said the discharge from these treatment plants have consistently passed the DENR effluent quality standards, averaging 99.8% compliance over that past five years as against the required 95% compliance set by the department.
“More treatment plants are being constructed and more sewer networks are being laid to further increase sewer coverage within its concession,” the company said.
It is currently building the Ilugin sewage treatment plant in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, which it described as “the centerpiece” of the north and south Pasig sewer system project.
All three plants have a combined capacity of treating up to 275 million liters per day (MLD) of used water, which is meant to benefit up to 1.6 million people.
The latest addition to the company’s wastewater facilities are two of its largest sewage treatment plants to date: Taguig north and Marikina north sewage treatment plants.
The Taguig north plant has a capacity to treat up to 75 MLD of used water from communities in Taguig and the Makati central business district. The Marikina north plant has the capacity of cleaning up to 100 MLD of used water. It was constructed to withstand flooding as it sits at the banks of Marikina River.
Both plants use “sequence batch reactor” biological treatment process, an innovation which enables facilities built on limited land areas to treat larger volumes of used water, Manila Water said. — Victor V. Saulon

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