City’s four rivers cited
HIGH FECAL COLIFORM LEVEL
THE Dagupan City government was alerted by a finding of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Water Quality Monitoring Report that four of the seven rivers in the city registered a high coliform level.
This data was revealed during the public hearing conducted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) on a proposed ordinance seeking to establish a septage and sewage management program in the city on Jan. 13.
The proposed ordinance is in compliance with Republic Act 9275 otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Water Act.
Said Act imposes on local government units the responsibility in the management and improvement of water quality within its territorial jurisdiction.
The public hearing was attended by the Dagupan City Water District (DCWD), that presented its Septage Management Program for Dagupan.
The city expressed serious concern over the degradation of water quality in the river including effects such as sewage fungus and algal growths which pose risk on people’s health especially those using the river and some residential areas during floods.
The four rivers that registered a high fecal coliform level were Calmay, Pantal (Magsaysay), Dawel and Bayaoas. Their levels were beyond the Most Probable Number (MPN) per 100 milliliters of 200 MPN.
The report stated that Dawel registered 900 MPN; Calmay, 2,600 MPN; Pantal River (Magsaysay), 11,000 MPN; and Bayaoas River, 17,000 MPN/100ml.
DCWD also reported that 3,739 residential homes in the city have no toilet facilities and most are defecating directly in the rivers.
Other residential, commercial, trade and industrial establishments continue to use septic tanks that are not properly designed, improved or updated through the years and continue to discharge into the sewers that further degrade many waterways and the rivers.
If the ordinance is approved, DCWD will be the implementing agency under the law. (CIO/JCB)
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