Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) on Friday, Nov. 10, responded to the reports of consumers seeing “yellowish water” run from their faucets.

“Ito po’y nangyari kahapon ng early morning. Nagkaroon lamang po ng surge o yung pagtaas nung manganese level sa aming raw water mula dun sa Angat ecosystem,” Maynilad Water Supply Operations Head Ronald Padua told DZRH.

“[A]fter a few hours naman po nakapag-adjust din agad ang ating mga planta sa lamesa at naibalik naman po dun sa normal yung color ng water na nandun sa ating sistema,” he added.

Padua explained that the usual dosing of chlorine, often used for disinfecting the bacteria from the water, reacting with the high dosage of manganese that caused the “yellowish” water from their system.

“Ito po yung ginamot natin sa ating planta para po yung nakikita ng mga customer sa kanilang mga gripo ay wala pong kulay,” he said.

The Maynilad operations head also noted that based on their laboratory test, the water was safe for non-potable use despite its unaesthetic appearance.

“Base po sa aming laboratory test, safe naman po siya [...] aesthetically hindi po siya tamang inumin ng ating mga customers pero kung sakali man po kahapon pwede naman po siya panligo, pwede po siyang panlinis ng ating mga gamit at pandilig,” he said.

Padua added that since early afternoon yesterday, the water being distributed to consumers’ faucets have returned to normal.

“Again, humihingi po kami ng paumanhin dun sa aming customers na naapektuhan nito. Asahan niyo po na tuloy-tuloy naman po yung ginagawa ng Maynilad para po maiwasan yung mga similar incident na ito in the future,” he said.