Maynilad Water Services Inc. plans to expand its bulk water supply operations to support company growth, its newly-appointed chief operating officer said.
Christopher Jaime Lichauco, who replaced Randolph Estrellado upon his retirement on Aug. 31, said the company is now more interested in bulk water supply rather than distribution outside its west zone concession area.
Lichauco relayed this to business editors over lunch, where he denied that Maynilad was in talks with Primewater Infrastructure Inc., which holds 75 joint ventures with local water districts across the country.
Maynilad aims to expand its treated bulk water business through its subsidiary, Philippine Hydro Inc.
Lichauco said the company is looking to supply treated bulk water to more local water districts in Bulacan, Cavite and other areas near Metro Manila.
A company executive said that within its west zone concession, Maynilad is concentrating on reducing its non-revenue water (NRW) level.
Maynilad cut its NRW level to 32.8 percent by September 2025, just outside the international standard of 20 percent to 30 percent, which enabled profit growth.
This is a substantial improvement from the 45-percent NRW level recorded during the pandemic when leak repairs were halted. The level stood at 38.4 percent in 2024 and 43 percent in 2023.
The utility said that the drop in the NRW level over the 12 months ending September 2025 saved 231 million liters of water per day (MLD), equivalent to the production capacity of a large water treatment plant. Maynilad operates five major water treatment plants.
The utility repairs thousands of leaks monthly, fixing over 57,000 leaks last year. The company uses advanced technologies, including acoustic sensors and AI-assisted monitoring, to trace the leaks.
The Maynilad official said leak repairs were critical to reducing water losses, noting that about 80 percent to 90 percent of water losses could be traced to physical leaks, while only 10 percent to 20 percent were due to commercial losses, such as illegal connections.
Maynilad, which recently raised P34.3 billion from its initial public offering (IPO), reported a core net income of P11.4 billion in the first nine months of 2025, an 18.1-percent increase from a year earlier.
Revenues rose 9.5 percent to P27.7 billion on the back of an 8-percent tariff increase implemented at the start of the year.
