Three more solar-powered sewage treatment plants (STPs) are expected to be constructed on Metro Manila’s river systems in the coming months to complement the first solar-powered STP that was unveiled on Roxas Boulevard, Manila last July 30.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu said the STPs will be installed on major river systems that drain into Manila Bay -- Libertad outfall on Parañaque River, Tullahan-Tinajeros River, and Las Piñas-Zapote River.
“The STP is a big step forward to making Manila Bay safe again for swimming, bathing, boating, fishing, and other forms of contact recreation,” Cimatu, who chairs the Manila Bay Task Force in charge of rehabilitating the historic water body, said.
Cimatu and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo Lim led last July 30 the inauguration of the first Manila Bay solar-powered STP, which is capable of treating 500,000 liters of wastewater per day.
According to the DENR chief, the project will ensure that no untreated wastewater from three drainage outfalls -- Padre Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad -- will flow into the Manila Bay.
Cimatu pointed out that the untreated water from the STP will be recycled and stored in an underground tank with a capacity of two million liters.
The treated water, he explained, will be used for watering plants on Roxas Boulevard, maintenance of two solar-powered comfort rooms to be constructed at the bay walk area, and fire trucks of the cities of Manila and Pasay.
The construction of STPs is “just one of the many geo-engineering interventions” for cleaning Manila Bay, he said.