PrimeWater
{{Short description|Water and wastewater services provider}}
{{use mdy|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox company
| name = PrimeWater
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| type = Privately-held / Public utility
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| founded = {{Start date and age|2006|8|10}}
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| hq_location_city = Taguig, Metro Manila
| hq_location_country = Philippines
| num_locations = Around 100 partnered water districts
| num_locations_year = 2021
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| services = Water infrastructure development, delivery
sewerage and sanitation
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| parent = Prime Asset Ventures
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Primewater Infrastructure Corporation (dba as PrimeWater) is a water and wastewater services provider in the Philippines.
History
PrimeWater was established on August 10, 2006. In five years it has expanded its reach to cover areas across the Philippines in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.primewatercorp.com/about-us.html |website=Prime Water |access-date=3 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729045254/http://www.primewatercorp.com/about-us.html |archive-date=29 July 2012}}
Water in the Philippines are supplied by water districts which are government-owned which often deals with funding issues. This led to them entering into public private partnerships to develop their water supply capabilities. Among this private firms is PrimeWater,{{cite news |title=Down the drain: Philippines water joint ventures stir anger |url=https://www.eco-business.com/news/down-the-drain-philippines-water-joint-ventures-stir-anger/ |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=Eco-Business |agency=Thomas Reuters Foundation |date=15 August 2023 |language=en}} which continued to expand in the 2010s by entering joint venture agreements (JVAs) with state-owned water districts.{{cite journal |last1=Espino |first1=Allen |title=Problematizing Privatization: How Private Takeover of Local Water Districts Impacts Gender Mainstreaming |journal=Philippine Journal of Social Development |date=2020 |volume=13 |url=https://cswcd.upd.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/PJSD13_Problematizing-Privatization_ALEspino.pdf |access-date=3 May 2025}}
By 2021, PrimeWater controls 100 water districts out of the more than 500 districts in the Philippines according to the Local Water Utilities Administration.{{cite news |last1=Miraflor |first1=Madelaine |title=Prime Water has taken over 100 water districts |url=https://mb.com.ph/2021/1/7/prime-water-has-taken-over-100-water-districts |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=Manila Bulletin |language=en}}
In 2023, the Commission on Audit noted lapses on PrimeWater's JVAs with Dasmariñas, Silang, Tagaytay and Trece Martires water districts.{{cite news |last1=de Leon |first1=Dwight |title=In Cavite, elections spotlight residents' longstanding woes with Villars' PrimeWater |url=https://www.rappler.com/philippines/elections/cavite-polls-spotlight-residents-grievances-villar-primewater-2025/ |access-date=21 April 2025 |work=Rappler |date=15 April 2025}}
In May 2025, the Local Water Utilities Administration began investigation on PrimeWater over its alleged poor services and high cost heading to an order by President Bongbong Marcos.{{cite news |title=Marcos to order probe of PrimeWater |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2025/04/30/669661/marcos-to-order-probe-of-primewater/ |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=BusinessWorld |date=30 April 2025}}{{cite news |title=TV Patrol: LWUA iniimbestigahan ang Primewater dahil sa mga reklamo |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/5/2/tv-patrol-rollback-sa-presyo-ng-petrolyo-inaasahan-sa-susunod-na-linggo-1945 |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=2 May 2025}} This is despite Marcos' inclusion of Camille Villar in the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas electoral alliance ahead of the upcoming 2025 Philippine general election.{{cite news |last1=Oliquino |first1=Edjen |title=Camille Villar still admin bet despite Marcos' PrimeWater probe |url=https://tribune.net.ph/2025/05/02/camille-villar-still-admin-bet-despite-marcos-primewater-probe |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=Daily Tribune |date=2 May 2025 |language=en}}
Service areas
By 2021, PrimeWater controls 100 water districts in the Philippines according to the Local Water Utilities Administration. Water districts by law cannot be sold to private corporations, hence PrimeWater develops these areas under a joint venture agreements (JVAs){{cite news |title=Primewater boosts services of water districts |url=https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/26/primewater-boosts-services-of-water-districts |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=Manila Bulletin |date=27 May 2021 |language=en}}
Management
PrimeWater is a subsidiary of Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. The company is associated with the Villar business and political family which includes senators Manny and Cynthia Villar.