Bulakan Water Supply Project in Philippines attracts six bids

The Bulakan Water Supply Project in Philippines, which aims to address the water supply requirements of local municipalities, has attracted bids from six groups.

The PHP24.4bn ($543.5m) project is part of the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) programme and is being implemented by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

Six prospective bidders have submitted the pre-qualification documents, including the consortium of First Philippine Holdings and Abeinsa Infraestructuras Medio Ambiente, Filinvest Agua Consortium, SMC-K-Water Consortium, Team Polaris-Manila Water, Prime-Alloy Water Consortium and Japan’s Marubeni.

The project, once operational, is expected to address water supply requirements of 22 municipalities in the Bulakan region and reduce the use of groundwater, thereby minimising environmental impact.

Bulakan Water Supply Project will be awarded through a 30-year build-operate-transfer deal via competitive bidding.

Phase 1 of the project will involve development of an interconnection structure to MWSS’s Bigte-Novaliches raw water conveyance system.

The project also involves development of new water sources, such as a raw water conveyance system for the water treatment plants (WTPs), construction of new WTPs with additional facilities and pumping stations, and installation of devices to measure water flow.

Around 15 local and foreign companies had previously shown interest in the project and bought pre-qualification documents.