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The Philippines might have missed the boat insofar as having an efficient subterranean sewerage system is concerned. Experts say it can’t be done now without wreaking havoc on the lives of city dwellers in terms of daily traffic mess to be generated by massive street diggings necessary to install the sewer pipes.

Nonetheless, decisive steps have to be taken towards efficient wastewater management especially in high-density urban centers, notably Metro Manila, in the light of present-day realities.

Under the World Bank-sponsored Millennium Development Goals in the Philippines, there has been little investment in collection, treatment and disposal facilities to address household wastewater problems. “Institutional roles are unclear, and revenues for investment along with operation and maintenance are low,” the document stated.

But all is not lost in this concern because of the intervention of private business who firmly believed that what appeared to be next to the impossible to do underground is highly feasible to execute above ground. This means collection of wastewater has to be done by mobile tankers instead of the traditional, yet more ideal sewerage system.

Manila Water Co. Inc. which has entered into a contract with the government to provide waterworks and sewerage service  in Metro Manila’s East Zone viewed the dire situation in the wastewater department as a major challenge.

Manila Water president Tony Aquino pointed out that unlike other key cities in Asia and elsewhere in the world which were equipped with adequate sewerage network since the time they were still being developed, Metro Manila had little or virtually none to speak off. “About the only place that we have a good sewerage system is Makati, because when Ayala developed Makati, they put it (sewerage system) up at the same time that they were putting up the roads,” he added.

At this point in time, the Manila Water official rules out the possibility of undertaking massive sewerage system installation simultaneously with the ongoing construction of water supply lines. “You just cannot dig up  all the roads for the sewerage system. We are already doing a lot of public discomfort (for pipe-laying operations) which, of course, is very necessary,” he explained.

Aquino also disclosed that Manila Water now shifts its focus on effective wastewater management even as it wraps up pipe-laying operations within its concession area composed of 23 towns and cities in the Metro Manila East Zone.

“We will have a lot more of investments in the wastewater side. So that truly presents a major challenge to us. It is badly needed, yet it is going to be more expensive,” he stressed.

Manila Water has earmarked P5 billion for wastewater management and sanitation program within its area of responsibility. This includes a P330-million septage treatment plant at the FTI Complex in Taguig City inaugurated last month by President Arroyo. The World Bank-funded facility is a major component of the company’s P3.14-billion Manila Third Sewerage Program. A second septage plant in San Mateo, Rizal would be commissioned presently, while a third plant would be set up in Barangay Pinugay, Antipolo City.

Aquino recalled that when Manila Water took over the East Zone in 1997, only five percent of the area had good sewerage system. Since then, the company invested in about 26 package wastewater plants, yet its efforts merely doubled the sewerage coverage to 10 percent. This means most of the East Zone has yet to have an efficient sewerage service.

World Bank study

A World Bank study entitled “Philippines Environment Monitor 2003” gave a graphic account of the water pollution situation in Metro Manila and the entire country. The study, a result of joint efforts among national agencies, the academe, civil society and research groups, showed that households caused 58 percent of water pollution in Metro Manila, with the remaining 42 percent attributed to industrial waste.

On a larger picture, water pollution nationwide translates into P67 billion annual revenue losses, with the tourism sector most heavily affected at P47 billion, followed by fisheries with P17 billion, and health, P7 billion.

The World Bank estimated that the Philippines would need P75 billion to achieve a 61-percent sewerage coverage in Metro Manila by 2022, and P250 billion in infrastructure expenditure to attain a 50 percent coverage in sanitation and sewerage services throughout the country over a 10-year period.

Sharing the cost

With the World Bank report as a backdrop, Manila Water embarked on the P5-billion wastewater and sanitation program. “We do not mind sharing the cost of preserving our environment, particularly our water resources,” Aquino said.

With the recent commissioning of the FTI septage plant and the forthcoming switch on of its counterpart in San Mateo, the company shifts to  high gear its free desludging operations targeting household septic tanks.

The water effluent taken out of the domestic septic tanks are transported by a fleet of over 40 desludging tankers to the septage facilities where they are “treated properly” in accordance with set standards. Giving added impetus to this community-based drive called “Sanitasyon para sa Barangay” is the use of the local barangay units as coordinators.