Metro Manila Water Distribution System

The Philippines’ main sources of water are rivers, lakes, river basin, and groundwater reservoir. The
longest and largest river, Cagayan River, discharge s approximately 53, 943 million cubic meter of water
annually. Its groundwater reserves are 47, 895 million cubic meters replenished by rainfall and seepage
from rivers and lakes. The lakes are utilized mainly for fish cultivation. The four major groundwater
reservoir are in Cagayan, Central Luzon, Agusan , and Cotabato. There are 438 major dams and 423
smaller dams

The main source of Metro Manila’s water supply are:

 Angat Dam
 Ipo Dam
 La Mesa Dam

The water from these dams then processed by the La Mesa Dam and Balara Treatment Plants. Which
converts it from a raw state to clean and potable water.

SERVICE AREA

The MWS service are is divided into two operating zones: the East zone, managed by the Manila Water
Company Inc. (MWCI) and the West Zone, which Maynilad operates.

FEATURES MAYNILAD
 Maynilad is the private concessionaire that was awarded the exclusive right to take over from the
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)
 It handle the water supply and sewerage operation in the West Zone of Metro Manila.
 The West Zone comprises 60% of the MWSS service population

WATER SOURCE
Where does Metro Manila draws water?
 Umay-Angat-Ipo in Norzagaray, Bulacan and Laguna Lake.

ANGAT DAM
The heart of the system. Which is a Multi-purpose dam and is intended for power. Ittigation amd water
supply.
The Angat multi-purpose dam located in Norzagaray, Bulacan has a capacity of 850 MC with an
operating level of 181-214M and a low level outlet (LLO) at 101 m.

ANGAT WATERSHED
Angat watershed area, which in the Northern tip og the Sierra Madre Mountain rangers, has an area of
about 62,000 hectares. An additional 9 cubic meters per second (CMS) from the umiray transbasin tunnel
flows to Angat daily from the Umiray River.

LAGUNA LAKE
The Laguna Lake was identified in 2009 as an alternate water source to Angat Dam. And in 2010 a state-
of-the-art treatment plant was built in Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa to make sure that water drawn
from the lake is fit for domestic consumption.
DISTRIBUTION
Central Distribution Center – origination from La Mesa treatments Plants 1 & 2, small independent,
distribution network centered on deep wells and the Putatan Pumpimg Station supplied by the Putatan
Treatment Plant.

PIPELINES
To check the integrity of pipelines, gauging points are placed in different areas in the distribution system.
From the pumping stations water is distributed to the customers. An estimated population of 9.5 million
through a network pf pipelines:
 Primary
 Secondary
 Tertiary mains

SIZE PF PIPES
The size of the pipe size ranges from 50mm to 3200mm and is broken down as follows.
 583 km of primary main (350 to 3200 mm diameter)
 1,038 km of secondary mains (200-300mm diameter)
 5,328 km of tertiary main (<200 mm diameter)
Primarily, steel pipes ranging from 350 mm diameter to 600mm diameter are cement coated (inside
lining), while those ranging from 750 mm to 2200 mm have asphalt lining.

TYPES OF MATRIAL USED FOR PIPES

 Asbetos cement
 Cast iron
 Concrete
 Steel
 Black iron
 Ductile iron
 PVC

WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY

Treated water produced by Maynilad is intended for general consumption by ingestion from drinking
and food preparation and other domestic purposes as well as commercial and industrial use. Conforming
to standards set by the latest edition of Philippine National Standard for Drinking Water ensure that
Maynilad’s water is safe and potable to drink without further treatment or boiling by the consumers.

ISSUES
As of january 2019, 97.73% of the customers have a 24-hour uninterrupted water supply. While 2.27%
have intermitted water due to low pessure, or no water at all due to inadequacy of the water supply.

THE 12 BUSINESS AREAS WHERE WATER IS DISTRIBUTED AND HANDLE THE NUMEROUS
SERVICE CONNECTION ARE:
 Novaliches-Valuenzela
 Fairview-Commonwealth
 North Caloocan
 Malabon-Navotas
 South Caloocan
 Quirino-Roosevelt
  South Manila-Pasay-Makati
 Sampaloc
 Tondo
 Muntinlupa-Las pinas
 Paranaque
 Cavite

Drinking water quality

Water quality usually does not meet the standards set by the national government, especially in urban
areas. As a result, waterborne diseases remain to be a severe public health concern in the country. About
4,200 people die each year due to contaminated drinking water.

