Saturday, March 7, 2020

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH ANGAT DAM, IPO DAM AND LAMESA WATER TREATMENT PLANT 2 + HOW ROTATIONAL WATER INTERRUPTION WORK

"WALANG TUBIIIIIIGGGGGG".  This was my dilemma last year. Around June when we started experiencing rotational water interruption. And to be honest, isa ako sa mga dismayadong nagshare sa social media tuwing nawawalan kami ng tubig. Reklamo at pagbatikos kung sino man ang nagdedesisyon na ishut-off ang water pipe sa aming lugar. It lasted for months. I was forced to buy mini drums and empty dispensers para tuwing magkakatubig e mag-iipon ako ng bongga para hindi ako magpanic kapag natagalan ibalik ang tubig. And now that summer is just around the corner, my biggest concern is, and I'm sure lahat tayo ay nangangamba, are we going to experience again the rotational water interruption?


Angat Dam view deck

According to science, we need at least 4 basic elements to survive:
Water
Air
Food
Light

Number 1 agad ang water, pero paano ka nga naman magsurvive if minsan matagalan ang pagka wala ng tubig. Andaming tambak na hugasan, walang panligo, if may kids ka pa ang hirap ng walang water. In short, water is our major basic need. Buuutttt...do you ever wonder bakit nagkakaroon ng rotational water interruption? Or bakit minsan walang tubig sa ibang lugar, pero sa ibang lugar meron?

I had a wake-up call and it opened my eyes to see up close and personal ang mga dams. Yes, we visited dams that stores water for Metro Manila and nearby provinces. I learned so much from this trip and I will never look down on people who are working behind the scenes just to provide and give us one of our basic needs - water.

A few days ago, I had a pleasure to go on a trip with my fellow Mommy Bloggers Philippines and together with Maynilad team, we toured the Angat Dam, Ipo Dam and Maynilad’s La Mesa Water Treatment Plant 2 (LWTP2). Angat and Ipo Dam are located at Norzagaray, Bulacan, while LWTP2 is in QC.

Angat Dam

It was my first time to go to these dams and very fortunate to have it explained its real status from the Maynilad team. We went first to LWTP2 to meet other mommies and had a short briefing on what to expect on our trip. After the briefing, we went to Angat Dam naman. It was a 2-hour road trip from QC to Angat. Medyo matarik lang ang daan kasi pa-bundok na sya.


So, what's the real score with Angat Dam, Ipo Dam and LWTP2? Let's take a closer look.

How Angat Dam and Ipo Dam works?

1. Did you know that 91% of Maynilad's raw water supply comes from Angat Dam? The remaining 9% naman ay galing sa Laguna Lake. Maynilad din ang first concessionaire to tap Laguna Lake para gawing additionalsource of raw water supply for Metro Manila.
2. Angat Dam is managed by Angat Hydropower Corporation (AHC). It is a multi-purpose dam, which means it is being used for power generation, for irrigation through National Irrigation Authority (NIA), and for domestic water supply through the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
3. For domestic use, the raw water from Angat Dam flows downward to the much smaller dam called Ipo Dam, then will eventually go down to Novaliches Portal kung saan naman magdidivide between two private concessionaires of the MWSS - Manila Water for the East Zone while Maynilad provides for the West Zone concession and gets 60% share dahil unlike Manila Water, hindi sila kumukuha ng tubig sa La Mesa Dam.
4. The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is the government agency na responsible sa pag allocate ng raw water supply from Angat Dam for MWSS and NIA. The normal allocation for MWSS is 48 cubic meters per second (cms) and it is shared among residents of Metro Manila and nearby provinces like Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan.

Aerial view of Angat Dam

Ipo Dam

How Maynilad is preparing for Summer 2020?
  • As of present, water level sa Angat Dam ay above its minimum operating level pero wala pa rin ito sa ideal level kaya naman tuloy pa rin sa pagpapatupad ang NWRB ng reduced raw water allocation para sa MWSS. Pero dahil papasok na ang summer at hindi na umuulan (huhu), posibleng mas lumala ito. Maynilad is taking measures na to mitigate the impact of the reduced water allocation particularly during  the coming summer months until magstart na ang rainy season. 
  • Maynilad invested in several facilities, treatment plants, technology, replacing old pipes and repairing more than 360,000 pipe leaks, deploying mobile and stationary water tanks, and of course conduction in cloud-seeding operations.
  • And for this year, Maynilad is doing additional mitigating measures to ease the impact of water shortage for their consumers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Short briefing at  Maynilad’s La Mesa Water Treatment Plant 2 (LWTP2)

