Waste Water Management in the Philippines :: essays research papers

I. INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This report aims to discuss and to enrich the reader’s knowledge on the proper desludging and disposal of waste accumulated from septic tanks. The information gathered here is vital as it provides a culture of awareness to everyone on how wastewater is disposed of. Wastewater comes from everywhere; from our residences to our workplaces, even public places. Filipinos as we are, have been known to be hygienic yet we know little of what happens when our used water is flushed to the drain until it’s carried off to treatment plants. It is imperative that we, as citizens, must have an idea on how the whole process works and how beneficial/ detrimental it is to the people and to our environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before we continue with this paper, we must define some of the important terms used in this report. A Septic Tank is a watertight container which receives the discharge of a plumbing system. It was designed and constructed to separate solids from the liquid; digest the organic matter and allow the liquid waste to discharge in a storm drain. It is used to provide a storage place so as to give opportunity for the bacteria to reduce all solids to liquid form, and to provide a breeding place to increase the number of bacteria to accelerate the decomposition of solids. Desludging is the process of removing or vacuuming the septic tank content. The septic tank content or Septage, is the combination of scum (masss that floats on the tank surface), sludge (solids that settled on the bottom) and liquid pumped out from a filled-up septic tank. II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY (REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In August 1997, the Ayala-led Manila Water Company took over the East Zone of Metro Manila from the government-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System through a 25-year concession agreement, while the Lopez-led Maynilad Water Services took over the West Zone. According to some studies before this study was made, about 76 percent of the water supply for Metro Manila comes from the Angat Reservoir, with the rest of the supply coming from the Ipo and La Mesa Watersheds and from groundwater. The Ipo and La Mesa Watersheds contribute about 14 percent and seven percent of the total supply, respectively, while only about three percent comes from groundwater. Only three percent of the East Zone is connected to the sewerage system, which also is connected to the treatment plant.