Non-revenue water
Non-revenue water (NRW) is defined as the difference between the amount of water put into the
distribution system and the amount of water billed to consumers. It is usually used as an indicator for
water utility performance. High levels of non-revenue water usually indicate low-quality water utility. It
has three components:

 Physical losses, which consist of leakage from the system caused by poor operations and
maintenance, the lack of active leakage control, and poor quality of underground assets.
 Commercial losses, caused by under-registration of water meters, errors in data handling, and
theft.
 Unbilled authorized consumption, which includes water used by a specific utility for
operational purposes (e.g. firefighting and specific consumer groups).

Non-revenue water decreased in the East Zone of Metro Manila since privatization. In 1996, Manila had
an NRW of 61%, while capital cities from other Asian countries ranged from having 35–38%. In 2002,
NRW dropped to 53% in the East Zone. On the other hand, non-revenue water in the West Zone
increased as the primary water work utility encountered severe financial problems. According to Manila
Water, one of the private concessionaires, the share of NRW continued to fall until the end of 2010 where
it reached 11%.

According to the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), the average share of NRW among
participating service providers was 27.5% in 2004. The particularly high NRW of Manila's West Zone was
confirmed to have a record with 68%. Generally, the smaller utilities performed better concerning NRW
than the larger ones. However, many NRW data are based on estimates, given the fact that only 15 of the
45 service providers had 100% production and consumption metering coverage.

Other challenges
The NWRB Philippines Towns Water Utilities 2004 Data Book found an average of 7 employees per 1,000
connections in 2004. On average, private utilities performed best and systems directly managed by LGU’s
performed worst. Not surprisingly, providers with more than 10,000 connections need significantly fewer
employees per connection than those with fewer than 10,000 connections.

Issue
 Drinking water quality water quality does not meet the standards set by the national government,
especially in urban areas. As a result, waterborne diseases remain to be a severe public health concern in
the country .About 4,200 people die each year due to contaminated drinking water

The right to water is a basic human right. “A person can survive only three to five days without water, in

some cases people have survived for an average of one week,” says the water page.com. “Once the body

is deprived of fluids the cells and organs in the body begin to deteriorate. The presence of water in the

body could mean the difference between life and death.”

Studies have shown that Filipinos consume about 310 to 507 million cubic meters of water each day. “A

household of five needs at least 120 liters per days to meet basic needs – for drinking, food preparation,

cooking and cleaning up, washing and personal hygiene, laundry, house cleaning,” wrote David

Satterthwaite and Gordon Mc Granahan in their collaborative report published in the State of the World a

few years back.

Life, as we know it, cannot exist without water. As Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Hungarian biochemist and

Nobel Prize winner for medicine, puts it: “Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is

no life without water.”

That’s why when you are thirsty, drink water. “Getting enough water every day is important for your

health,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminds. “Healthy people meet their

fluid needs by drinking when thirsty and drinking with meals. Most of your fluid needs are met through

the water and beverages you drink.”

There are other sources of water aside from the obvious glass of water. “You can also get this critical

nutrient from food,” says the website, www.universalclass. com. “Vegetables like lettuce, cucumber,

tomato, sugar snap peas, and celery have a very high-water content, which also makes them very low in

calories but still high in nutrient value. Fruits like oranges, pineapples, strawberries, and others, also have

high water content. Broth based soups, milk, and juices do contain a high percentage of water.”

But how much water should you drink? “Enough to pass two quarts of urine a day,” says Dr. Peter D.

Fugelso, medical director of the Kidney Stone Department at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in California. “If
you’ve been working out in the garden all day under the hot sun, that could mean you’ll need to drink

two gallons,” he adds. “It’s the amount of urine that matters.”

A bit of caution: don’t overdrink water. In an article which appeared in “Daily Mail,” Sophie Borland

wrote that drinking too much water “can be bad for your health.” She said that British actor Anthony

Andrews, who starred in the ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, was hit by the illness after drinking

too much water during rehearsals for a West End role in 2003.

Borland cited a study done by Glasgow-based GP Margaret McCartney which showed that drinking

when not thirsty “can impair concentration, rather than boost it.”

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr. McCartney also pointed out that “drinking excessive amounts

can also lead to loss of sleep as people have to get up in the night to go to the toilet, and other studies

show it can even cause kidney damage, instead of preventing it.”

Water is not only for drinking. In the Philippines, water is the single most important component for

sustainable rice production, especially in the traditional rice growing areas. Current rice production

systems consume a high amount of water. It takes about 3,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of

rice, reports the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

In his book, Food Revolution, author John Robbins said that 23 gallons of water is needed to produce one

pound of lettuce, 23 gallons for one pound of tomatoes, 24 gallons for one pound of potatoes, 25 gallons

for one pound of wheat, 33 gallons for one pound of carrots, and 49 gallons for one pound of apples.

