by Madelaine Miraflor

After spending P42 billion in the last five years to improve its overall operations, West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) is now gearing up to invest up to P35 billion from 2018 to 2022 for its wastewater projects alone.

Maynilad President Ramoncito Fernandez said in an interview that for the next five years starting 2018, the company would be preparing capital expenditure (capex) of “P30 billion to P35 billion” for its wastewater initiatives.

“That is for wastewater only. Because the focus of Maynilad in the first 10 years (under new ownership) is to reduce non-revenue water losses and use the saved water from the leakages to connect new customers. In the last five years, we rolled out wastewater projects too because that is also part of our obligation to concession,” Fernandez told reporters.

The amount of investment that Maynilad had poured in for other water projects over the last five years already amounted to P42 billion.

For the next five years, Fernandez said the bulk of its P35-billion capex will go to wastewater treatment facilities. In addition, Maynilad will also continue to lay down new pipes, reservoirs, and change leaking pipes.

During a Water Security Forum organized by the Environment Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), Fernandez said the company has been building new facilities such as additional pumping stations and reservoirs to improve the water supply system’s climate change resiliency and to create redundancies in the event of a disaster.

To date, Maynilad’s Putatan Water Treatment Plant is currently undergoing upgrades and retrofitting to enhance treatment capacities in the face of rising turbidity levels in the raw water sources.

Maynilad is also investing around P5 billion for a second plant in Putatan.

“We are putting up Putatan 2 with a capacity of 150 MLD (million liters per day). We hope to commission that before the second half of next year. We are now constructing,” Fernandez said.

On Friday, Maynilad signed a P10.8-billion loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and three of Japan’s largest private commercial banks — namely, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Mizuho Bank Ltd. (Mizuho), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

The borrowed fund will be used by the company to fund its Non-Revenue Water (NRW) and water expansion capital expenditure projects for the next four years.

“Aside from improving operational and network efficiency, the Capex programs will allow Maynilad to meet its service obligations and achieve sustainable growth,” the company said in a statement.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base.

It is the agent and contractor of the 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.