San Miguel Corporation (SMC), through its Luzon Clean Water Development Corp. (LCWDC), will make available potable and affordable water from the Angat reservoir to more than 350,000 households in Bulacan by early 2025 as it starts implementation of Stage 3A of the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project (BBWSP) covering the water districts of Baliwag, Norzagaray, Hagonoy, Pandi, San Ildefonso, San Miguel and San Rafael.
LCWDC currently supplies treated bulk water to 13 water districts of Bulacan that, in turn, distribute to 220,000 households in cities and municipalities that include Balagtas, Bocaue, Marilao, City of Meycauayan, Obando, City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulakan, Calumpit, Guiginto, City of Malolos, Paombong, Plaridel and Sta. Maria.
Worth noting is the fact that LCWDC has been providing Bulacan water districts the lowest bulk water charge in the country at P9.66 per cubic meter or less than 1 centavo per liter.
Full completion of Stage 3 of the BBWSP will bring the total coverage of LCWDC to 24 areas in Bulacan.
“With the growing population in the province, we expect a greater demand for water in the coming years. As such, our BBWSP teams are working double time to further expand our coverage areas to allow more households to benefit from reliable, affordable, clean, and potable supply of water. We still have a long way to go given the delays brought about by the pandemic, but with the support of local government units, water districts, and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), we are confident we can meet our targets on time,” Ang said.
Ang added that SMC is committed to fulfilling the objectives of the project which is to meet the increasing demand for water that’s potable, affordable, and reliable without the adverse environmental impact brought about by excessive groundwater extraction.
The Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project produces an average volume of 190 million liters per day, and has a maximum capacity of 388 million liters per day.
The BBWSP is only one of SMC’s several water-related initiatives in recent years.
In 2017, SMC discontinued its bottled water business as part of efforts to reduce the company’s impact on the environment. The company also initiated a program to reduce its group-wide water use by 50 percent by 2025.
SMC also completed its P 1-billion Tullahan River cleanup last September with 1.12 million tons of wastes removed in just two years from the river. The company is also currently undertaking the P2-billion cleanup of the Pasig River to boost flood mitigation efforts in Metro Manila cities that are located near the water tributary.