LEGAZPI CITY: Maynilad now owns controversial water supplier Phil-hydro that boasted of providing mineral-type drinking water for five years that health authorities found unfit for drinking.

Former mayor and now Administrator Noel Rosal of Legazpi City confirmed the sellout. However, he has no idea of how much was it bought and what prompted Maynilad to buy the water supplier that boomed following its contract with Legazpi City Water District (LCWD) five years ago.

Health authorities found Philhydro during a probe conducted by the city council in early 2011 of supplying dirty water. Laboratory tests on its water samples proved the water hazardous for the health of Legazpi’s 25,000 consumers as latest findings from the University of the Philippines Natural Science Research Institute released last month, showed.

A source from the local business community said that Philhydro was a virtual creation of a few past top officials from the Local Water Utilities Administration and LCWD to supply drinking water in Legazpi.

Philhydro has tapped Yawa River as its source of water allegedly with a dismal water reservoir in Brgy. Bogtong in Legazpi, said Irene Solmirano of Enter Pinay, who initiated in exposing the dirty water.

Bicol Urban Poor coordinator Numeriano dela Torre also lamented that Philhydro facilities manned usually by one or two personnel cannot convince the public that it could produce potable drinking water.

Councilor Rolly Rosal, chair committee on public utilities lamented that during the probe, Philhydro and LCWD even had the nerve to finger consumer-owned pipelines as the possible sources of the yellowish dirty water usually accompanied by mud, which health officials claimed as unfit even for laundry washing, bathing and cooking.

The Philhydro-LCWD contract was reportedly hatched under Raul Chua of the powerful Imperial political family who was LCWD general manager for almost three decades. Barbie Imperial Borromeo, who was sacked as general manager last year following the dirty water controversy in which the Commission on Audit had found several violations in Philhydro-LCWD contracts, succeeded him.