Officers and Staff of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) inspected the ongoing seismic retrofitting project of East Zone Concessionaire Manila Water Company, Inc (Manila Water) and toured the construction site to see firsthand the progress of the project on Tuesday, 17 March in Rizal province. The inspection and monitoring team was led by Engr. Gerardo Sullano, MWSS-RO Deputy Administrator for Technical Regulation Area (TRA). Joining him was Engr. Joel Dominguez, Acting Supervising Water Utilities Regulation Officer. “The inspection included a briefing from the projects lead officials of Manila Water. With construction underway, we took a tour on the seismic retrofitting activity of main transmission line to inspect the progress firsthand,” Sullano said. Officials of Manila Water assured the MWSS-RO that the installation of seismic joints to support Manila Water’s 1300mm main transmission line in Rodriguez, Rizal stayed on track and expected to be complete as scheduled. This project is part of Manila Water’s natural calamity mitigation plan that will ensure reliability of water services to thousands of residents in the East Zone in the event of natural calamities such as earthquakes. The project entails the installation of 11 seismic joints at three major points along the 1.3 meter-diameter pipe that crosses the West Valley Fault. Field monitoring is conducted by the MWSS-RO in the event a major planned service interruption occurs lasting more than 24 hours. Over 94,000 households are expected to be affected by temporary water service interruption due to the shift of water supply to an alternate source as the main transmission line is decommissioned to give way to the said activity Both MWSS-RO and Manila Water are working to ensure that needed services are provided to assure continued water supply in the affected areas. In this case, thousands of Marikina and Rizal residents have been advised early on by Manila Water to brace themselves for dry taps. Construction Progress