What I Learned from the Maynilad Tour: Use Water Responsibly

Water is an integral part of everyone’s life, without it, we cannot survive. We can do without electricity, there was none at the dawn of civilization. But water, can you live without it?

Select mommy bloggers recently had a tour with Maynilad Water Services Inc., the largest water concessionaire in terms of the customer base in the Philippines. We visited its Angat, Ipo, and La Mesa Water Treatment Plant 2 (LWTP2). The purpose of the tour is to mainly enlighten us with the water supply situation last 2019 and the preparations for summer 2020, how the treatment plants work to give us potable water, and what we, as consumers, can do to help.

As much as I would like to tell you about the exciting Maynilad tour and though knowledge shared to us was overwhelming, I need to concentrate on information dissemination. Mind you, I’m not a fan of water interruptions, but the tour made me realize that it all boils down to consumers. We need to help Maynilad and do our part in conserving water and let them do their jobs.

For Maynilad customers, if you’re not yet aware, about 91% of Maynilad’s raw water supply comes from Angat Dam and 9% comes from Laguna Lake. Maynilad is the first water concessionaire to tap Laguna Lake as an alternative source of raw water supply for Metro Manila.

I didn’t even know that Laguna Lake can be treated. I’m from the South and if I’m not mistaken, I’m covered by Maynilad’s Putatan water treatment facilities (Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, and Cavite). Actually, there are a lot of things about Maynilad that I didn’t know. I only concentrated on the fact that if there’s no water, I temporarily hate Maynilad hahaha. Admit it, that’s how you feel too, right? As I mentioned in our seminar, I’d rather not have electricity than no water. So, yeah, it’s really maddening especially when it’s a sudden water interruption without any heads up to consumers at all.

BUT, I learned a lot of things during the seminar as well as the small talks with the Maynilad staff. What stuck on me was the things shared by the Maynilad Water Supply Operations Head Engr. Ronald Padua. I’ll enumerate some of them below for easier understanding, not in particular order.

We have limited water supply thus here are the things we need to do as consumers to help:

• Conserve water – turn off the faucet when not in use like while brushing your teeth, soaping your body or hands, shampooing hair, shaving, etc.
• Re-use water – when doing laundry, make sure not to just discard the used water. When washing your hair, save it on a pail. After these, you may re-use to flush the toilet.
• Check for leaks – Consumers’ responsibility is to always check for leaks and the pipeline from the meter going to the house. Most of the time, dirty water (rust, viruses, germs, etc.) doesn’t come from the main source because Maynilad is always up to date in treating and testing its water supply. Instead, our own household pipes are the culprit. So, make sure that you have them checked every once in a while.
• Save just the right amount of water – to prep for water interruptions (scheduled or unannounced), you can buy one or two big drums or several jugs like those used for mineral water deliveries, or anything that can contain water and can be tightly sealed/closed to avoid contamination.
  
  Tip: Make sure the stored water will be enough for the whole household’s usage and the number of persons and good for a day or two. Do not use the reserve water. But in case it’s already been a month without any interruptions, you can use and replace it to avoid sediments.
  
  Let’s say there’s a scheduled water interruption in your area, DO NOT SAVE MORE THAN WHAT YOU NEED! WHY?
  Because heavy withdrawals will affect the pipelines and the distribution of water to other areas! While you are assured of having ample supply during the interruption, you might not be aware that you’ve already used up what’s allocated for the next barangay. In addition, it may also cause your water bill to spike.

The reason why Maynilad is posting the announcements is for us to be able to prepare but not overdo it so that others may be able to save too. This is one of the reasons why sometimes, the schedules are not followed. Excessive consumption in more areas will mean less to no supply in others. “Hindi masusunod ang schedule dahil naubos na ng iba ang dapat na tubig para sa ibang lugar. Sapat ang tubig kung responsible ang paggamit“.

Maynilad assures its consumers that when proper consumption is followed, supply will come back at the given schedules. Thus, consumers must learn to just save and use what they need for the day.

We need to help Maynilad and be more mindful of our water use. If we don’t help, we will soon have another shortage in our midst.

Maynilad Preparations for Summer 2020

Historically, consumer demand for water increases during the summer months. This, coupled with scant rainfall over the Angat and Ipo Dams, might force the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to further reduce raw water allocation for the MWSS. Such a reduction would mean longer daily rotational water service interruptions for customers of the concessionaires.

To alleviate the impact of the reduced allocation during summer 2020, Maynilad has been implementing mitigating measures since last year – measures that would essentially add water supply for distribution to its 9.7 million customers despite the shortage from Angat and Ipo Dams.

For more info on water interruptions and how it works, plans for 2020 and the long term solution, please check and follow Maynilad Water Services‘ social pages:
Website: http://www.mayniladwater.com.ph/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MayniladWater/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/maynilad/
Hotline: 1626

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