Manila Water Company: Manila Water waste-to-energy project almost complete

Manila Water waste-to-energy project almost complete

Posted: Monday October 13, 2008

Manila Water’s sustainable development program will further be boosted with the upcoming completion and commissioning of its waste-to-energy project for the Makati South Sewage Treatment Plant (MSSTP).

The milestone project is now 85 percent complete and will be fully operational by December this year.

Manila Water has adopted a comprehensive sustainable development program aligned with its business that covers preserving and sustaining the environment particularly watersheds and waterways.

For this innovative project, Manila Water used current available technology to utilize the biogas byproduct produced at the MSSTP during the treatment of sewage and convert these to electricity.

The Company together with Philippine Bio-Sciences Co. Inc., an “integrated solutions provider”, has refurbished and upgraded the MSSTP and installed a new system which can produce 300 kilowatts of electricity more than the plant’s power requirement of 264 kilowatts per day.

The MSSTP facility was constructed in 1964 and employs the conventional sewage treatment process involving screening, primary sedimentation, activated sludge, final sedimentation disinfection. The plant has a daily maximum processing capacity of 40,000 cubic meters of wastewater collected from households, industrial plants and commercial offices.

Manila Water manager for project development Marnellie Bautista explained that the technology involves the extraction and collection of methane while processing sludge. The captured methane gas would then be stored and used as fuel for generators to be installed in pre-identified localities.

“Manila Water views the MSSTP as a sustainable project designed to help address environmental concerns and pollution issues with the elimination of the stench from the biogas and also be an effective mechanism in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, “ Bautista said.