MANILA -- Officials from Manila Water Company, Inc. on Monday said they prepared for the water shortage in the event of El Niño.
In a press briefing, Manila Water president Ferdinand dela Cruz said the Cardona Treatment Plant was built so the company would still have enough supply to circulate to their clients even with the dry season.
However, the Cardona Treatment Plant encountered a problem while the professionals were doing a test-drive.
“It was delayed from the original December target as the discharge pipe going to the lake had a leak,” he said, adding that it needed to be urgently repaired as people pass through a street over the underground pipe.
Dela Cruz explained that it takes a complicated process doing reverse osmosis water purification technology, adding that it is the first time for anyone to draw water from the Laguna Lake for treatment purposes.
The water shall also pass standard tests from the health department before it reaches consumers' faucets.
“[It is] normal when you commission a plant to take took a long time, we have to reduce the level of salinity [and abide] by the strict protocols in making sure that the water quality of our new plants passes the health standard,” dela Cruz added.
In previous reports, Manila Water has already pointed out that the water crisis was not about the company's inability to manage El Niño.
"It's simply a matter of demand outpacing the constant supply na nagamit 'yung reserve namin (our reserve was used) that we usually use for El Niño. El Niño exacerbated the situation," Manila Water COO Geodino Carpio said in a televised press conference.
He also added that the current water shortage in Metro Manila would not have happened if there were no delays on new facilities.
The New Centennial Water Source – Kaliwa Dam Project, which will maximize water reserve allocated for Metro Manila's east zone, was initially eyed to be completed by 2013, now it is projected to be finished by 2023.
Aside from the NCWS, Manila Water will also enter into a joint venture program with business tycoons Enrique Razon and Oscar Violago to build a new dam that could supply 500 MLD.
MWSS also plans to tap the 800 MLD unutilized water from Angat-Norzagaray, 350 MLD from Bayabas Dam, and 188 MLD from the Sumag River Diversion project, according to Velasco. (PNA)
