Philippines-based private water utility company Maynilad Water Services is constructing a new water treatment facility. The plant will be built in the city of Muntinlupa, situated 22km south of Metro Manila in the Philippines.
Once operational, the treatment facility is expected to produce 100 million litres of water per day. It will serve around 105,000 households in Alabang, Bayanan, Poblacion, Putatan, Tunasan and New Alabang.
The initial ceremony for the $27m plant was held on 6 February 2009 and it is expected to be completed in June 2010.
The new treatment plant will source water from Laguna Lake. It is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third-largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia (in terms of surface area).
Water purification
To ensure that water drawn from Laguna Lake will be fit for drinking, an advanced process of microfiltration and reverse osmosis will be adopted to purify the water. The design specifications of the proposed plant are also in compliance with the standards of the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
Microfiltration is a process of removing contaminants ranging between 0.1 and 10 microns from fluids, by passage through a microporous membrane. Reverse osmosis is an example of membrane separation process which uses the principle of osmotic pressure and the selectivity of membrane in separating undesirable constituents from clean water quality. Its application has been extended to the removal of pathogenic microorganisms, dissolved solids, anions and trace-heavy metals.
Residents and establishments in Muntinlupa City and neighbouring areas currently draw water from deep wells. Providing surface water will prevent over-extraction of groundwater from the deteriorating deep wells, which is affected by saltwater intrusion.
The water treatment plant project in Muntinlupa is the second installment in Maynilad's plan to bring potable water to the south. In 2008, the company inaugurated its Surface Water Supply Delivery Project, which brought surface water for the very first time to Cavite City and Noveleta in Cavite Province. New infrastructure was laid to bring surface water from Angat Dam in Bulacan to far-flung areas in the southernmost portion of the West Concession.
Government concession
Maynilad is the water and wastewater services provider for the 17 cities and municipalities that comprise the West Zone of the greater Metro Manila area.
"The water treatment plant in Muntinlupa is the second installment in Maynilad's plan to bring potable water to the south."
In 1997, the company was granted a 25-year exclusive concession by the Philippine Government, through the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), to operate, maintain and invest in the water and sewerage system in Caloocan, Las Piñas, Malabon, Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Parañaque, Valenzuela, parts of Quezon City, a part of Makati, Cavite City, and the municipalities of Rosario, Imus, Noveleta, Bacoor and Kawit in Cavite.
Currently, Maynilad supplies 2,100 million litres of water per day to around 6 million people in the West Zone.
Management
DMCI-MPIC Water Co, a joint venture of two infrastructure-based companies DMCI Holdings and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, manages Maynilad.
The DMCIHI-MPIC consortium took control of Maynilad on 24 January 2007.
MPIC's major stake in Maynilad is consistent with its goal to become a key participant in the Philippines' economy, through critical infrastructure and utility investments.
