Marikina to build wastewater plant

The Marikina City government is set to build a P13-million wastewater treatment plant that would enable it to treat its wastewater before disposing of it in the river.

Gloria Buenaventura, Marikina’s Waste Management Office head, said the facility will be built at the Marikina Public Market in barangay Sta. Elena. She said a total of 500 cubic meters of water are used everyday in this barangay alone.

She described the water running in the river as Class C, which, under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) classification system, means the water is not suitable for any contact activity.  

"Eventually we will upgrade the quality of water system not only in Marikina but in whole Pasig City system," Buenaventura said.

The plant is expected to be completed and operational in 2008, the first among the several plants to be constructed in commercial and industrial zones in the city.  

Buenaventura said this will entail a lot of work since this is first in the country but noted that the United States Agency for International Development is assisting them. She said USAID selected the city to be the pilot area for a number of environment projects.  

She said the health benefits the public would enjoy in the long run far outweighs the work, and expressed optimism that other local governments of towns and cities located along the banks of the Pasig River will join them in their cleanup campaign. – Rainier Allan Ronda