MCWD eyes NRA for septage plant

CEBU, Philippines - The Metropolitan Cebu Water District has proposed to establish a Septage Treatment Plant in the North Reclamation Area in compliance with the Clean Water Act.

MCWD intends to purchase a parcel of the lot at the NRA from the city government for the said purpose.

Cebu City is one of the areas they identified as a suitable place for one of the three treatment plants they are planning to build within their franchise area. The three treatment plants shall serve MCWD customers in four municipalities and four cities that are under their jurisdiction. 

The construction of accredited septage treatment plants is part of the utility’s Septage Management Program for Metro Cebu.

The SMP is the result of the feasibility study conducted in 2008 by MCWD and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Philippine Sanitation Alliance.

The study sought to find out the feasibility of establishing a desludging scheme for septic tanks in the different households and establishments in Metro Cebu.

MCWD presented last week their proposal to the city council during an executive session.

The SMP that is to be implemented soon is designed to collect septage from septic tanks of households and establishments, transport it using trucks, treat the septage at the treatment plants and finally dispose only the resulting clean water and bio-solids.

In its proposal, MCWD said the collection of septage will be done on a scheduled basis, initially, every five years. MCWD will bid out contracts to private desludgers.

MCWD intends to recover the costs incurred in providing the service by adding a fee to the consumer’s monthly bill.

The amount for fees is yet to be discussed. MCWD assured that there will be a public hearing and campaign before the financial matters are finalized.

MCWD is aware that there is no accredited treatment facility in Cebu the reason why septage haulers dump untreated septage illegally.

“DOH Operations Manual requires Environmental Sanitation Clearance permits for all entities collecting and treating septage. There is no septage treatment facility in Cebu City with an ESC yet,” MCWD revealed.

The current practice now shows that due to lack of proper septage management program, septic tanks are not properly maintained. They are usually desludged only when they overflow.

When septic tanks are desludged, the septage removed is dumped without proper treatment.

Worse, MCWD found out that many septic tanks that are poorly maintained have open bottom leaching chamber that contaminates the ground water.

“Lack of proper sewage treatment and maintenance of septic tanks has led to high levels of disease, death, economic losses and environmental damage in the Philippines,” MCWD said.

The SMP project of MCWD shall help the government to comply with the Clean Water Act which requires water districts and local government units to develop septage management systems for areas without piped sewerage systems including, among others, Cebu City.

The STP to be constructed in the NRA, if permitted, shall serve customers in Cebu City and Talisay City. City officials are yet to discuss whether to sell the lot at the NRA or lease it to the distribution utility.

Another STP will be built in Cordova for MCWD’s consumers in Lapu-Lapu City, Cordova and later on, to include Mandaue City. The other STP is eyed somewhere in the northern part of Cebu to serve the customers in Lilo-an, Consolacion and Compostela.

MCWD is coordinating with the city government which is now deliberating an ordinance proposed to create a septage management system in Cebu City.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants MCWD to implement the program without necessarily a direct involvement of the city government, since MCWD has the expertise on the matter.

Rama however asked the utility to include non-MCWD customers in the implementation of the program.

MCWD in turn requires the city to pass an ordinance that will mandate the inclusion of non-MCWD customers in the implementation of the SMP. MCWD said that they cannot just compel non-MCWD customers to desludge their septic tanks unless there is an ordinance that will bind them to do so. (FREEMAN)