01
About the Utility
Manila Water Company, Inc. is a Philippine corporation whose core business is the East Zone Concession, overseen by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). Its earlier annual reports present concession results under the Manila Concession name. The concession combines water supply with wastewater services, and its tariffs are reset through periodic rate rebasing: the MWSS Board of Trustees approved the company’s adjustments for both the fifth and sixth rebasing periods, the latter running from 2023 to 2027. The East Zone is the financial centre of gravity, generating 79% of consolidated revenue in FY2024, while other business units contribute the remainder. Manila Water reports on a calendar-year basis.
02
Water System
The concession’s supply draws on surface water: in FY2018 the Manila Concession took 587.39 million cubic metres from the Umiray-Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water resource. Water quality has held up well, with no drinking water violations recorded from FY2022 to FY2024 and compliance with drinking water standards at 99.59% in the latest of those years. East Zone non-revenue water has also stayed within the concession’s commitment of below 15% in every year since FY2022, but strain on the network shows in service continuity, with unplanned service disruptions rising from 1,375 in 2023 to 1,519 in FY2024.
03
Wastewater System
Wastewater is a core concession responsibility rather than an adjunct to supply. Manila Water treated 69.79 million cubic metres of wastewater in FY2025, below the FY2023 peak of the ten-year series but up from FY2024. It reported raising sewer coverage to 31.48 percent in 2020, and coverage now carries direct tariff consequences: increases in the environmental and sewer charges from January 2023 were made subject to attaining 30% sewer coverage by the end of 2025. Compliance on discharges has been clean, with no effluent quality violations recorded from FY2022 to FY2024.
Wastewater treated
Manila Water total wastewater treated, million cubic metres, FY2016 to FY2025 (years ending 31 December)
Reported actuals. FY2016 is labelled 'used water treated' in the FY2016-FY2018 environmental indices; its FY2017-FY2018 values match the 2019 report's 'wastewater treated' line exactly.
Sources: Manila Water integrated reports 2019 and 2025, ESG performance data books 2022-2024, environmental performance indices FY2016-FY2018.04
Investment & Priorities
Capital spending has risen markedly, reaching PHP 28.23 billion in FY2025, and the East Zone absorbs most of it, accounting for 89% of group spending in FY2023. Recovery runs through MWSS rate rebasing: the third tranche of the approved tariff adjustment drove an 11% increase in East Zone revenues in FY2025. Financing draws on capital markets as well as lenders, including USD500 million of ASEAN sustainability bonds issued in July 2020, the first by a Philippine corporate. Loan agreements require debt service coverage of at least 1.2:1.
05
Sustainability & Resilience
The company’s energy profile is working against decarbonisation. Renewable sources supplied 9.4% of energy in FY2022 but only 0.7% in FY2024, while market-based emissions from purchased electricity rose in each of those years. Reported totals also changed character once value-chain reporting widened beyond downstream transportation in FY2023, so headline emissions are not comparable with earlier years. Intensity offers a cleaner read: water supply emitted 237.04 tonnes of CO2e per million cubic metres billed in FY2025.
06
Key Challenges
- Delivering rising capital expenditure through the sixth rebasing period while keeping debt service coverage above loan requirements.
- Expanding sewerage to meet the 30% coverage condition attached to higher environmental and sewer charges.
- Maintaining East Zone non-revenue water below the 15% commitment as unplanned service disruptions increase.
- Rebuilding the renewable share of energy use as purchased-electricity emissions grow.
