Manila Water : Invests in the future.

Wastewater: Minding What You Flush and Forget

Wastewater that conveniently drains out of our toilets, baths and kitchen do not truly disappear. Untreated wastewater eventually winds up into our creeks, rivers, and groundwater then pollutes them. While the average Filipino household may be aware of the importance of clean water for drinking and everyday living, many have yet to be educated of the negative impacts of untreated wastewater.

Current government monitoring indicates that only over a third of the country's river systems remain as viable source of public water supply. In Metro Manila, all major river systems are biologically dead with dissolved oxygen plummeting to zero for most parts of the year. Moreover, studies show that coliform bacteria contaminates up to 58 percent of groundwater sampled. As a result, water-borne sources caused approximately 31 percent of illnesses monitored for a five-year period

Untreated wastewater makes water unfit for drinking and recreational use, threatens biodiversity, and deteriorates overall quality of life.

Manila Water's Role

It is Manila Water's mandate, as Concessionaire to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), to provide wastewater services that include sewerage and sanitation.

Sewerage service includes the operation and maintenance of networks of sewer pipelines that collect and convey sewage to Sewage Treatment Plants which then treat wastewater before safely returning it to our water bodies.

Sanitation service includes the operation and maintenance of vacuum trucks that clean or desludge household septic tanks, and Septage Treatment Plants that receive and treat the hauled septage before disposing the treated byproducts (treated wastewater and biosolids) through environment-safe means.

Sewerage Program

In many respects, sanitation and wastewater present even greater challenges than supplying clean, safe tap water. By 1997, less than 7 percent of the Manila Water concession area is connected to a sewerage system. Due to space constraints and the huge capital investments required for wastewater infrastructure, it would be near impossible to build centralized sewer networks in Metro Manila.

Innovative and unconventional solutions were needed to address sewage and sanitation needs of Manila Water's concession area. One method of tackling the issue include constructing compact or "package" sewage treatment plants (STPs) where feasible.

Sanitation Program

The rest of Manila Water's concession area that is not connected to a sewerage system disposes its wastewater into septic tanks. Because septic tanks provide only primary treatment, they eventually leak out pollution into the groundwater or into municipal drainage systems, eventually finding its way into our rivers.

To address this, Manila Water operates a fleet of 90 vacuum trucks and performs regular, scheduled septic tank cleaning services (desludging) for communities free of charge. Manila Water also provides emergency services to customers for a fee.

Hauled septage from septic tanks are then brought to a Septage Treatment Plant. The byproducts of septage treatment are treated wastewater (effluent) which are recycled or discharged safely, and biosolids (organic sludge).

Biosolids are brought to a composting site in Central Luzon and are then applied to lahar-laden areas in Tarlac.

Sludge or biosolids that result from the treatment of septage and sewage are also viable soil conditioners and Manila Water received a license from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) to package biosolids as so.

Accomplishments and Future Plans

Manila Second Sewerage Project (2001-2005)

From 2001 to 2005, Manila Water implemented the Manila Second Sewerage Project (MSSP), a World Bank-assisted project that aimed to improve wastewater service in Metro Manila. More than PHP 1 billion was invested in programs to meet the sewerage and sanitation needs of Manila Water's customers and help reduce pollution to water bodies.

One strategy of the MSSP was to convert existing Communal Septic Tanks into package STPs. A total of twenty-seven (27) package STPs were constructed along with the rehabilitation of older facilities like the Makati South (Magallanes) STP, which at 40 million liter per day capacity is the biggest in the country. More than 20 desludging trucks were procured during this period to improve sanitation services.

Manila Third Sewerage Project (2005-2010)

Immediately following MSSP, Manila Water started the Manila Third Sewerage Project (MTSP) that aims to follow-up the accomplishments of its predecessor. This wastewater project is an USD 85 million initiative for the improvement of sewerage and sanitation conditions in the east concession zone.

Aided by a USD 86 million loan from the World Bank, MTSP aims enhance its septage management program, pilot the combined sewer-drainage system approach, and promote advocacies and education campaigns to increase awareness on the negative environmental impacts of wastewater.

By 2007, the septage management component of MTSP was realized through the completion and operation of two (2) Septage Treatment Plants and the procurement of desludging vacuum trucks thereby expanding its fleet to the current number of 90 units.

Sewer coverage in the east concession is expected to rise to 30 percent by end of 2010 when the sewage management component of seven (7) STPs under MTSP is completed.

The Three-River Master Plan (2010-2018)

The Three-River Master Plan aims to achieve 100 percent sewer coverage by year 2018 through a combination of combined sewer-drainage and separate sewer systems, covering all catchments that discharge to the three river systems within the east concession namely Marikina River, Pasig River and San Juan River.

The success of the Three-River Master Plan is dependent on cooperative, urgent actions specifically aimed at: laying the necessary infrastructure; enactment of supporting policies; behavioral changes as to dumping of wastewater and solid waste; and, the collaborative action from government and non-government sectors.

Wastewater Operations

Manila Water now operates a total of 34 sewage treatment plants with a combined treatment capacity of 115 million liters of wastewater per day, and 2 septage treatment plants that can treat as much as 1,400 cubic meters of septic tank wastes per day. A total of 200 kilometers of sewer pipelines have also been laid in the East Zone.

All of Manila Water's wastewater facilities use world-class technology, as well as follow and comply with the effluent discharge standards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

As part of its sustainability and environmental initiatives, Manila Water has also began recycling their treated wastewater through an Effluent Reuse project in the UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub in Quezon City, where treated effluent from the nearby UP Diliman sewage treatment plant is re-used for irrigation and toilet flushing purposes in the business and commercial complex of TechnoHub.