West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) and the Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) of Malaysia recently mentored the Baliwag Water District (BWD) in Bulacan on the design and construction of a new septage treatment plant (SpTP).
This mentoring project is part of the multi-recipient water operator partnership facilitated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Under this project, Maynilad and IWK will share their technical expertise and train several water districts on septage management. Aside from BWD, other water districts Maynilad and IWK mentored are Cabanatuan, Metro Cebu, Calamba and Laguna.
“Many areas outside Metro Manila still do not have access to sustainable water and wastewater services. We are grateful for the opportunity to help out these water districts. Hopefully, these partnerships will result in better services for their customers," said Maynilad President and CEO Ricky Vargas.
BWD held the ground-breaking ceremony for its new SpTP last February 2012. Once completed, this facility would make BWD the first water district in the country to own, manage and operate such a facility.
An SpTP treats septage—the solid and liquid material collected from septic tanks—before disposal so that it does not cause harm to health and the environment. The 2004 Philippine Clean Water Act requires local government units and water districts to provide their jurisdiction with new wastewater infrastructure and initiatives. In response, BWD is implementing a septage management program as part of its efforts to improve access to sanitation services.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is a concessionaire of the MWSS for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (all but portions of San Andres & Sta Ana), Quezon City (west of San Juan River, West Avenue, EDSA, Congressional, Mindanao Avenue, the northern part starting from the Districts of the Holy Spirit & Batasan Hills), Makati (west of South Super Hi-way), Caloocan, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; Cavite City, and the towns of Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.
