Upper Wawa Dam to go online by December
The Upper Wawa Dam project in Rizal has been completed seven months ahead of plan and is set to begin commercial operations by December, according to WawaJVCo.
The company is a joint venture between Razon Group’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. and San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers Group.
In a statement on Friday, WawaJVCo said they recently held a handover ceremony with the contractor. This marked the completion of the dam’s construction works.
“The completion of the Upper Wawa Dam reflects Prime Infra and WawaJVCo’s ability to deliver large-scale infrastructure projects on time,” said Melvin John Tan, president of WawaJVCo.
“This marks the beginning for one of our most critical water projects,” said Tan, who also leads Prime Infra’s market sector team.
The Upper Wawa Dam is considered the largest water supply dam to be built in the Philippines in over 50 years.
It is the second phase of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project, designed to address the increasing demand in Metro Manila and Rizal.
Once operational, the Upper Wawa Dam project will provide up to 710 million liters per day (MLD).
More than 700,000 households, about 3.5 million Filipinos within the Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System’s service area, are expected to benefit from the Upper Wawa Dam.
It would be the biggest water source built in the Philippines since 1967, according to Prime Infra.
A series of tests were carried out to evaluate the dam’s performance and ensure its readiness. These included testing the dam’s gates, the functionality of the environmental flow turbine and other sensors and instruments.
The dam, for which construction began in 2021, features a 450-hectare reservoir, about twice the size of Bonifacio Global City. It can store up to 120 million cubic meters of water.
Also, the dam is designed with an ungated stepped spillway. This helps regulate the release of water flow from the dam into the river.
The dam also has an environmental flow turbine which supplies continuous water to the downstream. It also generates renewable power supply for the consumption of the dam, lessening its dependency to source power from the grid.
The first phase of the Wawa water project, or the Tayabasan Weir, was completed in October 2022. This provides an initial supply of 80 MLD.
Angat Dam is the primary source of water for the metropolis and adjacent areas, supplying about 90 percent of their raw water needs.
