Boracay Water to continue infrastructure investments

MANILA, Philippines — Boracay Water, a public-private partnership between the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and Manila Water’s wholly owned subsidiary, Manila Water Philippine Ventures (MWPV), said it would continue to invest and expand its infrastructure in the island in preparation for more tourist arrivals.

“As Boracay Water prepares for more tourist arrivals with the easing of mobility restrictions, it will continue to invest and expand it’s infrastructure in the island to ensure availability of clean, safe, reliable water supply, “the company said.

Tourist arrivals in Boracay have been increasing since the year started as travel restrictions ease.

Data from the Malay Tourism Office showed that a total of 80,882 tourists arrived in Boracay in February. This is more than double the 35,799 tourist arrivals registered in January.

Boracay Water, which recently marked its 12th year of providing reliable water supply and wastewater services to the island, has already invested more than P4.32 billion in various infrastructure facilities.

“Boracay Water made sure that safe and reliable water supply is available in the Island and at the same time, ensured proper wastewater management in the island’s three barangays, namely Manocmanoc, Balabag, and Yapak, including the white beach’s popular commercial stations 1, 2, and 3,”said the company.

By 2015, various projects were implemented to improve the water supply network from source to distribution, which increased water availability in the Island, allowing 100 percent of Boracay Water’s customers to experience 24/7 supply from only 13 hours or less back in 2010 when it first entered the island.

Among the major projects completed by the company are the rehabilitation of the water treatment plant in Caticlan with a capacity of 25 million liters per day, the one-kilometer submarine water pipeline along the Caticlan-Boracay channel that supplies water to Boracay from mainland Malay town, repairs and replacement of kilometers of old networks along with the expansion of piping system, rehabilitation and construction of pumping stations and booster pumps to serve the highest and farthest areas of the island.

Boracay Water also focused on reducing systems losses due to leaking old pipes, which was at a high of 37 percent of total production in 2010.

“To date, the company has brought the level of water losses down to 18 percent. Water recovered from leakages is brought back to the system and distributed to customers,”Boracay Water said.

Apart from implementing projects that will ensure the continuous supply of potable water to the island, Boracay Water upgraded and expanded its wastewater facilities.

The company began to immediately address the deterioration in coastal water quality by rehabilitating the existing Balabag sewage treatment plant and sewer network, which only provided wastewater service to 22 percent of the island. This was completed in 2011.

“Aside from doubling treatment capacity from 2.6 to 6.5 million liters a day (MLD), Boracay Water guaranteed that the facility complies with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ discharge standards,”the company said.

The regular desludging services of septic tanks was also provided for unsewered areas through Boracay Water’s fleet of vacuum trucks.