Maynilad upgrades technology to address non-revenue water

MANILA, Philippines — West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has beefed up its technology to address its non-revenue water (NRW) or water loss recovery.

The Pangilinan-led firm said it acquired its second Sahara mobile leak detection equipment to strengthen its ongoing leak repair drive.

Maynilad is the first water company in Asia to use the state-of-the-art equipment for reducing NRW.

“Underground pipe leaks are very difficult to find, so we utilize the latest types of technology to facilitate network rehabilitation and ultimately boost our NRW reduction campaign,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said.

Maynilad acquired its first Sahara leak detection equipment in 2010. Since then, it has examined more than 830 kilometers of primary pipelines, enabling the company to resolve more than 1,000 pipe leak incidents and recover about 183 million liters of water per day.

With the second unit, Maynilad can fasttrack the detection and repair of pipe leaks, particularly in areas where there are high concentrations of leaking primary lines.

Sahara uses an acoustic sensor that is inserted into a pipe while tethered to a monitoring system on the surface.

The equipment enables Maynilad engineers to conduct audio and visual inspection inside pipes without shutting down water supply.

Plugging leaks in the distribution system is a major component of Maynilad’s NRW Management Program, aimed at bringing down physical and commercial water losses.

Aside from leak detection and repair, the program also includes network diagnostics, establishment of district metered areas, replacement of old water meters, and selective pipe replacement.

This year, Maynilad has allocated P3 billion for the program covering leak detection and repair, meter management, pipe replacements, and network diagnostics, among others.