By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
The Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) has admitted that addressing non-revenue water (NRW)—water lost due to leaks—is a significant challenge.
MIWD General Manager Alfredo Tayo attributed the problem to the water system’s aging infrastructure, which dates back to the American colonial period.
“This is a big step to start with. Our pipes here date back to the American period. Every time we inject water, we do not know where the endpoint is or the possible leakage,” he said.
Repairing the pipes is further complicated by the need to secure excavation permits from multiple agencies.
“We cannot just excavate because it requires an excavation permit. We have to secure permits from a lot of agencies before we can excavate,” he added.
Since 2019, MIWD has detected over 16,000 leaks across its 650-kilometer water system, averaging 400 leaks per month.
To tackle the losses, MIWD divided the water network into hydraulic systems and metered areas to identify specific sources of water loss.
For instance, in Bakhan in the Mandurriao district, a complete pipe replacement reduced water loss from 70% to 20%.
MIWD has also replaced over 23,000 water meters out of 40,000 units, standardizing them to minimize commercial losses.
Tayo noted that Metro Pacific Iloilo Water, MIWD’s distribution network, is implementing a major pipe replacement project in Iloilo City. The project uses state-of-the-art molecularly oriented polyvinyl chloride pipes imported from Spain.
The project, with a budget of PHP 336 million, will stretch approximately 14.97 kilometers from Barangay Ungka to Jaro Plaza. It aims to reduce non-revenue water in the Jaro district from 70% to 25%.
“We will no longer be using steel pipes, which are susceptible to leakages,” he added.
Since 2019, MIWD has allocated PHP 2.1 billion for capital expenditure projects, including PHP 811.5 million for 38 NRW reduction projects.
As of November, 25 projects worth PHP 181.7 million have been completed, five projects worth PHP 394 million are ongoing, and eight projects worth PHP 235.8 million are in the pipeline.
Additionally, PHP 1.2 billion has been allocated for 34 service expansion and improvement projects, while PHP 110.8 million is earmarked for 16 water distribution enhancement projects.
