Two plants that would add 420 million liters a day (MLD) to Manila Water's East Zone supply had no announced start of operation as of November 3, 2026. The delay falls just as forecasters warn of a strong El Niño into the first half of 2027.
Raw water arrived first
In 2025 Manila Water bought an 82% stake in WawaJVCo, owner of the Tayabasan Weir and the Upper Wawa Dam in Rizal, for PHP 31.57 billion. The deal closed on September 30, 2025. The dam was completed on December 31, 2025 and began supplying a further 438 MLD of contracted raw water, on top of 80 MLD from the weir since October 2022. Only the 80 MLD Calawis plant is in service to treat that water today.
Treatment is the bottleneck
The 220 MLD Kaysakat plant, a PHP 5.44 billion project fed by Wawa, was targeted for October 2026, but no commissioning date had been announced by mid-October. On Laguna Lake, the 200 MLD East Bay Phase 2 plant at Pakil was first due in early 2025. Its 31.5 km of submarine transmission lines were finished in October 2026, but the plant's start-up has not been announced.
Why the timing matters
Surface water made up 86.1% of Manila Water's 768.93 million m³ of withdrawals in FY2025, up from 83.3% in FY2023, as groundwater use fell. Kaysakat is meant to keep service running when allocations from Angat Dam, the principal source, are cut.
The full report sets out which other supply projects are coming, who pays for MWSS's delayed Kaliwa Dam, how the 2047 concession and the 2037 sanitation deadline affect spending, and what Manila Water's service data show on water loss and disruptions. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Manila Water Company, Inc., is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Manila Water Company, Inc. Utility Snapshot.