BAGUIO CITY – Baguio’s water quality has improved during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and now compliant with the standards of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the City Environments and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) said on Thursday.
CEPMO officer in charge Rhenan Diwas said not only the air but also the water quality of the city have improved the past eight weeks at a rate that has been observed in the waste-water influent and effluent at the Baguio Sewerage Treatment Plant (BSTP).
The CEPMO-Wastewater, Water and Air Monitoring Division (WAMD) report showed the waste-water influent (raw) in February 2020 reached almost the maximum level at 8,557.18 cubic meters a day, but tests last March showed a drop to 4,369. 97 m3/day.
The report said that waste-water quality has also improved and now falls within the standards set under DENR Administrative Order 1990-35 (Effluent Standards for Different Water Quality Parameter) and DAO 2016-08 (Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standards), when it failed laboratory results from January to February 2020.
The waste-water improvement is attributable to the decrease in population with the suspension of classes as well as a drop in tourist arrivals, Diwas said.
Another reason was the cancelation of the 25th Panagbenga and the various activities under the Summer Vacation (SumVac) in Baguio that follow the month-long flower festival due to the threat of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“Likewise, the closure of the majority of the commercial activities (restaurants) and limited operation of the public market and slaughterhouse was seen as contributory to the less turbid waste-water discharges,” Diwas said.
The City Tourism Office record shows that some 540,000 tourists flocked to the city from February to May last year and said the office was hoping that this will be topped as more events were lined up, but were canceled when the ECQ was declared last March 17.
Diwas said that while population and economic activities are the major factors of environmental pollution, these are recognized forces that boost the city’s economy.
He suggested that the city should pursue the rehabilitation and upgrading of the 34-year-old BSTP and expand its coverage to other barangays, continue the rehabilitation of sewer lines, improve the septage management system, which includes more septage facility, among others. **By Pigeon Lobien, PNA
