West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) has adopted the Combined Sewerage System (CSS) concept to boost its wastewater treatment drive.
Under the CSS concept, Maynilad will build a network of collector pipes and wastewater treatment plants that would collect wastewater flow from existing drainages for proper treatment before discharge to major bodies of water like a river or a bay. The concept will enable the water company to lower project costs by taking advantage of existing drainage systems.
Maynilad Sewerage and Sanitation head Antonio Garcia said the CSS is expected to provide significant improvements in the sanitation and health conditions of communities served by the system.
“A CSS is a good way to get quick-wins in the effort to reduce pollution loading into bodies of water. This is because the CSS does not require the installation of a complicated sewer network and individual service connections, which will result to public inconvenience. Also, the investment required for putting up a combined system is lower compared to a separate system,†he added.
Garcia noted that other countries have been using the CSS, including the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Japan, because of its many technical and cost advantages.
Maynilad plans to apply the CSS in unsewered areas of the West Zone. Its first CSS project is now being implemented along the San Juan River Basin, and will serve mostly areas in Quezon City. “We are prioritizing this area because it feeds into the Pasig River,†Garcia said. “We will build 13 wastewater treatment facilities and collector systems with a combined capacity of 72,000 cubic meters per day (CMD), serving a total population of almost 600,000.â€
The CSS project of Maynilad is part of the West Zone concessionaire’s P5.1-billion Priority Sewerage Projects for 2008 to 2012. Other initiatives include the enhancement of the treatment capability of Maynilad’s Central Manila Sewerage System and the construction of a 250-CMD Septage Treatment Plant in the southern part of the West Zone.
The West Zone 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 Hi-way), Caloocan, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; Cavite City, and the towns of Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.