Manila Water: We are not implementing daily service interruptions

Manila Water Company Inc. on Friday clarified that they were not implementing daily water service interruptions, and interruptions that do occur were due to maintenance work and not the reduction of the Angat Dam water allocation to 48 cubic meters per second (cms).

“Clarify lang natin na ang Manila Water ay hindi nagpapatupad ng daily water interruption, so wala po tayo yung araw-araw na nagkakaroon ng water interruption,” said Manila Water Corporate Communications Head Jeric Sevilla at a public briefing.

(Let's clarify that Manila Water does not implement daily water service interruptions, so we don't have water interruptions daily.)

“Kung meron man po tayong pagkawala ng tubig, hindi po ito dahil sa binaba yun allocation sa 48 cms kundi dahil po ito sa regular and preventive maintanance lamang,” he stressed.

(If there was a service interruption, it was not due to the lowered allocation of 48 cms but because of regular and preventive maintenance.)

Sevilla noted that 24/7 water services continued in the eastern part of Metro Manila and Rizal province.

He said the maintenance activities schedule was posted on their social media accounts.

“Ginagawa lang po natin ito kapag gabi, mula alas diyes po ng gabi hanggang kinabukasan ng alas kwatro ng madaling araw. Sinisiguro lang natin na ang mga linya ay maayos, walang bara, para po ang daloy ng tubig ay tuloy-tuloy.,” he added.

(We only do this at night from ten in the evening until four in the morning the next day. We ensure that the lines are fine, there are no blockages, so the flow of water is continuous.)

Sevilla said that augmentation measures, such as deep-well rehabilitation, modular water treatment plants, and recovery of water losses, were ready in case additional water supplies were needed.

“Lahat po ay nakakasa na para kung kailanngan natin ng karagdagang supply ng tubig para mapanatili ‘yung 24/7 na serbisyo. Gagamitin na natin lahat ito,” he said.

(All these are ready if we need additional water supplies to maintain the 24/7 service. We will use it all.)

Moreover, he said that water service interruptions were only a last resort when the water level in Angat Dam drops, especially since there could be other ways to solve it.

“So, mino-monitor ‘yung development ng pagbaba ng tubig sa Angat, pati sa na rin sa National Water Resources Board (NWRB) kung magkakaroon pa po ng karagdagang kabawasan sa alokasyon,” he said.

(So, developments in the decrease in water in Angat was being monitored, by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) as well, if there will be a further reduction in the allocation.)

He said that if there would be any change in the customer experience, Manila Water would immediately inform the public.

Sevilla also urged everyone to practice proper and responsible water usage. — DVM, GMA Integrated News