Maynilad finally brings surface water to Cavite September 5

CAVITE City mayor Bernardo “Toti” Paredes, Noveleta mayor Enrico Alvarez and Maynilad president Rogelio Singson will inaugurate today, September 5, 2008, two 600-mm mainline projects that will finally bring surface water from Angat to more areas and improve service levels in Cavite.

The first project, costing P105.5 million, benefited Cavite City and involves the laying of 1,013.5 meters of new pipelines along General Tirona Highway, Kawit, Cavite. Two bridge pipe crossings spanning Panamitan and Malamok Bridge have also been constructed to complement the pipelaying.

With the completion of this project, Maynilad will be able to improve service to 9,100 existing service connections in Cavite City, and increase coverage of the area from 54% to 62% by the end of 2008 with 1,500 additional households connected to Maynilad.

Although Cavite City currently has 24-hour groundwater supply sourced from eight local deepwells, water pressure only ranges from 0 to 5 psi. and is augmented by the Noveleta Booster Pump within the limited supply window of 4 a.m. to 10 a.m.

“With the surface water coming from Angat Dam, the supply will be improved through another boosting schedule in the afternoon from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” Maynilad's Cavite-Las Piñas Business Area technical manager Orly Tabula explained.

Cavite City zone head Levi Ambat added, “Surface water from Angat will dilute the groundwater at first, but eventually we will supply 100% surface water as we build up our capability to push water when the pumps at Noveleta Booster are refurbished. Rehabilitation of the said booster station is now on-going.”

Meanwhile, residents of Noveleta can expect better water service in the coming months with the completion of another 600-mm surface water project for their town. Under this effort, 3,472 meters of new pipelines were installed along Magdiwang St. from San Juan St. to Noveleta Reservoir, and along Tirona Highway in Kawit, Cavite. The P246 million project was completed early this year.

This second project will allow Maynilad to enhance water service to some 1,300 existing service accounts in the area. At present, only 11 out of 17 barangays in Noveleta are partly served by Maynilad, while the remaining six are still unserved.

“ Bagama't mararamdaman pa lang ang dagdag na supply, marami na ang nagpapabukas muli at nagpapakabit ng serbisyo ,” Maynilad's Noveleta-Rosario zone head Emma Malapad noted.

Cavite City and Noveleta sit at the southwestern tip of Maynilad's West concession, which is difficult to reach with surface water that comes all the way from Angat Dam in Bulacan. Cavite-Las Piñas Business Area head Nestor Divinagracia noted that surface water travels more than 100 kilometers before it reaches Cavite.

More residents in the south are now enjoying increased water supply and pressure with Maynilad's completion of several Capital Expenditure Projects (CAPEX) worth P5 billion in 2007 and around P8 billion this year.

Singson said that these projects are in line with the mission of new owners DMCI-Metro Pacific to significantly improve service levels in the West Concession since they took over Maynilad in January 2007.

“Apart from improving and expanding surface water coverage, especially to still unserved areas of the West Zone, one of our key priorities is to improve the pipe network and bring down our Non-Revenue Water so that water lost through leaks can be brought to unserved areas,” Singson added.