Philippines water purification plant gets an upgrade

Multinational company De Nora Water Technologies is partnering with Japanese engineering company JFE Engineering to upgrade the biggest water purification plant in the Philippines, which supplies water to approximately six million people in Metropolitan Manila.

The upgrade at the La Mesa water treatment plant will help to increase the plant’s quality and enable it to achieve a sustainable supply of water even during high-turbidity events, ensuring optimal operational efficiency.

As part of the upgrade, De Nora will supply TETRA LP Block dual parallel lateral filter underdrain blocks for 24 filter cells. The upgrade will help the plant keep up with rising demand for domestic water and ensure the works can effectively handle high-flow events as experienced during heavy rains.

The filter underdrains ensure that air and/or water is distributed evenly across the entire filter floor during the backwash cycle. This helps to not only remove solids effectively but also lowers the volume of backwash water produced.

“Our filter underdrains are both easy to maintain and have a long life, but more importantly, they also provide excellent distribution of backwash air and water,” De Nora Regional Sales Director – Asia Vincenzo Palma said. “This in turn reduces the use of water and air required to clean the filter media, which ultimately reduces operating costs for our clients — key benefits that help save costs and protect the environment.”

This project is among a few that De Nora has been involved with in the Philippines. The underdrains are also being used at the Balara water facility in Quezon City to optimise operational performance and to ensure that the growing population in the east of the Philippines have access to a clean source of drinking water.

And with the water treatment market in Asia estimated to continue growing at about 5% a year to meet the higher living standards in emerging economies, there is an increasing opportunity for the underdrains to be used in the upgrade of other water treatment facilities.

“De Nora is renowned for leading industry innovation in water treatment and developing unique solutions for our customers’ needs,” said Palma.

“We are excited to provide our clients with solutions to help them operate more efficiently and effectively for the benefit of the larger population.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Maks_ershov