Metro Manila Water Supply System

The Angat-Ipo-La Mesa Dam Raw Water System is currently the major source of water for Metro Manila. The water abstracted from it is treated in two facilities: The Balara Treatment Plant (Manila Water Company, Inc.) and La Mesa Treatment Plant (Maynilad Water Services Inc.).

Angat Reservoir and Dam

The Angat Reservoir and Dam are located at the Angat River in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. The facilities were constructed from 1964 to 1967 and have been operational since 1968 with multi-purpose functions:

Figure.

Angat-Ipo-La Mesa Water Supply System

Multi-Purpose:
To provide irrigation to about 31,000 hectares of land in 20 municipalities and towns in Pampanga and Bulacan; To supply the domestic and industrial water requirements of residents in Metro Manila; To generate hydroelectric power to feed the Luzon Grid; and To reduce flooding to downstream towns and villages. Angat River, originates from the western flank of the Sierra Madre Mountains. It then cuts through the mountainous terrain in a westerly direction to the dam site. The elevation within the watershed rises to a maximum of 1,115 meters at the Sierra Madre Mountain range and is lowest at the dam site at 100 meters. It has three major tributaries, namely, the Talaguio, Catmon and Matulid Rivers. The Angat Watershed has a moderate to intensive forest cover and has a drainage area of about 568 square kilometers, which receives an average annual rainfall of about 4,200 millimeters.

Figure.

Angat Reservoir at high water level

Figure.

Angat Reservoir at low water level

Figure.

Angat Spillway

The Angat Dam is a rockfill dam with a spillway equipped with three gates at a spilling level of 219 meters. Its storage capacity is about 850 million cubic meters. Water supply to the MWSS is released through five auxiliary turbines where it is diverted to the two tunnels going to the Ipo Dam.

Ipo Dam
Ipo Dam is a gravity concrete dam located about 7.5 kilometers downstream of the Angat Dam near its confluence with the Ipo River in Bulacan. It was completed in January 1984 with a maximum storage capacity of 7.5 million cubic meters, an increase of about 2,500 million liters per day (MLD) from the old Ipo Dam, which used to be located 200 meters upstream of the new dam. The spill level of the dam is at an elevation of 101 meters and it has seven radial floodgates.

The watershed topography is characterized by mountainous terrain similar to the Angat Reservoir Watershed with moderate forest cover. The watershed has an area of about 70 square kilometers and receives an average annual rainfall of 3,500 millimeters. Tributaries to the Angat River at this section include the Ipo, Sapa Pako and Sapa Anginon Rivers. These tributaries drain into the Angat River from the eastern section of the watershed. Water from the dam is diverted to the Novaliches Portal and the La Mesa Dam through three intake structures going down to three connecting tunnels into five connecting aqueducts.

La Mesa Dam
The La Mesa Dam is an earth dam located in Novaliches, Quezon City. It was first erected in 1929 and then further raised in 1959 to a maximum storage capacity of 50.5 million cubic meters. Overflow level of the dam is at an elevation of 80.15 meters. The watershed has an area of 27 square kilometers, which receives an average annual rainfall of 2,000 millimeters.