Manila Water intensifies desludging program to protect environment

Sewer coverage in the East Zone is only about 16 percent at the end of 2008 while the rest of the concession area of Manila Water Co. is heavily dependent on individual or communal septic tanks that collect wastewater from households. Reports claim that untreated domestic wastewater has been a major cause in the pollution of river systems in the metropolis.

From only one desludging truck when Manila Water took over the sewer service provision from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in 1997, the east zone concessionaire now employs a fleet of 50 desludging trucks to collect septage or household waste and bring them to two modern septage treatment facilities located in Taguig City and San Mateo where used water from households is treated before being discharged to bodies of water. As of July this year, a total of 199,497 septic tanks from all over the East concession area have been desludged through Manila Water’s “Sanitasyon Para Sa Barangay” program benefiting 591,501 households.

With nearly 100 percent of Manila Water’s central distribution system now with 24-7 water supply, the volume of domestic wastewater that has to be treated has significantly increased. Ensuring that wastewater will be treated is vital in reducing the pollution load that goes into our rivers which eventually empties into Manila Bay or Laguna de Bay. Sanitasyon Para Sa Barangay is undertaken in coordination with the local government units.

It is done on a scheduled basis per barangay. Households who are connected to Manila Water’s water network can avail themselves of the desludging service provided that water bills have been paid and that the manhole covers of the septic tanks are already opened preparatory to actual desludging. –Daily Tribune