DENR: Butuanon River water quality improving

CEBU, Philippines - The water quality of the 24-kilometer Butuanon River has improved which over the last several years has been affected due to development, industrialization, and other human activities, according to an environment official.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 regional executive director Dr. Isabelo Montejo said his agency sees a drop on the average biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) concentration based on a three-year period in the river which recorded 30.8 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in 2012 which is two times higher than the standard of 15 mg/L.

Based on the data released by the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) 7, the average BOD5 is much lower than 2011, 2010, and 2009 which were 31.2 mg/L, 201.0 mg/L, and 51.8 mg/L, respectively.

The decrease in the average BOD5 indicated that efforts to improving the water quality of the river, which is a Class D water body, such as Adopt-a-River or Estero Program, monitoring efforts of EMB, and other similar activities by other organizations, had effects on the river.

“The EMB 7 with the local government units and other concerned stakeholders has to increase their efforts in monitoring the locators along the river to further go down BOD5 concentration of the river to pass the standard, since it is only those upstream stations that pass the BOD5 standard of 15 mg/L,” Montejo said in a statement.

According to DENR-7 spokesperson Eddie Llamedo, the BOD5 parameter represents the easily biodegradable portion of the water pollution which is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.

Only 62 percent of the various data or locators met the water quality criteria for Class D, he said.

Butuanon River is a highly contaminated water body which is bordering along densely populated areas in Cebu City and Mandaue City.

There are riverbank areas downstream which are occupied by informal settlers.

For these residents directly exposed to the river water, health risks are coming from high pollution levels, Llamedo said.

Natural phenomena such as typhoons further worsen this decline in water quality by increasing storm water pollution loading to the water body.

This results in blackening of its water, negative impacts to human and has limited the use of water resources.

In a related development, the DENR 7 through EMB 7 has signed 13 out of 31 memoranda of agreements (MOA) with some private sectors to adopt a portion of the Butuanon River for protection, cleanup, and other rehabilitation activities.  (FREEMAN)