Metro water normalizes

Maynilad Water Services Inc. announced yesterday that it expects the water supply in the areas affected by the reduced water supply from Angat Dam to normalize between 12 noon and 3 p.m. today.

Engineer Edgardo Esteban, Maynilad water production chief, said the company’s water supply from Angat, which was reduced by 30 to 40 percent when Angat Dam’s Turbine No. 5 conked out last Saturday, April 7, started normalizing yesterday afternoon.

Esteban said this developed after a Lower Level Outtake (LLO) from Angat Dam, which is owned and operated by the National Power Corp. was opened as an alternative to the closed turbine, which is now undergoing emergency repair.

Esteban said that Maynilad chemists who went to Angat Dam checked the quality of the water coming out from the LLO and found that it conformed with safety and quality standards of the water utility firm.

Esteban said that, with the opening of the LLO at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, he expected the operating level at Ipo Dam to reach 100 meters by 8 p.m. last night.

The level had gone down to 98 meters as a result of the closure of Turbine No. 5.

Esteban said that he expects the La Mesa Treatment Plants I and II, including the Bagbag Reservoir, to be able to reach their operational capacities by 12 p.m. tonight.

By tomorrow morning, Maynilad will conduct a six-hour flushing operation to clean the firm’s water network.

Esteban said the water supply in all of Maynilad’s concession area should return to normal between 12 noon and 3 p.m. today.

Froilan Tampinco, acting vice president for Genco 2 which supervises Angat Dam, said that repair work on the turbine is being rushed round-the-clock, with more personnel assigned to the task.

Tampinco said yesterday repair work on the turbine should be finished early today. — With Matthew Estabillo