A new water tunnel aims to help modernise Manila’s water supply, reducing the risk of shortages as demand for water rises in tandem with the city’s booming population. The Angat transmission system provides more than 95 percent of Manila’s water but its existing tunnels are up to 75 years old and in poor condition, leaving the metropolitan area highly vulnerable to serious supply disruptions. The Asian Development Bank’s US$123.3 million loan will allow the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to build a fourth tunnel, clearing the way for it to upgrade and modernise its other existing tunnels and aqueducts to maximise and strengthen supplies. The planned tunnel will be over 6-kilometres long with an internal span of about 4 metres.
