The situation is improving in southern Metro Manila and Cavite after some areas there experienced water service interruptions since December, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) on Wednesday.
MWSS chief regulator Patrick Ty told DZRH in an interview that the water situation in the affected areas is 80% back to normal, unlike months before where water service interruptions.
"Ayon sa ating investigation ay nag-iimprove na po. Nabalik na pakonti-konti ang normal operations nila," said Ty.
(According to our investigation, it is improving. Operations are gradually returning to normal.)
"Right now, this week, 80% na po sila pa-normal. Dati po kasi sobrang baba ng kanilang production," he added.
(Right now, this week, it is already 80% back to normal, unlike before where they saw very low production.)
Households that experienced water service interruptions are consumers under Maynilad after its Putatan Water Treatment Plant was unable to properly filter raw water coming from Laguna De Bay.
This led to water interruptions in the southern area of Metro Manila, sometimes even leading to 15-day long interruptions in services, according to MWSS.
The agency has announced that it is imposing a financial penalty on Maynilad in the form of financial rebates. While the amount is not yet finalized, Ty said consumers should start feeling the rebate by April.
"Ang plano natin ifa-fainlize natin within the month tapos magkakaroon po tayo ng public information drive siguro mga mid-March, tapos po effective na yung rebate na yan sisimula ng Abril," he said.
(The plan is to finalize it within the month and then have a public information drive by mid-March. The rebate will be effective starting April.)
According to the MWSS official, they are still looking at different factors, including the figures submitted by Maynilad, before enforcing the rebates.
"Kailangan pa natin i-determine kung ilan ba talaga ang naapektuhan tapos titignan natin kung gaano katagal 'yung water service interruption," he said.
(We still need to determine how many households were affected and then see how long there experienced water service interruption.)
"So kailangan pa nating i-check 'yung pressure monitoring points ng Maynilad, kaya po medyo tumatagal dahil doon," he added.
(So we also need to check the pressure monitoring points of Maynilad, which is why it is taking long.)
Maynilad has accepted the penalty imposed by the MWSS and blamed the situation on the lack of water supply in Laguna de Bay and the challenging purification process of raw water due to chemical pollutants.
