‘No water supply interruption for Metro Manila’

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila and nearby provinces would not experience water interruptions after the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) maintained the 50 cubic meters per second (cms) allocation from Angat Dam, an official of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said yesterday.

During a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, MWSS water and sewerage management department manager Patrick Dizon said the NWRB granted the request of the Angat Dam technical working group to retain the 50 cms allocation for Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water amid the high temperatures being experienced in the country.

“This is equivalent to around 4.3 billion liters of water daily as it supplies 90 percent of the water requirement of the entire MWSS service areas so that we will not experience water service interruption,” he said.

The water level of Angat Dam yesterday dropped to 187.13 meters, which is far from the dam’s critical level of 160 meters, Dizon said.

The MWSS issued the statement after Maynilad corporate communications head Jennifer Rufo said the 50 cms allotted by the NWRB is only ideal under normal weather conditions, “but given the current heat index and the consequent increase in water demand, even this 50 cms may no longer be enough for us to maintain the ideal network pressure,” she said.

However, Rufo clarified yesterday that the 50 cms water allocation from Angat Dam is still enough to ensure an uninterrupted water supply in Metro Manila.