How daily rotational water service interruptions work?
  • When Maynilad is given less than its usual raw allocation, nagkakaroon ng limited supply ang mga areas, and to ensure that all customers will have an opportunity to store water, areas are given a specific time per day para makapag-ipon ng water. Hindi kelangan sobra sobra ang pag-ipon. Mag-ipon ng sapat lang para hindi din mawalan ng water ang ibang lugar. 
  • The duration of service interruptions per area ay depende sa hydraulic configuration of the pipelines. May mga areas na mas shorter lang ang service interruptions lalo na sa area na mababa o malapit sa Maynilad reservoirs.
  • Once huminto ang water interruption, agaran mag-ipon ng sapat lang. Thousands of households are affected, also. Imagine na these households sabay sabay na mag-iipon, if your area is located sa mababang lugar mas malakas ang water na dadaloy, pero kawawa naman ang mga nasa higher ground dahil naubos na ang allocation for the specific time. 
  • We experienced last year yung discoloration ng water once nag resume ang service. Discoloration is a natural consequence of service interruptions, just let the water flow out until the water becomes clear. If discoloration persists, better report it to Maynilad for further investigation.
How can the community help?
  • If every one of the 15 million Filipinos saves 4 liters of water a day, we can collectively save up to 60 million liters per day. THAT'S A LOT! Mas madaling maka-recover ang water level ng Angat Dam and para mag increase din ang water allocation for the MWSS.
  • Be a responsible user of water. Make sure nakasarado ng mahigpit ang mga gripo kapag hindi ginagamit. Check your pipes if ito ba ay may leak.
  • Use a glass when brushing your teeth.
  • Now that we need more water in washing our hands, make sure nakasarado ang gripo ng maayos habang nagsasabon para walang nasasayang na tubig.
  • Put unused basin or palanggana habang naliligo. Maaring magamit pa ang naipong tubig sa pag flush ng toilet
  • Magdilig ng halaman sa umaga o gabi. Huwag magdilig during day time or kaarawan para hindi mabilis matuyuan ng tubig. Diligan din ito malapit sa ugat.
  • After maglaba ng mga damit, pwedeng gamitin ang pinagsabunan o pinagbanlawan para panglinis ng banyo. 
  • Ipunin ang tubig na pinanghugas sa furits, vegetables at bigas, pwede din itong pandilig ng halaman.
  • Kapag naglilinis ng sasakyan mas mainam gumamit ng tabo at timba sa halip na hose.
  • Masebong kalderon at plato? What I usually do, nag iinit ako ng konting tubig at binababaran ko sya ng mainit. Mas mabilis magtanggal ng sebo at mapapadali ang paghuhugas.
  • Iwasan maglaba araw-araw. Mas makakatipid kapag sabay sabay syang nilabhan.
Mommy Bloggers Philippines at the  Maynilad’s La Mesa Water Treatment Plant 2 (LWTP2)

How to know if may leak ang pipes?
1. Patayin lahat ng gripo
2. Check your metro
3. kapag ito ay patuloy na gumagalaw may leak ang pipe mo.
4. Tumawag ng tubero para mapaayos ito agad.

How to be updated with water interruption advisories?
Just text Maynilad (space) ON (space) Contract Account Number (space) Account Name at send it to 0919-1626000.

Let's work together kung paano tayo makakatipid sa pag gamit ng tubig. Let's all be a responsible user of water. I have a love-hate feeling with summer season. Andyan kasi ang beach, swimming pool, bakasyon, pero kung wala naman tubig, paano magiging masaya, d ba? Kaya as a community, let's work hand in hand with Maynilad. Let's all pray na kung uulan man eto ay sapat lang sa direction ng Angat Dam.

Thank you for opening our eyes and see the real work, Maynilad. Thank you, Mommy Bloggers Philippines.

Salute to all Maynilad workers sa patuloy na pagbibigay serbisyo sa mga Pilipino in providing us clean, potable water. Let's continue to pray for the rain to come and for all Maynilad workers to have strength and wisdom in the coming challenging days.

No comments: