BORACAY Island Water Co. Inc. (Boracay Water) recently completed the sewage-diversion flow system from its Balabag Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to the Manocmanoc STP, allowing more establishments and households in the Balabag area to connect to the company’s sewer network.
Boracay Water is one of two water service providers on Boracay Island, the country’s top tourist destination in Malay, Aklan.
In a statement, Boracay Water said the flow diversion project started in March and was recently commissioned to support the sewer network and treatment facility in Barangay Balabag, which receives an average of 5.7 million liters of used water or wastewater per day (MLD) during regular operations, or 88 percent of its 6.5-MLD maximum capacity.
Barangay Balabag is the site of the busy beachfronts of Stations 1 and 2, as well as the Bulabog Beach, where many water sports activities, such as kiteboarding, are held. It accumulates more used water compared to Manocmanoc and Yapak, the two other barangays on the island.
Currently, the Manocmanoc STP treats about 1 MLD to 2 MLD of used water from households and business establishments within the barangay.
The flow diversion project maximizes the combined capacity of both treatment plants and will enable the company’s sewerage system to accommodate even non-Boracay Water customers who are yet to connect to a reliable and proper used water network.
In total, Balabag and Manocmanoc STPs treat an average of 8.7 MLD, or 76 percent of its combined 11.5 MLD capacity.
Both facilities discharge Class SB water or treated domestic used water compliant with the stringent parameters of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources that is safe for marine life and suitable for recreational and contact activities, the company’s statement said.
In support of the rehabilitation of the island, Boracay Water is also accelerating its sewer system projects in accordance with the used water master plan approved by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, including the construction of the island’s third sewage- treatment plant in Barangay Yapak with a capacity of 5 MLD.
The company is also expanding its current sewer network of 22 kilometers while providing desludging services to the so-called unsewered areas with a fleet of seven desludging trucks. This ensures that septage, or waste collected from septic tanks of residential units and commercial establishments, undergo proper treatment.
Boracay Island was ordered closed to tourism activities for six months starting on April 26 to allow various stakeholders, led by Task Force Boracay, to rehabilitate the pollution-challenged island.
The direct discharge of untreated wastewater is being blamed for the water pollution in Boracay.
The Bulabog Beach, one of the public beaches on the island, was found to have an alarmingly high level of coliform bacteria.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has asked Boracay’s water service providers to work together to fix the sewer lines on the island to help address water pollution.