Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 11) — Water service providers on Tuesday said they are prepared in case allocation from the Angat Dam is further decreased from 48 cubic meters per second, as its level continues to decline.
As of Tuesday morning, Angat Dam’s water level further dipped to 178.8 meters, which is below its minimum operating level of 180 meters.
National Water Resources Board (NWRB) Executive Director Sevillo David Jr. told CNN Philippines on Monday this may be decreased again after authorities review the water level of the dam in a week.
In case the allocation is further reduced, Manila Water spokesperson Jeric Sevilla told CNN Philippines’ The Source that the company has existing sources that have not yet been fully utilized, like deep wells.
“The maximum that we can draw here is about 118 million liters of water per day, but currently we’re only using about 50 (million liters per day) so wala pa sa kalahati (it’s not yet even half),” he said.
Sevilla said the last recourse for Manila Water would be interruptions and that the company can also opt to reduce water pressure to still maintain round-the-clock supply.
Meanwhile, Maynilad spokesperson Jen Rufo said households in the west zone may continue to experience water interruptions if the allocation is further reduced.
“But because we have other supply augmentation projects that are in the developing stage, as they come in, the most that we will target is that we won’t have to change these interruptions anymore,” she explained.
Maynilad recently announced that almost 600,000 of its customers will experience service interruptions following the reduction in allocation from the dam.
