ILOILO City – Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW) reported a significant drop in its Non-Revenue Water (NRW) level to 47% as of the first half of 2025, down from over 60% in 2019 when the company assumed operations from the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD).
The reduction in water losses translates to an estimated 10 million liters of treated water saved per day, enough to supply the daily needs of over 18,000 customers within Iloilo City.
This achievement is even more remarkable considering that MPIW increased its treated water supply by 23–25% over the same period. In most cases, higher water supply leads to higher water losses due to pressure increases and infrastructure strain. MPIW, however, reversed this trend through strategic NRW programs and infrastructure investments.
“Despite an increase in our water supply, we brought down NRW to the mid-40s. This defies the usual behavior where NRW rises with higher supply. Through targeted technical and operational interventions, we were able to bring losses down instead,” said MPIW Chief Operating Officer Angelo David Berba.
NRW refers to treated water that is lost before it reaches customers, due to leaks, illegal connections, or meter inaccuracies.
While the World Bank recommends an NRW level of 25% or lower, MPIW has made steady progress toward this benchmark through our aggressive infrastructure improvement and NRW management program.
“Our NRW level has dropped by more than 12% percentage since 2019. This was made possible by targeted capital investments, with over P685 million allocated to our NRW Management Program from 2019 through the second quarter of 2025, community engagement, and a relentless focus on leak detection and network rehabilitation,” added Berba.
MPIW inherited a decades-old, leak-prone distribution network upon assuming the Iloilo’s almost 800 kilometers of Water Distribution System.
Since then, MPIW has implemented a multi-pronged NRW reduction strategy that includes:
* establishing and expanding twenty-three (23) District Metered Areas (DMAs) for better network monitoring, and 39 more DMAs are underway
* conducting active leakage detection and repair operations, repaired more than 17,000 leaks, and replaced over 27,000 linear meters of old pipelines as of Q2 2025, respectively
* cracking down on illegal connections that threaten water quality and supply reliability
The company has further intensified its efforts to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) and enhance water conservation by utilizing the state-of-the-art SAHARA mobile leak detection system last year.
MPIW is the only water utility in Western Visayas using this equipment to detect and repair leaks quickly and efficiently without the need to excavate the roads.
SAHARA is being utilized to identify underground pipe leaks that are often difficult to detect. MPIW is leveraging these innovative technologies, among others, to assist with its network rehabilitation efforts and strengthen its NRW reduction initiatives further.
MPIW aims to bring NRW levels down to 35% by 2027 and below 25% by 2030, aligning with international best practices and strengthening Iloilo’s water security.
As NRW levels decline, MPIW has also been able to expand service coverage, enabling more communities to access safe and reliable water. In the first quarter of 2025, MPIW has reached more than 50,000 household connections in Iloilo City and neighboring municipalities.
MPIW earmarks P11 billion in the next years for its capital infrastructure investment (including the upcoming desalination facility) to significantly improve water reliability and service quality across its concession area./PN