Meat production also consumes a lot of water. “Agriculture uses about 70% of the world’s available

freshwater, and one third of that is used to grow the grain fed to livestock,” reports the World watch

Institute.

Beef, the meat used in most fast food outlets, is by far the most water-intensive of all meats. “The more

than 15,000 liters of water used per kilogram is far more than is required by a number of staple foods,

such as eggs (3,300 liters per kilogram), milk (1,000 liters), or potatoes (255 liters).”
The US Department of Commerce 1992 Census of Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey,

published in 1994, reported that one pound of pork needs at least 1,630 gallons of water to produce but in

contrast one pound of beef requires 5,214 gallons of water.

“Producing beef is much more resource-intensive than producing pork or chicken, requiring roughly

three to five times as much land to generate the same amount of protein,” the World watch Institute

points out. “Beef production alone uses about three fifths of global farmland but yields less than 5% of the

world’s protein.”

Around the world, more than 40% of wheat, rye, oats, and corn production is fed to animals, along with
250 million tons of soybeans and other oil seeds. “Feeding grain to livestock improves their fertility and
growth, but it sets up a factor competition for food between animals and people,” the World watch
Institute says.

Many of us don’t think twice about turning on the tap to get a glass of water. But that’s a luxury for many
people. One in three people worldwide doesn’t have access to clean water. UN-endorsed projections
estimate that in just ten years, global demand for water will outstrip supply by 40 percent. Climate
change, population growth, pollution, agricultural practices, and failing water infrastructure are all
contributing to the global water crisis.

While the situation is dire, there are many solutions that can begin to address global water scarcity. These
include increasing awareness so we all understand the scope of the issue and potential solutions;
investing in new technologies and methods to conserve and manage water; and motivating industry,
government, and individuals to take collective action.

Here are some of the ways we can make a difference:

Increase awareness and education about water scarcity. It’s critical to generate awareness about the
crisis and motivate people, businesses, and government agencies to take action. This includes educating
people about the scope and impact of water scarcity, how to conserve water, and how to support water
organizations helping people get access to clean water.

Invest in innovative technologies. There are promising new technologies like wastewater recycling,
energy-efficient desalination plants, solar and UV water filtration, nanofiltration, and rainwater
harvesting systems that can help address water scarcity.

Make agricultural irrigation more efficient. Almost 70 percent of our fresh water is used in agriculture.
Enhanced soil moisture sensors, monitoring, weather stations, and communications systems can provide
more accurate data to ensure water is not wasted. Growing less water-intensive crops should also be
explored.
Improve water infrastructure. In the US, 2.1 trillion gallons of clean water are lost each year because of
failing infrastructure. This not only wastes water, it wastes money. Innovative water distribution
management technologies like leak detection and analytics solutions can increase a utility’s efficiency,
reduce labor costs and minimize leaks.

Reduce water pollution. Stopping industry and individuals from dumping toxic substances into our
water supplies and being able to accurately monitor water quality are critical steps to improving access to
clean water. Consumers should dispose of toxic substances safely rather than pour them down the drain.

Encourage water conservation. Some everyday tips we can all do include:

 Fill sink with water when washing dishes instead of letting the water run.
 Use a bucket to catch the water while waiting for the shower to warm up.
 Don’t let the water run when brushing teeth.
 Install water-saving fixtures and appliances.
 Flush toilets only when necessary.
 Eliminate leaks in bathtubs, faucets, and toilets.
 Replace a high-flow shower head with low-flow ones.
 Use a broom to clean sidewalks instead of water hoses.

water supply system

 infrastructure for the collection, transmission, treatment, storage, and distribution of water for homes,
commercial establishments, industry, and irrigation, as well as for such public needs
as firefighting and street flushing. Of all municipal services, provision of potable water is perhaps the
most vital. People depend on water for drinking, cooking, washing, carrying away wastes, and other
domestic needs. Water supply systems must also meet requirements for public, commercial, and
industrial activities. In all cases, the water must fulfill both quality and quantity requirements.
Institutional support

Developing and implementing source water protection plans requires effective institutions responsible
for source water protection planning, implementation and management. For example, drinking-water
supply agencies or water suppliers are often not responsible for managing source water catchment areas
and may not necessarily have the appropriate expertise to develop and implement source water
protection plans. Institutional arrangements should be put in place to assist with and/ or assume these
responsibilities. There are many examples of mechanisms for the establishment of such arrangements,
such as Memoranda of Understanding, legally-binding contractual agreements and performance
contracts. As public health and environmental interests often overlap significantly, cooperation between
public health and environmental authorities in the field of source water protection is of strategic
importance and should be pursued with priority.

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