THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) told Boracay Island’s two private water service providers to enhance their wastewater-treatment capacity to accommodate consumers willing to connect to their sewer lines.
DENR Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones said Boracay Island Water Co. (BIWC) and Boracay Tubi System Inc. (BTSI) should ensure that the existing wastewater-treatment facilities are capable of treating the huge volume of wastewater coming from their respective customers to be able to treat the water and meet the standards set by law for wastewater discharge.
According to the DENR, effluents or the coliform bacteria level should not exceed 400 most probable number/100 milliliters (MPN/100ml) upon discharge to the environment. The same goes for all business establishments with their own sewage-treatment plant or STP.
“That is the beauty of having an STP for business establishments,” Leones, the designated spokesman of Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, said. “We can easily monitor if the effluents are within standards for wastewater discharge.”
Leones is pushing to amend the implementing rules and regulations of the Clean Water Act to require all business establishments to secure a water-discharge permit, regardless whether they are already connected to sewer lines of water service providers.
Old tanks
BEGINNING on April 26, the world-renowned Boracay Island in the municipality of Malay, Aklan province, was closed to tourist for six months.
A week into its one-month closure, however, the interagency Task Force Boracay, led by the DENR, is still scanning the beaches for hidden sewer lines that directly discharge untreated wastewater unto the beach. Last week, using ground penetrating radar, DENR personnel were able to detect 33 pipes that illegally discharge untreated wastewater near the beach. The DENR also discovered an old septic tank.
It also discovered an old sewer line built by the then-Philippine Tourism Authority in one of the beaches, which the DENR, chief wants to condemn and dismantle.
Leones, the DENR’s undersecretary for policy, planning, international affairs and foreign-assisted projects, told the BusinessMirror that enhancing their capacity to treat wastewater is the only way to sustain whatever will be gained in the ongoing rehabilitation in the pollution-challenged island resort.
Since many business establishment and residential areas would soon be connected to proper sewer lines, Leones said it is imperative for the BIWC and BTSI to enhance their capacity to treat the expected increase in the volume of wastewater flowing into their wastewater-treatment facilities.
Own STPs
LEONES reiterated that all business establishments along the shores of Boracay are now required to have their own sewage-treatment plant.
Also, he said big hotels and resorts with at least 50 rooms are also required to have their own STP.
“We are hoping that all business establishments will put up their own STPs as what was agreed upon in the last meeting with Cimatu.”
The official added that these establishments are financially capable to put up their own STPs. Leones also said the DENR expects these establishments to comply as the Task Force Boracay races against time to accomplish and hit action plan targets before the closure period ends in October.
“These businesses have the resources to invest in STPs,” he said. “There is also portable STPs now, which they can use.”
Cimatu earlier said that existing sewer lines near the shores should be condemned or dismantled, while new ones should be constructed at least 50 meters away from the mean shorelines.
This is to ensure that in case of a leak, the sludge or untreated wastewater will not reach the beach and contaminate the water.
From now on, Leones said such policy applies not only in Boracay but to all other areas, particularly tourism destinations frequented by local and foreign tourists.
BIWC networks
Meanwhile, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) clarified that the government-built sewerage system discovered by the DENR at the beachfront last weekend was built decades ago and had government approval.
In a statement, representatives from Tieza and BIWC claims the sewer system is operating and “capacitized” to prevent overflows to the beach waters.
Tieza said the major cause of manhole overflows and water pollution in Boracay is the refusal of many establishments to connect to the proper sewerage system or have illegally tapped into the drainage line, the statement released through BIWC said.
The company also added it plans to upgrade and expand the sewer network along Balabag Main Road, which will accommodate higher flows coming from the beachfront area.
The BIWC also vows to complete the Balabag Sewer Network Rehabilitation Project in four months.
“This is a faster and more feasible alternative to relocating the sewer network which may affect more establishments and require the acquisition of rights-of-way that may take a longer time to complete beyond the closure period,” the statement read.
The newly issued Executive Order 53, creating the Boracay inter-agency task force, directs Tieza to undertake the completion of the drainage-system program, for one. It also commands Tieza to work with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the establishment of flood-control infrastructures and to ensure the completion of the expansion programs of water and sewerage system in the three barangays of Boracay Island.
Tieza’s part
FOR its part, Tieza said it has mobilized the construction of the temporary discharge pipeline to fast-track the rehabilitation activities in Boracay at the onset of the rainy season
starting in June.
The temporary outfall will prevent flooding on various underground utilities and road construction projects while Tieza and the DPWH augment their declogging activities in the drainage systems and sewerage facilities of Boracay. The outfall will have a discharge pipe extended up to 800 meters off the shore of Balabag beach. It will carry drainage water from the central Boracay section.