The Upper Wawa Dam, a key component of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project in Rizal province, is on track to begin commercial operations in December 2025, its developer Prime Infra-led WawaJVCo said Friday. The project was completed seven months ahead of schedule.
Prime Infra, the infrastructure arm of businessman Enrique Razon Jr., focuses on projects that support sustainability.
A handover ceremony from the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor to WawaJVCo recently marked the successful completion of the dam’s construction.
“The completion of the Upper Wawa Dam reflects Prime Infra and WawaJVCo’s ability to deliver large-scale infrastructure projects on time,” said WawaJVCo president Melvin John Tan, who also leads Prime Infra’s water sector.
“This marks the beginning for one of our most critical water projects,” said Tan.
WawaJVCo said it conducted a series of tests to evaluate the dam’s performance, including its gates, the environmental flow turbine, and other sensors.
The Upper Wawa Dam is the largest water supply dam built in the Philippines in over 50 years. It’s the second phase of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project and will provide up to 710 million liters of water per day year-round.
Construction began in 2021. The dam features a 450-hectare reservoir, about twice the size of Bonifacio Global City, and can store up to 120 million cubic meters of water.
Once operational, the dam is expected to benefit over 700,000 households, or 3.5 million Filipinos, within the Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System (MWSS) service area. MWSS administrator Leonor Cleofas has previously highlighted the dam’s importance to the agency’s water security roadmap.
Beyond water supply, the dam is designed with an ungated stepped spillway to regulate water flow into the river.
An environmental flow turbine will supply continuous water downstream and generate renewable power for the dam’s consumption, reducing its reliance on the grid.
