Maynilad water supply remains low due to murky water

From philstar.com:
By Louise Maureen Simeon

MANILA, Philippines — Customers of Maynilad Water Services Inc. will continue to experience reduced to no water supply as a result of the continued rains, while Manila Water Co. remains at a normal level of water supply.

Maynilad said highly elevated portions of the West Zone concession will continue to have low pressure to no water supply while necessary system adjustments to fill up reservoirs and distribute the limited water supply to more areas are being done.

Based on the latest advisory, affected areas are majority of the barangays in Quezon City, Valenzuela, Manila (whole areas of Sampaloc, Quiapo, San Miguel, Sta. Cruz and Sta. Mesa) and selected areas in Caloocan, Paranaque, Pasay, Navotas, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Makati and Las Pinas.

Outside Metro Manila, the areas of Imus, Cavite City, Noveleta, Rosario, Kawit, and Bacoor in Cavite are also affected.

Customers will continue to experience low pressure to no water, as well as some discoloration in the water supply but Maynilad assured its customers that water remains safe for domestic use.

“We are continuously monitoring the raw water quality in Ipo Dam and conducting the necessary system adjustments so we can return to normal water production levels at the soonest possible time,” Maynilad’s Water Supply Operations head Ronaldo Padua said.

Turbidity level of the raw water entering the La Mesa Treatment Plants has normalized to 300 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) after it spiked up to 1,600 NTU over the weekend.

“To maintain the quality of water supply to our customers and protect the integrity of our water treatment plant, we are constrained to continue limiting our water production,” Maynilad said.

The facilities’ current output is around 1,840 million liters per day (MLD) compared to the normal output of about 2,000 MLD.

“We regret that we will not be able to normalize water supply for our affected customers until rains over the Ipo watershed stop and turbidity level stays below 300 NTU,” it said.

Turbidity level refers to the sediment content in the dam’s water and owing to the continuous rains brought on by the monsoon, turbidity level increased as soil eroded from the Ipo watershed area into the dam.

On the other hand, Manila Water has not announced any water disruption among its customers.

“Water supply operations for Manila Water remains normal. There’s no scheduled water interruption except for the planned activities,” Manila Water said in a text message.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) clarified that there is no problem in any plant operations of Maynilad.

“There’s no problem in the plant of Maynilad. It’s just that with Maynilad, water directly goes to the La Mesa plant while with Manila Water, it goes through longer channels, allowing a more filtered water,” MWSS deputy administrator for engineering operations Bobbie Cleofas said in a phone interview.

MWSS said the decreased pressure is seen to continue in the next few days as state weather bureau PAGASA said torrential rains will last until the weekdays.

Meanwhile, Maynilad will deploy 54 water tankers so it can deliver potable water to affected areas. Customers may request for water tanker delivery through its special water tankering Hotline 737-3311.

The company said customers can call its hotlines and social media accounts for water supply updates.