The water shortage in parts of Metro Manila affecting millions of residents could be eased after water from the nearby Laguna Lake is processed for consumption by household and commercial establishments, thus beefing up the water coming from Angat Dam in Bulacan.

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) has approved the water permit of Maynilad Water Services to allow the West Zone concessionaire to draw and process 100 million liters lake water per day for domestic consumption.

In an interview, LLDA General Manager Edgardo C. Manda said he expects that by September, the concessionaire can produce at least 100 million liter per day (MLD) using the surface raw water from the lake.

Manda said the LLDA had approved Maynilad’s water permit on August 7, 2009, to supply the needs of Metro Manila, including the cities of Muntinlupa and Las Piñas, using water from Laguna lake.

Maynilad had already started the production of 25 MLD last June, he said.

The lake has an average of 2,900 billion liters of freshwater recharged daily by more than 100 major and minor river systems around the Laguna watershed.

Around 13 billion liters of untapped water resource is spilled from Laguna Lake to Manila Bay through the Pasig River.

Manila Bulletin learned that 40 percent of the freshwater recharge of the lake comes from the various river systems that produce waterfalls like the Pagsanjan, Majayjay, Nagcarlan's Bunga, Kalayaan's Twin, and Tanay's Daranak.

At the same time, Manda enjoined communities to replicate the bamboo reforestation efforts in Pangil, Laguna, to minimize the erosion of top soil from the mountains to the lake.

Top soil and other debris accumulated through the years made the Laguna Lake more shallow. The average depth of Laguna Lake now is 2.5 meters. This silt and debris dramaticall contributed to the recent fish kill when typhoon "Basyang" hit Laguna.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways ()DPWH suggests that prayers can help bring on rains to replenish water supplies.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson revealed that when he was president of Maynilad, the "Oratio Imperata" was prayed before the start of management meetings.

"You know that prayer, Oratio Imperata has always been there. In Maynilad, every mangement committee training, before we start, wwe say it," Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said when asked at the Malacañang press briefing if the church could issue a prayer for the rain.

"We really need divine intervention for the rain," he said.

However, Singson said he beleves that the "worst is over" in the water shortage experienced in some areas of the metropolis with rains over the past few days improving the water level at Angat Dam, the biggest source of water for Metro Manila.

Early this year, the Archdiocese of Manila released the intercessory prayers for rain to lessen the effects of the El Niño phenomenon or drought whcih most parts of the country experienced until last month.

Earlier, Singson said that the water shortage was a result of human error and nature's wrath.

The DPWH chief blamed the release of the three-month supply for domestic water in Metro Manila by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) last year as the cause of the water shortage.

"Why are we in this predicament? Okay, we hav already explained this in the past, but let me emphasize. Before October, before (tropical storm) 'Ondoy' we had a very good supply... we had very high levels in Angat. Angat was way above the upper rule curve and almost at the spilling level — which is about 210 meters, we're now at 157 meters — that's really a big difference," he said. (With a report from JC Bello Ruiz)