Last year, the team at Maynilad Water Services was busy plugging leaks in an effort that would make even the Netherlands’ legendary water engineers proud. Across Manila’s Western Zone concession, they repaired more than 70,000 small leaks and 206 large pipe leaks and replaced 82 kilometers of old pipelines.
The result of this sustained effort was a 7.7 percentage point reduction in year-end non-revenue water (NRW), from 38.4 percent in December 2024 to 30.7 percent in December 2025. This translated to approximately 256 million liters per day recovered during the year – a significant milestone for Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez.
“Before we inherited the concession in 2007, 66 percent of water was being lost in our system through both physical and commercial losses,” Fernandez tells The CEO Magazine.
“Along with using satellite imagery in leak detection, we are using data science to predict where leaks are more likely.”
Of course, the improvement was also due to another helping hand: technology. AI-driven leak localization tools were harnessed, enabling faster detection and resolution of leaks.
“Along with using satellite imagery in leak detection, we are using data science to predict where leaks are more likely,” he explains.
What’s more, last year’s results are firm proof that the utility is inching ever closer to its target NRW of 25 percent in 2027 and 20 percent in 2030.
Increased availability
The higher the NRW, the more revenue that goes down the drain – literally. But the more water that is saved, the more reliable and safe water is available for the approximately 10.5 million people Maynilad currently supplies across the West Zone concession – a significant increase on the 6.1 million people the utility was serving in 2006 before it was re-privatized under new owners in 2007. This positions the company as the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base.
A larger client base hasn’t come at the expense of water availability, however – and that’s another of Fernandez’s proudest achievements.
“Our water availability has improved significantly,” he says. “Previously, only 32 percent of customers had a reliable, 24-hour water supply. Now, we average a 97–98 percent of customers with a 24-hour water supply.”
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What’s more, water is delivered at seven PSI.
“With that kind of pressure, water will reach the second floor or a residential home, which is very important to our customers,” he continues.
There’s certainly plenty to celebrate, but Fernandez isn’t slowing down any time soon, as Maynilad looks to increase its service coverage to reach 96.8 percent of the population in its territory by 2030. The utility also has its eye on expanding its sewage and sanitation services. Fernandez explains that the target is for one-third of the network to be connected to the sewage network by the end of this year, and for the remaining two-thirds to be covered by other sanitation solutions, such as septic tank desludging services.
There’s also the push to diversify beyond its traditional residential client base to offer wastewater services to non-residential clients, like office buildings, malls and factories.
The biggest opportunity, he explains, lies in serving areas outside its current concession boundaries, or the 17 cities and municipalities commonly referred to as the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area.
Water security
Such growth doesn’t come without certain obstacles, however. The first presents itself in the form of rapid urbanization and population growth.
“This challenges us in terms of building further infrastructure in an already congested concession area,” Fernandez explains.
Then there’s the issue leaders around the world are facing: how to guarantee water security amid the ever-worsening climate crisis.
“This is a very significant part of our strategy,” he says.
Traditionally, the utility depended on Angat Dam for its water. In order to reduce its reliance on one single water source for the entirety of the West Zone concession area, it has built treatment plants sourcing raw water from Laguna Lake – the largest lake in the Philippines.
“We are also building modular treatment plants that are closer to our customers,” he continues.
“It serves two objectives for us: taking care of the environment while creating resilience in the face of climate change.”
So far, two smaller, modular facilities have been built in Cavite, to the south of Manila, with more coming, to enable a system that is more distributed and less reliant on one singular facility.
Most significant is Maynilad’s entry into the recycling of wastewater into drinking water.
“Instead of treating wastewater inside our sewerage treatment plants and just discharging the treated effluent back to the ecosystem, we’ve built a new water treatment plant, which adds a few more processes to the system to convert that effluent into a potable water supply,” he says.
“It serves two objectives for us: taking care of the environment while creating resilience in the face of climate change.”
Purpose-driven mission
Fernandez appreciates that none of what the utility has achieved since 2007 would be possible without people, whether the relationships formed with long-standing supply partners or, most pertinently, the talent inside the company.
“The company’s strong people culture was recently recognized with Platinum accreditation from Investors in People – the highest recognition under the global framework for excellence in people management,” he says.
The company is the first and only water utility in the Philippines to achieve this distinction.
These qualities set Maynilad apart from other utilities in the market and have been recognized by investors, whose support made its late 2025 IPO, which raised around US$581 million, one of the largest public offerings in the Philippines in the last five years.
“We contribute significantly to nation-building.”
When Fernandez was appointed to the Maynilad C-suite in 2016, he quickly adopted a mindset that what Maynilad does is more than just supply water.
“We contribute significantly to nation-building,” he says.
It’s become a clear north star for him and the entire organization.
“It’s a huge motivation to ensure we deliver excellent service and customer satisfaction with integrity and honesty,” he concludes.
