It's Me, Gracee: Daloy Dunong Educational Tour 2017

MAYNILAD Daloy Dunong Educational Tour 2017

Daloy Dunong Educational Tour 2017 Wednesday, February 08, 2017

We've been a customer of Maynilad or Maynilad Water for quite some time now and so far we're loving their service. We've recently had our septic tank cleaned as well and from what I've learned during our Educational Tour at Maynilad Veterans Village Water Reclamation Facility, we should have our septic tank cleaned every 5-6 years.

Before our tour around Maynilad's facilities, we were first introduced on how Maynilad do their duty in cleaning and protecting our water. Maynilad is the largest water

concessionaire in terms of customer base in the Philippines. It was re-privatized on January

24, 2007. Owned and operated by Metro Pacific InvestmentsCorp., DMCI Holdings Inc.

and Marubeni Corp.

Maynilad's goal is to provide safe, affordable and sustainable water solutions. We all use water. 80% of the water we use for drinking, bathing, cooking and other household activities usually ends up in bodies of water such as seas, rivers and lakes.

Used water is usually referred to as wastewater. If left untreated, wastewater can cause diseases and pollute the environment.

I've learned that Maynilad does not only provides clean and potable water for everyone but also gets busy in Wastewater Management.

Part of the Clean Water Act of the Philippines, there should be proper collection, treatment and release of wastewater to lessen its adverse effects on the environment.

Households are required to have their own septic tanks or be connected to a sewer network. Septic tanks serve as a repository of solid wastes from their drainages, while the liquid part flows out to drainages and canals. These septic tanks should then be cleaned every five to seven years to get rid of the sludge or solid waste that has accumulated in it.

Aside from providing clean water, Maynilad also provides wastewater management services for the West Zone of the Greater Manila area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (all but portions of San Andres & Sta. Ana), Quezon City (west of San Juan River, West Avenue, EDSA, Congressional, Mindanao Avenue, the northern part starting from the Districts of the Holy Spirit & Batasan Hills), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.

There are two types of wastewater management services provided by Maynilad:

Sewerage Services. Some of Maynilad’s customers are connected to a sewerage system, which conveys wastewater from households to facilities where it is processed before discharge to bodies of water.

At present, only residents and establishments in Tondo, Sampaloc, South Manila, Malabon, Navotas, Caloocan, portions of Quezon City, Magallanes Village in Makati City, and Ayala Alabang Village and surrounding areas in Muntinlupa City may avail of Maynilad’s sewerage service.

Sanitation Services: Maynilad customers who are not connected to sewer lines are provided sanitation services, which involve the regular cleaning of septic tanks once every five (5) to seven (7) years. Within this period, the service is offered at no extra cost.

Maynilad deploys vacuum trucks that collect wastewater materials from septic tanks and brings the collected materials to its Septage Treatment Plants (SpTP) for processing before discharge to bodies of water.

To further understand this, Buffnang Bloggers got the chance to tour around the facility of Maynilad Veterans Village Water Reclamation:

For safety procedure, we were first instructed some guidelines before we took the tour and we were asked to wear hard hats for our safety as well.

Our first stop is the Control Room. This is where the engineers can see if everything is working perfectly. They can see first hand if something went wrong in the system and can immediately do analysis of the system from the computer and on wards.

Next is the Septage Acceptance Room, this is where desludging of the waste from the community happens.

Then off to the Solid Waste Storage Area. At first I was a bit hesitant to go there since I know we will be welcomed with a foul odor but we were given a mask as well just in case we can't tolerate the smell but when we got there, the smell was not really that bad. It was tolerable, you can see the efforts of Maynilad on how step by step they do the procedure.

Blower Room

Aeration Tank

Sludge Drying Bed

The end result of this procedure is clear water. This water can be used to water the plants (commonly MMDA usually ask for them to supply water when they are watering the plants in some areas in Metro Manila)

Currently, Maynilad is accelerating its wastewater management programs so that it can cover 100% of its West Zone service area by 2037. It partners with the academe, civil society and the government to build more treatment plants, reach more households and inform more people about the importance of wastewater management.

However, there are some hurdles Maynilad still has to overcome. Chief of which is finding locations for its plants and acquiring permits to build them and its wastewater pipelines (called conveyance systems). The second, is getting people to accept its services. Some people, even when they have been offered septic tank cleaning do not avail of the service because they either do not know where their septic tanks are or have covered up their septic tanks and do not want to open them up again, unless it’s too late and the tanks overflow—which is, of course, unsanitary.

It's never too late to protect our home and environment from waste. Have your Septic Tank cleaned. Septic Tanks are a watertight, multi-chambered receptacle that receives sewage

from houses or other buildings. It is designed to separate and store the solids and partially digest the organic matter in the sewage. Know where your septic tank is located by the as-built drawings of your home, consulting with plumbers or looking for manholes in your home.It will only take 15-20 minutes to have your septic tanks cleaned!

Contact Maynilad now for more details. Over 500, 535 septic tanks were cleaned by Maynilad from 2007 - 2016. So let's make 2017 count and help Maynilad in promoting Waste Water Management.