Clean water is a symptom of a healthy environment.
This is the goal of the San Pedro Water District (SPWD) as it opened its new 50CMD Septage Treatment Plant last Wednesday, April 29.
SPWD officials were joined by city officials, led by Administrator Atty. Henry Salazar, at the blessing of the new facility located in Barangay Estrella.
According to officials, the new septage treatment facility aims to ensure not only environmental protection but also the health of San Pedrenses, particularly those living along the city’s waterways.
The new can treat up to 50 cubic meters of waste water a day, or the equivalent of the waste water generated by 50 households.
According to SPWD General Manager Guillermo Pili, the new septage treatment facility enables the city’s main water supplier to comply with laws and regulations regarding the treatment of wastewater.
These include Republic Act No. 9275 (Philippine Clean Water Act) and City Ordinance No. 2017-36, which regulates the city's water quality and waste disposal practices.
The new facility is also part of the city’s compliance with the Supreme Court Mandamus on the rehabilitation of Manila Bay, which Laguna province is part of because of the Laguna de Bay’s connection with Manila Bay.
SPWD mandate
Pili added that the new facility is part of the SPWD’s mandate to ensure a clean water supply to its consumers, which includes cleaning their septic tanks every five years.
“Bahagi po ito noong environmental fee na sinisingil po natin sa mga consumer sa kanilang monthly water bill,” the SPWD general manager told OpinYon Laguna.
Through the new septage facility, SPWD can now directly offer septic tank cleaning for its consumers, as well as others wishing to avail of such services.
This will also eliminate the possibility of unscrupulous septic tank cleaning services dumping wastewater directly into the city’s waterways, causing disease and environmental damage.
Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Panglungsod of San Pedro is now crafting legislation that will ensure the legal operations of septic tank cleaning services, such as requiring them to get accreditation from the local government.
“Sisiguraduhin po natin na walang makakapasok na illegal desludgers, at kung mayroon mang mag-desludge ay kailangan pong i-treat [ang wastewater] dito sa ating pasilidad,” Pili added.
The general manager said operations of the new facility will commence upon the arrival of vacuum trucks that will pump water from septic tanks and into the septage facility, with full operations expected in six months.
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