Manila Water Company Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its Emergency Preparedness Framework to ensure availability of supply even during emergencies in line with the celebration of the National Disaster Resilience Month.
“In worst-case scenarios threatening Manila Water’s main sources of raw water, the company has standby reservoirs with a total capacity of 437 million [liter] capacity which can provide 4.78 days of water,” it said in a statement.
Manila Water said it has been continuously preparing and improving its capabilities anchored on damage prevention and control, preservation and augmentation and rapid recovery.
The company said to avoid dam breaks and flash floods in the La Mesa Dam portal, it has implemented rehabilitation of the dam’s spillway, extension of the retaining wall and dam instrumentation. La Mesa Dam serves as a strategic reserve for use of the two concessionaires during emergencies and functions as a reliability dam to provide short-term supply.
Floating pumps were also placed in La Mesa Dam to monitor turbidity in raw water especially during the rainy season.
Manila Water said it constructed storm drains and implemented flood proofing in all its facilities in the East Zone especially those located in flood prone areas such as in Marikina City. Flood emergency equipment such as folding boats and floating docks were also procured and deployed.
It said to prevent pipe breakage in main and secondary water lines during disasters, it replaced PVC pipes with HDPE pipes which are more resistant to damage and fatigue. This effort also contributed in keeping Manila Water’s non-revenue water at an average of 13 percent.
Manila Water maintains deepwells to provide 118 million liters per day and emergency online reservoir that has a holding capacity of 50 to 100 cubic meters of water and capable of providing potable water to 10,000 evacuees for three days.
Manila Water said it has four mobile treatment plants that can treat brackish and flood water at 3,500 to 4,000 liters per hour.
It said to support recovery of operations after a disaster and respond to concerns from customers and stakeholders, it procured contingency vehicles and equipment such as mobile Command Center, mobile restrooms, ambulance, 4×4 rescue vehicles, amphibious rescue vehicles, among others.