(This article was written in 2006 for my column, Envirowatch in the Citadel)
James Bond
is not part of this story. This is about those who are actively working on
achieving the Millennium Development Goal on Environmental Sustainability or
often abbreviated as MDG#7.
The MDGs
by the way, are the result of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.
Target 10 of MDG # 7 stated to reduce by at least half the number of the people
without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. This means world
leaders need to intensify its efforts to serve 1.1 billion people who still do
not have access to safe drinking water and around 2.4 billion who lack access
to improved sanitation.
Here in
our region, it is evident that in far-flung areas, family members still have to
walk 3 kilometers or so just to fetch a container or two from springs and wells.
Often, these water sources are not adequately treated before use. We happen to
visit some communities in Upper Roxas last
October and personally witnessed the hard plight of residents there.
The greatest threat to these types of water
sources are nutrient and pesticides contamination. The intensive agriculture
might pose serious risks to our groundwater sources. Over-fertilization of
nitrogen particularly nitrates may cause methemoglobinemia (blue-baby syndrome)
among infants. There is no need to convince you that pesticides are not good
for your health (take a sip if you are not convinced).
It is good
that the government is having water supply projects. However, some of these
projects are inadequately treated. Well, some of the rural folks would say, it
is better than having no water at all. But the threats as I have outlined
before are not to be disregarded and should form part of an integrated planning
of providing ample and safe drinking water supply.
Adding
complexity to the problem is the expected increase in volume of sewage once
there is ample (and excessive) water supply. The more water available, the
greater is your consumption and subsequently wastewater. An example in case, Kidapawan City
is known for a good water supply and not-so-good Nuangan River.
This suggests that along with water provision, a planner needs to consider
subsequent wastewater management. This is costly, however. But the cost of
neglecting this part of the picture is health care cost, drops in fish
production and tourism, etc.
Greywater
reuse and ecological sanitation were some of the options considered. These
measures are designed to lessen wastewater discharges.
EcoSan
I happened
to read a presentation on Water and Sanitation (WatSan) by the Cotabato
Provincial Planning Office before the Provincial Development Council meeting
late last year. It outlined among others several strategies planned by the
province to address several water quality issues in light of the implementation
of the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 (RA 9275). The report listed in managing wastewater
specifically “Ecosan”. I am happy that the provincial government is addressing
the issue of wastewater management.
What it is
ecological sanitation? Ecosan proponents vouch a water conserving approach to
waste under the principles of containment, treatment and reuse. An example is
the double vault toilet system diverting urine and feces. The solids are
separated and once stabilized can be applied as fertilizer. Another interesting
design is the composting toilet were toilet waste fall into a sawdust matrix
inside a composting chamber mounted in a basement beneath the toilet floor.
Japanese
designers are clever enough to place some buttons to automate mixing wastes
inside the composting chambers. Well, these are options for households. How
about in a larger scale? I leave it for the next issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment