West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has adopted the Hybrid Sewer System (HSS) concept to help boost its collection of wastewater coming from households that are not eligible for individual sewer connection due to their location in narrow alleys, easements, and other fringe areas.
The HSS concept involves utilizing the drainage connected to the discharge outlet of residences to catch wastewater.
Under this concept, the untreated wastewater coming from households will be intercepted by the hybrid system before it flows into the nearest body of water, and diverted to a sewer line for conveyance to a Maynilad sewage treatment facility where it will undergo proper decontamination before its release to the environment.
Maynilad first adopted the HSS concept at the height of the pandemic in 2020 so it could continue rendering sewerage services. The laying of sewer pipelines using this concept is also more time and cost efficient, as the company no longer has to install a complicated sewer network to connect individual houses located in the outskirts of the city.
“Even in sewered areas where customers are typically given individual sewer connections, there are certain households that are difficult to connect to the existing sewerage system because of their location. The engineering solution we came up with was the HSS, which enabled us to provide sewerage services even to those customers in the periphery of the system, especially those in informal settlements,” said Randolph Estrellado, Maynilad chief operating officer.
To date, Maynilad serves around 93,000 customers in the City of Manila using the hybrid system, thus preventing the direct discharge of untreated wastewater to the following creeks: Kabulusan, Estero dela Reina, Magdalena, Quiapo, San Lazaro, Sampaloc, San Miguel, Binondo, Maypajo, San Sebastian, Sunog de Apog, Uli-Uli, Valencia, Vitas, Estero de Paco, Estero de Balete, Estero de Concordia, Estero de Pandacan, Estero de Provisor & Tanque, Estero de Santebañez, and San Antonio de Abad.
Maynilad has allotted P3.5 billion for the implementation of wastewater projects utilizing the HSS concept in other areas of its concession so it can continue to expand sewerage coverage and protect more esteros from pollution.
