Due to the El Niño, the water level in the Angat Dam has decreased by 20.6 meters from December 31 until March 22.
From 204.74 meters, the water level is at 184.14 meters according to the data from Maynilad Waters which gets its main water supply from the Angat Dam.
193 meters is the level that ensures normal water supply and with the water level being nearly nine meters below, there is reason for alarm especially since we are in the midst of a dry spell.
Based on their records the dam has been decreasing by 0.4 meters daily which has affected one percent of their consumers, as of March 10, and have projected it to rise from six to 10 percent in the coming summer months.
As the main water supplier to the western portion of Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon, Maynilad promises that “May lalabas na tubig sa gripo ng mga tao,” (Water will be coming out of people’s faucets) according to the Head of the
Corporate Affairs and Public Relations office, Cherubim Ocampo.
More households this coming summer are expected to have reduced water pressure and some inconsistencies in their water supply schedule. If the drought will be severe, they have projected reduced water pressure in 20 to 24 percent of the household consumers.
According to Ocampo, there are plans of installing static water tanks in the hard hit areas during the months of April and May. Hard hit areas are those that are elevated and are located farther away from the service area.
The usual water supply that Maynilad gets is about 2400 million liters per day (MLD) and now they are only getting 2250 MLD. By next week, they have projected it to drop to 2200 MLD.
Only one dam from the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of Metro Manila’s water, is experiencing a large decrease in water levels. The Ipo dam has decreased by less than a meter over the same period of time
This means that the ones to suffer from the drought will be the ones that come from the areas to which Maynilad supplies water. These areas are
In 1998, the dam’s water level decreased to as low as 158.15 meters and this year the Metropolitan Waterworks Sewerage System expects it to become even less with a projecting a 158.01 measurement by June.
The daily average consumption of industrial, residential, semi-business and commercial consumers are as follows: 5.29 cubic meters (cu.m), 0.94 cu.m, 1.95 cu.m, and 4.11 cu.m. Semi-business consumers are residents who own business in their homes.
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