Water Outages to Hit Manila Again as Dam Dries Up

(Bloomberg) -- Water outages will again hit the Philippine capital due to reduced supply at its main reservoir despite the start of the rainy season.

Manila Water Co. Inc., a unit of Ayala Corp., on Tuesday said the eastern part of the capital will have supply interruptions for eight to 12 hours starting later Tuesday. Maynilad Water Services Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., also told customers in a Facebook post to expect hours without supply.

Decreasing water level in Angat Dam, the capital's main source, has forced the government's National Water Resources Board to reduce supply, the two water concessionaires said.

The reservoir is over a meter away from its critical level, and the state agency said rains aren’t expected to replenish the dam until end-June due to a “monsoon break” or a dry period during the rainy season. The outages come months after Metro Manila was hit by the worst water shortage in nearly a decade.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net

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