Fernando airs appeal to save Marikina River

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando issued yesterday a call to the public and private sectors for a unified effort to save the dying Marikina River.

Marikina River no longer supports aquatic life due to domestic waste dumped into the river.

Manila Water has heeded the call and is now working with the MMDA, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Marikina local government for the planned construction of a pilot treatment plant that will provide sewage treatment to wastewater before it is discharged into the Marikina River. The planned facility will be constructed in Sitio Olandes and process an approximate volume of 10 million liters per day from the 15,000 households along the adjacent communities. Target completion of the plant is 2008.

The treatment plant will employ the “complete mix activated sludge process” technology and process combined sewer and drainage water. Instead of water draining directly into the Marikina River, a line will redirect the flow towards the treatment plant for processing before clean water is dumped into the river.

After the construction of the Olandes plant, Manila Water is also planning to construct another plant in Sta. Elena with a capacity to process 10 million liters of wastewater per day.