REVIVING the rivers that navigate the East Zone in the Metro Manila area will help enliven the waterways if the local government units (LGUs) within the concession will apply power in support of the program, an official of the Ayala-owned Manila Water said.
The cities and municipalities that the Pasig, Marikina and San Juan rivers cross can pass and enforce ordinances as their participation in Toka Toka Para sa Malinis na Ilog, said Fernando Busuego III, Manila Water Branding and Market Research head.
He cited as example the city government of Marikina that has inked an ordinance on the desludging of used water by households and business establishments.
“That’s how the LGUs can help us,” Busuego told the BusinessMirror. “With ordinances and information, we can work hand in hand.” The LGUs can come up with means to help raise public awareness on the advantage of the proper disposal of water from the bathroom, kitchen sink and laundry, he said.
“People may not know where the water goes after using it,” Busuego said. “It goes to the river and becomes one of the causes for its pollution.”
Septic tanks tend to overflow over time into the ground, drainage system and eventually, the river, he said.
About 58 percent of groundwater is contaminated with coliform bacteria that originate from feces, said Agos, the official magazine of Manila Water, in its April to June 2014 edition.
According to the publication, 31 percent of major diseases, including diarrhea, typhoid fever, cholera, amoebiasis, leptospirosis and hepatitis A, are caused by organisms that thrive in polluted water.
Treatment is required before waste water is drained to the rivers and waterways to control water pollution and in the end, revive them, Busuego said.
He pointed out the pollution of the rivers and waterways by used water is exacerbated by the solid waste wantonly dumped by communities. Due to social indifference to the environment, 13 sacks of garbage are thrown into the rivers and waterways in Metro Manila every minute, equivalent to 330,000 tons of solid waste a year, Busuego said.
Sixty percent of water pollution comes from domestic sources, he said.
LGUs can intensify their campaign on garbage segregation, encourage and facilitate households to desludge their septic tank every five to seven years and connect to the sewer line.
Through the sewer line, used water is transported to treatment plants before they end up into the rivers and waterways.
Since 2012, the Manila Water has built 38 sewage treatment plants, two septage treatment plants (SpTP) across the concession area, and desludged a total of 1,005,128 households, he said.
The two SpTPs have a combined treatment capacity of 1,400 cubic meters of human waste a day. The company also has a fleet of 78 desludging tankers deployed to siphon domestic septic tanks, Busuego said. The septage collected from household septic tanks are transported to the septage-treatment plants. But not a single group can achieve the goal of Toka Toka, he said. LGUs should take its toka by coming up with means to help revive the rivers.
“No one can do it alone,” he said. “That’s why we call the program Toka Toka.”
LGUs can help educate the public on the importance and utility of water treatment in the rehabilitation of rivers, Busuego said.
They can also relocate informal settlers along riverbanks, who dump all sorts of waste into the water, to “agreeable sites,” he said. The communities, as their toka, should segregate their solid waste, desludge septic tanks every five to seven years, and connect to the sewer line, Busuego said.
The LGUs should also pave way for the construction of sewer lines in their jurisdiction, he said. The existing sewer line covers 23 percent of the East Zone. Manila Water is constructing to extend the line to cover more.
The success of Toka Toka lies in the understanding and participation of all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, and civil society, Busuego said.
“We have to be partners to save the environment,” he said. “It’s for the future generations because we cannot immediately see the benefits to our rivers.”
“We are laying the groundwork so that in the future our rivers will be alive again,” Busuego said. “It is possible over time. There were highly polluted rivers in other countries that were brought back to life.” A polluted river in the industrialized city of Brisbane, Australia was revived through government laws and ordinances and the participation of the communities and other stakeholders, he said.
source: Business Mirror
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