West zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) reported Friday the completion of the replacement of 224 kilometers of old, leaky and undersized pipelines in Caloocan City.
“We actually aim to replace a total of 244 kilometers of old pipelines in Caloocan City, so the 224 kilometers of pipes replaced brings us to 92 percent of our target. Simultaneously, we are also conducting pipe replacements in other cities where water loss is high. In this way, we can accelerate volume recovery and boost available supply for distribution during El Niño,” said Maynilad president and chief executive Ramoncito Fernandez.
The P829-million pipe replacement project, which started in 2019, installed a new set of pipelines with bigger and wider pipes in 20 Caloocan barangays. The new pipes are capable to answer to demand surges in the area as population grows.
The water company said some of the pipes, installed even before the privatization regime, were about 70 years old. These old pipes were responsible for leaks that cause low water pressure in the area.
The replacement project enabled Maynilad to recover about six million liters per day (MLD) of water, after years of construction in measured phases to manage impact on traffic.
Maynilad allocated P11 billion for pipe replacement projects from 2023 to 2027, in various portions of its concession area. The company is replacing a total of 477.2 kilometers of old, leaky pipes within the period, in line with its program to upgrade the distribution system and reduce water losses.
The company said that since its re-privatization in 2007, it already replaced around 3,188 kilometers of old pipes—about the same length as the distance between Manila and Tokyo in Japan.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base.