West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) is spending over Php3 billion to upgrade 17 of its existing 22 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) over the next five years.
The upgrade involves adding treatment processes in these 17 STPs to enhance nutrient-removal capability, in compliance with the revised effluent standards (DAO 2021-19) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which set more stringent wastewater treatment guidelines versus those imposed in other countries.
Maynilad’s Parañaque Water Reclamation Facility—currently its biggest STP in terms of volume output—is already compliant with DAO 2021-19. By 2027, all 22 existing wastewater treatment plants in the West Zone—which have a combined treatment capacity of around 684,707 cubic meters of wastewater per day—will be upgraded to conform to DAO 2021-19 standards.
Meanwhile, the new STPs that Maynilad plans to construct in the succeeding years will already have those upgraded nutrient-removal processes factored in its treatment capacity design.
Maynilad’s wastewater treatment facilities remove harmful substances from the wastewater generated by Maynilad customers before it is discharged to receiving bodies of water, thus contributing to the clean-up and rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
The upgrade of these 17 STPs is part of Maynilad’s Php178-billion wastewater management spending plan from 2023 to 2046, which aims to expand sewer coverage and manage pollution loading in bodies of water. Also included in this program are the construction of 18 new STPs in different areas within the West concession, and the installation of around 360 kilometers of new sewer lines that will catch and convey used water from households to STPs, among other wastewater-related projects.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is the concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.
PHOTO CAPTION: Maynilad is spending around Php3 billion from 2023 to 2027 to upgrade 17 of its 22 existing STPs to meet the revised effluent standards of the DENR. The photo shows Maynilad’s Pasay Water Reclamation Facility currently undergoing upgrades, in line with the company’s mandate to protect community health and the environment through proper wastewater management and sanitation.
