PRRC uses ‘mudballs’ to clean up Pasig River

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) officials threw “mudballs” into the Pasig River yesterday to help clean up its polluted waters.

The officials, led by executive director Ramil Tan, threw the mudballs following the opening of a 75-meter linear park along the riverbanks in Barangay Poblacion, Makati City.

They also unveiled solar-powered street lamps that would light up the park at night.

The PRRC said the fist-sized mudballs, which originated in Japan, are infused with beneficial microorganisms and kneaded with molasses, rice hull and mud. 

Mudballs are used to clean up bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and oceans where there are concentrated deposits of sludge and slime.

Among these microorganisms are lactobacilli “that filter out the bad bacteria in dirty water. The garden soil serves as the ‘house’ of the good bacteria where they can multiply. The molasses serve as the food of the good bacteria so they can multiply even faster,” the PRRC said in a statement.