Boracay Water to bid for Manoc treatment plant

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Water unit Boracay Island Water Co. is joining the rebidding of the Manoc Manoc sewage treatment plant (STP) next month.

Boracay Water is the joint venture company of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and Manila Water Co.  Inc. It is one of the two water utility firms serving potable water to barangays Manoc-Manoc, Balabag and Yapak in Boracay Island.

Boracay Water chief operating officer and general manager Ben Mañosca said a pre-bid conference for the plant would be held this week before the submission of bids on May 2.

“Hopefully, we will have a good response so that the project can push through this year,” he said.

Mañosca declined to disclose the project cost as its bid sensitive.

The new STP with a capacity of five million liters per day would supplement the functions of the upgraded Balabag sewage treatment plant that can treat up to 6.5 million liters of water per day.

The construction period will start in 18 to 24 months.

“Our target is to meet the 75 percent wastewater coverage rate by 2016 as stipulated in our rate rebasing last year,” he said.

Boracay Water has trimmed its target of attaining 100 percent coverage in wastewater by 2016 to a coverage goal of just 75 percent to minimize disruption in tourism activities in the island and avoid the need for another rate hike.

The company last year sought out a 35 percent increase in its water rates that was approved for implementation on a staggered basis. Last year, a rate hike of 10.5 percent was implemented while a rate hike of 9.18 percent was implemented last Jan. 1.

Laguna Water AAA Water Corp. (LAWC), another subsidiary of Manila Water, is conducting a feasibility study on the best wastewater treatment model to be used in its concession area.

Laguna Water is the joint venture between Manila Water and the provincial government of Laguna. It services the towns of Cabuyao, Santa Rosa and Binan in the province.

“We are now doing a feasibility study on what is the best model for providing wastewater service in our concession area. We started in January and we expected it to be completed within the year, “ said Laguna Water chief operating officer and general manager Melvin Tan.