QUEZON CITY, Sept. 3 (PIA) — Manila Water has expressed its readiness in mitigating the impacts of El Niño phenomenon.
In a statement, the Manila Water said that they have contingency and mitigation plans to lessen the potential impacts of the El Niño phenomenon to its 6.3 million customers in its service areas.
This developed as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier said the public should expect that the current moderate El Niño is very likely to become strong beginning October this year which may last up to May 2016.
Manila Water OIC for Corporate Strategic Affairs Group and also Corporate Communications Head Jeric Sevilla said their company continues to work closely with other member agencies of the Interagency Technical Working Group on El Niño to prepare for the worsening El Niño .
PAGASA forecasted below to way below normal rainfall conditions during the last quarter of this year.
Current water level at Angat Dam is a little above 180 meters, more than 30 meters below the normal operating level of 212 meters, the targeted year-end level of the dam.
Normal water supply to Manila Water customers may already begin to be affected this month as the National Water Resources Board announces the reduction of raw water allocation from the Angat Dam for municipal use to 38 cubic meters per second (CMS). At this allocation, 9% of Manila Water customers in the East Zone, or almost 125,500 households, may experience up to more than 12 hours rotational service interruption during the El Nino season.
“Part of the East Zone concessionaire’s mitigation plans include the intensification of leak repair programs; ensuring all equipment and facilities such as treatment plants, pump stations and reservoirs are operable to avoid downtime; reactivation of deep wells for possible supply augmentation; deployment of mobile treatment plants; and implementation of supply and pressure management schemes, in case needed,” Sevilla added.
The efficiency of its water network due to the reduction of system loss to the present 11% has greatly contributed to ensuring that water produced from its treatment plant go directly to its customers.
Manila Water’s plans to cushion the impact of the predicted strong El Nino to its customers in portions of Quezon City and Manila, Pasig, Marikina, San Juan, Pateros, Taguig, Makati, Mandaluyong and Rizal Province include timely and comprehensive information campaign and water tankering and rationing, when needed. East Zone customers are encouraged to follow and regularly visit Manila Water’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manilawater) and Twitter account (www.twitter.com/ManilaWaterPH) for information on the rotating water service interruption. (RJB/JCP/PIA-NCR)