We have had already several typhoons and yet the news for the past few days have been of water shortages and emergency situations. The water in Angat dam this week fell below the record low registered in September 1998, which was an El Niño year. The worry is due to the fact that Angat supplies more than 90 percent of the water supply of Metro Manila and is used by the two water concessionaires in the area, Manila Water in the East Zone and Maynilad in the West.

On the one hand, the low level in Angat is partly due to the recent El Niño event. However, despite the continuing decrease in water levels, water supply to Metro Manila as a whole would not have reached crisis levels if only the concessionaires were prepared for this. Early this July, Maynilad’s allocation of water from Angat had been cut by 30 percent. This translates into about 720 million liters of water a day (MLD) supply loss according to reports.

However, the impact of such reduction would have been softened if the existing systems losses of both can be reduced to a single digit. According to Maynilad Water Services and Manila Water Co., their water distribution systems loss is around 60 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The large percentage of water loss (systems losses or non-revenue water) incurred by the concessionaires literally drains the supply of the metro area. Recently, Manila Water announced that they were even able to reduce theirs down to 15 percent but if both concessionaires are able to fix existing pipelines then at least 500 MLD will be available for the Metro area—enough to tide us over to the full blown rainy season.

Maynilad blames the old pipe network for the high non-revenue water losses saying that these old pipes cannot be replaced overnight and would cause disruption in basic service. While it is true that there are still old pipes in the system, half of the pipes were installed after 1982 and more basic is that these non-revenue water losses can be passed on to consumers by raising their water rates.

Of course, it is not just the distribution system losses that has to be repaired. Supply-side system losses such as leakage in the valves and pipes that transmit from the dam to the filtration and distribution systems of the concessionaires should be looked into in order not to aggravate the low water level in the Angat dam. MWSS had several projects for the past few years to rehabilitate the Angat dam and the downstream channels and pipes but there are still reports that some of these gate valves that help regulate water flow have been leaking.

There is also the use of the dam for electricity production by Napocor, which some sectors have been pointing to as one of the contributing factors to the steady lowering of the water level. The use of water in the dam is also one of the concerns raised by groups in the privatization of the Angat Hydroelectric power plant (Angat HEPP). The Water for the People Network pointed out that selling the Angat HEPP will undermine the access to water for basic domestic use of some 14 million consumers in Metro Manila and several towns in the provinces of Rizal and Cavite. It will also threaten the use of water from Angat dam for the irrigation needs of some 28,000 farmers in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.

We have already seen how the privatization of the water distribution company into Manila Water and Maynilad has not assured the Metro region with a stable water supply. Over a decade has passed since MWSS’ privatisation but we are still facing perennial water problems. Maynilad, once owned by Ondeo (Suez) and the Lopezes, became debt-ridden and unable to raise more capital. It had to be sold to DMCI and MPI, but the company is now faced with this crisis in the West Zone. Manila Water, though comparatively better, is still not immune to the same supply problems and distribution woes as the other half of the Metro.

It has become an easy recourse for the government to privatize the operations of basic utilities that have a direct impact on communities especially if it would give temporary income to the government. From electricity to transportation to water, privatization of public utilities has resulted only in ever increasing rates despite poor services. In the same vein, in order to attract investors, losses—from foreign exchange to systems losses—have been passed on to consumers making it doubly hard for all of us.