El Niño Watch: Maynilad sees no water interruptions in early 2027

MANILA — Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Christopher Lichauco said on Thursday they expect no water interruptions in the first half of 2027 despite the expected impact of El Niño.

Lichauco added they are “very near” to their target level of 210 to 212 meters for Angat Dam.

“With that, we will have no interruptions at least for the first half of next year,” Lichauco said during a briefing on Thursday.

Maynilad Chief Finance Officer Ricardo Delos Reyes added they do not expect water supply to reach the “critical level” given ongoing interventions.

“You can imagine the worst case scenario where you have multiple years of El Niño, but no one is predicting that,” Delos Reyes told reporters.

He said ongoing interventions like reducing non-revenue water losses — water lost to leaks and theft — gives the company “a lot of confidence” that it can maintain water supply.

After diversifying sources, Lichauco said they reached their lowest non-revenue water (NRW) level at 29.3 percent.

Lichauco said less dependence on Angat Dam also meant there were no water supply interruptions even when water level there was low.

“This is a result of our diversifying our sources. We have two more treatment plants since 2019,” Lichauco said.

The Maynilad official added that they will continue bringing down NRW and diversifying sources.

According to Delos Reyes, they do not expect El Niño to affect revenue and expenses next year as they are “very well prepared.”