Manila Water Company: PGMA opens major septage treatment plant in Taguig

PGMA opens major septage treatment plant in Taguig

Posted: Thursday April 26, 2007

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently inaugurated a multimillion-peso septage treatment facility in Taguig City that will boost public health, provide sanitation services and further guarantee greater protection of the environment in the eastern part of Metro Manila.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes was also on hand to assist President Arroyo during the opening rites for the P 330 Million South Septage Treatment Plant (SSTP), a major component of the P3.14-billion Manila Third Sewerage Project (MTSP) being implemented by Manila Water.

The new plant will have a septage treatment capacity of 815 cubic meters of per day (cmd) and an additional sewage treatment capacity of 2,000 cmd. SSTP can process the septage that will be collected by vacuum trucks from more than 86,000 households covering Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and Taguig, as well as the municipalities of San Juan and Pateros.

In Metro Manila, almost 85 percent of the population utilizes septic tanks that can provide partial treatment if the tanks are well maintained and desludged every five to seven years. Otherwise, wastewater and sludge will flow directly to the drainage network and further pollute rivers.

“The completion of the septage treatment plant is an important and significant milestone for Manila Water because the plant represents the Company’s strong resolve to preserve and enhance the environment,” Manila Water president Tony Aquino said.

The World Bank, which provided the $64-million loan for the MTSP, lauded Manila Water for the early completion of the septage facility.

“We congratulate you for having completed the project ahead of time,” James Adam, World Bank vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, told Aquino during a visit to the SSTP early this month.

World Bank country director Joachim von Amsberg also said the speedy completion of the septage plant in Taguig will have strong impact as it will now be able to serve some 3.3 million people living in the metropolis.

Amsberg stressed that the MTSP will help ensure that domestic wastewater in Manila Water’s concession area is properly collected and treated before it flows back to the waterways.

Studies show that domestic wastewater accounted for 58 percent of water pollution in Metro Manila, with the remaining 42 percent attributed to industrial establishments.

Apart from domestic septage collected from the households by Manila Water’s vacuum desludging tankers, the SSTP will also process sewage coming from locators within the FTI Complex through an existing sewer network.

Another Manila Water septage plant now nearing completion in San Mateo, Rizal was scheduled for inauguration next month.

To know more about SSTP, please click here.