West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) completed the dredging of the Laguna Lake portion near its water treatment facility in Putatan, Muntinlupa, to help reduce siltation and thus manage the impact of high raw water turbidity on its operations. Maynilad workers—shown in the photo operating the dredging equipment—scoured almost 7.2 hectares of the lake’s surface area, removing more than 50,000 cubic meters of silt from the lake bottom. This Maynilad-initiated lake dredging activity near its treatment plant is a short-term solution to problems of high raw water turbidity in Laguna Lake, which the government can reinforce with its own effort of cleaning and dredging the entire lake.
Besides dredging, Maynilad is also pursuing other long-term solutions to address the raw water quality issues in Laguna Lake and thus ensure sustained water service availability for customers in the south. Among these are the installation of ultrasonic algae control equipment and silt curtain around its treatment facilities, more frequent replacement of filters, and regular clean-up of tributaries that drain out to Laguna Lake to protect its water quality and ensure its sustainability as a source for drinking water.