First LGU-built wetland brings clean water to Negros village

BAYAWAN CITY, Negros Oriental — Used often to make brooms, the lowly tambo (scientific name Phragmites karka) that inhabits the country’s riverbanks can now also be utilized to clean wastewater.

Because of this reed and other native weeds, fisherfolk in a resettlement village here won’t have to deal with polluted groundwater due to untreated sewage.

Using German technology developed 40 years ago that relies on natural cleansing processes in the soil and roots of weeds and reeds, the country’s first local government unit (LGU)-constructed and -managed wetland started operations last September, sanitizing wastewater from 750 households of the Gawad Kalinga housing project.

Andreas Kanzler, country director of the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), described the wetland as a perfect solution to treat the sewage of a small community since it is cost-effective, easy to maintain and very efficient in the cleaning process.

"The technology of constructed wetlands is successful and reliably applied in several countries in Asia. With this low-cost solution, we can contribute significantly to the very serious situation of contamination of drinking water resources by wastewater in many regions of the country," he said.

With around 20 Filipinos dying every day from diseases caused by untreated sewage and contaminated water, Kanzler stressed the need for more sanitation programs using affordable technology.

"Centralized treatment systems with kilometers and kilometers of collecting sewer pipes have become so expensive that they are not affordable in developing countries, especially outside the mega cities. Low-cost, low-maintenance and simple technology solutions are needed," he said.

Kanzler hailed the project as a model of cooperation between the GTZ and its national partner, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the academe and the Bayawan City government led by Mayor German Saraña that conceptualized and financed the project.

"It was always a project of the city of Bayawan, which GTZ supported with long-term and short-term expertise from Germany to ensure state-of-the-art construction and to avoid mistakes," he added.

Budgeting P10 million from local funds to build the 2,800-square-meter wetland facility, Saraña unveiled plans to build three more artificial wetlands to service the city’s residential and commercial districts.

He called the project a gift to fisherfolk since the P10 monthly payment of each household for the use of the wetland is just enough to maintain the facility.

As an added economic benefit, the treated water from the wetland can also be used for agriculture, construction work and firefighting.

"We just hope that this will be replicated in other local government units so that we can comply with the Clean Water Act and address the sanitation problem in urban areas," Saraña said.

DILG Assistant Secretary Austere Panadero echoed this as he lauded Negros officials for pursuing innovative sanitation projects.

Bayawan is also home to dehydration toilets which do not use water to flush human waste and instead separate feces and urine to be processed later as organic fertilizer.

If more local governments adopt this sustainable sanitation solution, local wetlands and their use of the tambo will chalk up another one for the books.

The GTZ is commissioned by the Federal Republic of Germany to provide technical assistance to the national and local governments and other partners in the community level.