MANILA (Updated 9:16 a.m.) -- Water shortage in the country's capital may worsen in the coming weeks as the supply of water at Metro Manila's main reservoir is now only good for one month, the Angat Dam management admitted Tuesday.
Engr. Rodolfo German, plant manager of Angat Dam, said over dzBB radio that although the level of water at the reservoir is slowly rising due to rains brought about by typhoons Basyang and Caloy, the supply is still not enough to address the water shortage in Metro Manila.
He said the water at Angat Dam is now at 157.78 meters above sea level, which is 0.15 meter higher than the 157.53 recorded on Monday. This, he said, might run out in the coming two weeks if the release of water from the dam will not be limited.
German said two more tropical storms are needed to bring back the normal supply of water at Angat dam.
But Prisco Nilo, director of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, said there is no weather disturbance that is set to bring rains to the country in the coming weeks.
He said they have not spotted any Low Pressure Area or monsoon that could bring rains to Metro Manila.
Nilo, however, said the government may conduct cloud seeding operations to induce rains over Angat Dam.
The disruptions in water supply started last Friday in various barangays in 11 cities, as well as in Cavite after Maynilad Water Service Inc., which gets water directly from Angat and supplies more than seven million people in its concession area, received a 30-percent supply cut from the dam due to El Niño and reported leaks on the reservoir's pipes.
"Since February this year, our water allocation from Angat Dam has been steadily reduced because of El Niño... For the month of July, our allocation has been cut by 30 percent and as a result, around 46 percent of our customer base has experienced reduced water pressure," the Maynilad said in a statement.
As of Tuesday, there is no word yet as to when the water supply would be back to normal.
But Maynilad has already implemented mitigating measures, such as deploying water tankers to the affected areas to do water rationing.
It is also closely monitoring the water supply status in its concession areas for necessary adjustments and water rationing arrangements, said Maynilad's chief operating officer Herbert Consunji.
Consunji assured Maynilad's customers that the company is doing everything to alleviate the effect of the 30 percent raw water supply reduction.
The company will also be making representations with the concerned government agencies for additional water supply and appealed to the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Public Works and Highways, and Metro Manila Development Authority to assist it in its leak repair drive.
Other mitigating measures that Maynilad will implement within the next few days are continuous sourcing of additional water tankers (even outside of Metro Manila); tapping public fire trucks to assist in water tankering operations; implementing the appropriate system adjustments depending on efficacy of rotating water schedules; temporarily sourcing additional treated water from the east zone distribution network; installing four more static water tanks; beefing up its call center operations; and establishing additional El Nino hotlines.
Maynilad's concession area in Metro Manila covers the cities of Manila (all except portions of San Andres and Santa Ana), Quezon City (west of San Juan River, West Avenue, Edsa, Congressional, Mindanao Avenue, the northern part starting from the districts of the Holy Spirit and Batasan Hills), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon.
The company also serves the municipalities of Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario in Cavite province. (Sunnex)