East Zone concessionaire Manila Water has emptied and cleaned a total of 117,441 septic vaults for the period covering January to December of 2019 as part of its commitment to promote community hygiene and sanitation through the company’s various wastewater programs.

For the month of November 2019 alone, the company has desludged 17,638 septic tanks benefitting 27,186 households compared to 14,150 septic tanks in December which benefitted an equivalent of 19,591 households. These bring the number of desludging beneficiaries to more than 212,125 households in 2019.

Manila Water Corporate Strategic Affairs Head Jeric Sevilla Jr. also explained that with respect to wastewater effluent quality, Manila Water performed better than the regulatory target, achieving 100 percent compliance with the 95 percent Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Wastewater Effluent Quality Standards for the months of November and December of last year.

Sevilla also reiterated the importance of regular cleaning of septic tanks every five years not only to promote hygiene and sanitation within the households but also to prevent untreated used water from directly flowing to various waterways thereby reducing, if not eliminating, pollution of water bodies such as creeks and rivers which ultimately drain into Manila Bay.

Desludging services do not entail additional costs and customers are advised to coordinate with their respective barangays for the schedules. Manila Water has also announced its desludging schedule for the first quarter of this year through its company Facebook page.