12-hour water service interruptions loom in Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Manila should brace for 12-hour water interruptions while 65 provinces are expected to experience moderate to severe drought starting this month until early 2016 due to El Niño.

Anthony Lucero, officer-in-charge of the climate monitoring and prediction section of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said yesterday most parts of the country could
expect “significant” reduction in rainfall beginning this month until February 2016.

In Bulacan where the Angat Dam is located, “way below normal” rainfall, or less than 40 percent of average monthly rainfall, is expected in the months of October, December, January and February.

As of 6 a.m. yesterday, water elevation in the Angat Dam was only 186 meters, still way below the “comfortable” water level of 212 meters, according to the National Water Resources Board (NWRB).

Since Angat supplies almost 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water demand, water service concessionaires Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Company, Inc. and the NWRB yesterday agreed to reduce the water allocation for Metro Manila from 41 cubic meters per second (cms) in August to 38 cms this month to preserve the remaining water at Angat Dam.

“We need to manage the water level in Angat Dam so we can sustain adequate water for the public until this El Niño phenomenon ends next year,” NWRB director Sevillo David said in press briefing yesterday.