Manila Water CEO apologizes for water shortage

Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2019 04:11:14 +0000

Residents of Hill Top, Bagong Ilog, Pasig City queue for water from a tanker. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ

The head of Manila Water Company Inc. on Monday apologized for the water shortage that affected 1.2 million households in Metro Manila.

Manila Water Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand dela Cruz asked for forgiveness from their consumers and the affected constituents of lawmakers during the public hearing of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development chaired by Rep. Winston Castelo.

“I am holding myself accountable for the sudden drop in our service levels to your constituents whom we have served for the past 21 years with 24/7 water availability and sufficient water pressure. March 6, 2019 is a date I will never forget as president of Manila Water,” dela Cruz told the panel.

He explained that on March 6, Manila Water’s reserves from the La Mesa Dam breached the critical level of 69 meters which prevented the agency from getting 150 million liters.

“This additional 150 mld is important to augment the 1,600 mld contractual allocation we get from the Angat system,” he said.

Dela Cruz said their short-term contingency plans to address the supply deficit include taking water from the Laguna Lake through the Cardona Water Treatment Plant Project that could process 100 mld, re-activation of 101 decommissioned deepwells, developing new deepwell sources, and deployment of mobile water tankers to affected areas.

“By April, our supply deficit will be cut by half. By May, our supply deficit will go down to 15 percent given all the efforts I have described earlier. Hindi po matutulog ang Manila Water (Manila Water will not sleep on the matter). All our employees are doing our best under this water supply situation,” he added. GLEE JALEA

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