Maynilad Water: A Tale of NRW Reduction in Metro Manilla - Case Study
In 2007, Maynilad Water Services faced an enormous challenge. They were tasked with providing 100% service coverage in the next few years and connecting an additional 3 million people who lacked access to piped water. All this and effectively no additional water resource.
With NRW running at 1.5 million liters per day, or 66% of total system input, the financial viability of the company was also in question.
The central NRW team was created in 2008 and tasked to lead the ambitious NRW reduction and management program, which at the time was considered to be one of the world`s largest projects in terms of water loss and also magnitude of work required.
The NRW program involved breaking the whole network into hydraulically isolated / measurable areas and then monitoring and diagnosing each area. The team was trained and equipped to detect both surface and sub-surface leaks. Active leakage control, pipe replacement / rehabilitation, removal of illegal connections, integrated meter management, and as always active pressure control were all key components.
By 2013, some 6 years into the program, more than 700 MLD had been recovered, bringing NRW down to 39% and enabling new piped supply to over 400,000 clients. Increased billing volume of 56% and 107% increase in total revenues means the project was good for the consumers and good for the company`s bottom line.
By 2018 the NRW level was down to an all time low of 27%. Today the battle against loss continues as Maynilad strives to embrace the latest technologies to continually push down water losses. Pivotal to this success are the more than 700 Cla-Val 90 Series PRVs deployed across the network, once again proving that strong local partnerships along with quality manufacturing and regional factory support are proven to provide solid, long-term results.
