Saturday, August 16, 2008 USAid, DCWD drum up concern for sewage
WITH clean fresh water becoming one of the scarce resources of the world, various stakeholders in Davao City have come together last Thursday to assess the situation of potable water here, and more importantly, how it is being threatened by the absence of a sewerage system.
In a city with a population of about 1.5 million people, the absence of a sewerage system poses a great threat to the fresh water sources of the city.
Headed by the Davao City Water District and the USAid, various local government executives and private sector partners convened in a seminar workshop Thursday to draw out ideas and plans to start pushing for sewage management.
Data from the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program showed that the country loses more than P77.8 billion annually due to poor sanitation. There are about 27.5 million Filipinos who do not have sanitary toilets and that only 3.3 percent of urban households are connected to sewers that lead to treatment facilities.
Also, three million tons of feces and 23.7 million cubic meters of urine pollute water bodies, while groundwater is also polluted with septic tanks that are unsealed on the bottom.
"This we believe is one of the causes of high levels of colliform bacteria as found from the samples of beach water along the coastline of Davao Gulf," said Environment Management Bureau pollution control division chief Engineer Teresita Tagorda.
In the city, Philippine Sanitation Alliance project manager Lisa Lumbao said that septic tanks are only emptied when they overflow, full tanks are not providing primary treatment, and that disludgers transfer the pollution from one place to another with no treatment.
This has caused 31 Filipino deaths each day from diarrhea alone and that a third of all the diseases in the world are due to water pollution.
Despite this alarming problem, the same study also showed that the Philippine government only spends very little to address the water pollution problem. Only 3% of spending on the water and sanitation sector is allocated for sanitation or about P1.5 billion.
This has pushed the PSA partners to work together, pooling in the efforts of all sectors in the community so as not to rely fully on the government.
PSA's David Robbins suggested that the best way for Davao to start sewage management is to ensure for the regular collection and treatment of septic waste.
The water district could collect a fee through the water bill that is used to pay private disludging companies for each truckload of sludge they deliver to the treatment facility.
Another strategy to be used in sewage management is for the local government to come up with policies that would require all households to have their septic tanks serviced every three to five years.
The LGU, on the other hand, could impose fines and penalties to reduce the improper or illegal discharge of untreated septic waste. (CPM)
