Manila Water and the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) recently inked the first performance- based non-revenue water reduction project in the country that targets to bring more water to the City of Zamboanga by lowering its network loss from a current 48% to 25% by year 2020.
Within the first five years of the ten-year joint agreement, a network restructuring program that will involve the formation of 33 District Metering areas will be implemented. Also, an active leakage reduction program that will focus on extensive leakage detection and system repairs will be performed. This P300 million – agreement sees the decrease in non-revenue water or system loss by 28 million liters per day lower from the current by the first five years of the contract. Continuous implementation of Manila Water’s non-revenue water practice is expected to further decrease this rate in the succeeding years.
Manila Water Chairman Fenando Zobel de Ayala shared that the company is committed in adding great value in Zamboanga City’s goal to improve its water system. “We are excited about this partnership and we look forward to further collaboration with the district towards providing efficient and stable water services to the people of the City” said Zobel. “This initiative is a strategic step towards ensuring the continued viability of Zamboanga City as an economic and cultural center of Mindanao.”
Looking forward, Efren Araňez, Board Chairman of ZCWD said that “with the (water) savings that will arise through the project, the Zamboanga City Water District will be able to expand its services to provide affordable and potable water to the 40 percent water less barangays in the City”.
This project is the Manila Water’s pioneering public partnership program on system loss reduction with a top water district in the country.