Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) recently inaugurated its expanded WATERLab (Water Analytics, Testing, Experimentation and Research Collaboration) located inside the La Mesa compound in Quezon City.
The WATERLab monitors and tests the quality of water supply and waste water effluents within the Maynilad’s concession area composed of certain portions in the cities of Manila and Quezon west of South Super Highway in Makati; Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and, Malabon in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario in Cavite Province.
It is under Maynilad’s Quality, Sustainability and Resiliency (QSR) team headed by lawyer Roel Espiritu with Christine Bagsik as laboratory chief. It is equipped with state-of-the art analytical instruments. The laboratory is accredited by the Department of Health and recognized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as an environmental laboratory.
Present during the inauguration were MWSS Administrator Engr. Leonor Cleofas, MWSS Chief Regulator lawyer Patrick Ty, Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez, and other officials of Maynilad.
While at the La Mesa compound, Administrator Cleofas visited La Mesa Treatment Plants 1 and 2, two of four water treatment facilities maintained and operated by Maynilad. Both treatment plants treat 60% of the raw water at Angat Dam.
During her visit she urged Maynilad executives to complete the technical upgrades and ease the “off-peak interruptions” experienced by Maynilad customers. “Safe drinking water and the reliability of water services should both be addressed, because they are both important to public health,” she told Maynilad executives.
Since 2017, during the term of then MWSS Administrator Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco (Ret.), the two treatment plants have been undergoing upgrades to increase their capacity to treat turbidity in raw water from 300 to 2000 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). Structures have also been retrofitted for increased earthquake resistance.
The retrofits and technical upgrades will result in a reduction of chemical use in the treatment process through improved filtration and sludge treatment, the replacement of motorized mixing with hydraulic mixing, the installation of solar power, the construction of additional facilities, and installation of additional equipment which will automate processes.
“These upgrades will help ensure water security even during calamities,” Velasco said.
During his stint at the water agency, Velasco mapped out a water security plan that included water infrastructure projects to better serve MWSS service areas. He also worked for the rehabilitation of critical watersheds essential to Metro Manila’s water supply through the Annual Million Trees Challenge (AMTC), a successful project now being implemented in collaboration with Million Trees Foundation, Inc. where he sits as Chairman Emeritus.
Velasco resigned from his post last year and is the number one nominee of PRAI (PNP Retirees Association, Inc.), a party-list contender in the May 9 polls.