Wednesday, 15 September 2010 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]
BY EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO REPORTER
MANILA Water Co. Inc. is set to develop the biggest water improvement program in Laguna.
The Ayala-led utility, through its subsidiary Laguna AAA Water Corp., will invest P1.2 billion to rehabilitate and improve the water distribution network in the cities of Biñan and Santa Rosa and in the municipality of Cabuyao in the said province.
The project, which was forged under a public and private partnership agreement between Manila Water and the local government of Laguna, aims to provide piped water service connections to 400,000 customers.
“This program is very significant as it will help sustain the continuous growth and development momentum of these areas in the next five years. We are glad to take the lead in establishing this important partnership with the private sector to ensure the provision of basic services like clean and potable water supply,” Gov. Jeorge Estregan of Laguna said in a statement.
The area covered by the said locations is home to a number of multinational operations such as Nestle, Coca-Cola and Ford Motors. Also, a number of residential and commercial projects are being undertaken by some of the country’s biggest real estate developers such as Ayala Land Inc., Vista Land and Eton Properties.
Under the project, which was financed through bank loans from Metrobank and China Bank, an initial P500 million will be used to reduce the level of water loss because of leakage and increase distribution efficiency and dependability through the improvement of the supply network.
The program will also cover the rehabilitation of deepwells and a network being operated by Laguna Water in several subdivisions. About eight million liters per day of water or 43 percent of the water loss will be recovered after completion of the pipe replacement project.
Laguna Water will then expand its network to reach unserved areas and integrate the water systems of other subdivisions to its service network.
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