P10 to P20 billion needed for Pasig River rehab

MANILA, Philippines - The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) estimates that it would need anywhere from P10 billion to P20 billion to completely rehabilitate the polluted Pasig River and maintain its water quality level at “Class C.”

In a presentation at the Inaugural Jose Capadocia Environmental Forum yesterday, Deogracias J. Tablan Jr., PRRC executive director, said the Pasig River’s water quality has fallen below the Class C level since 1970 and the river was declared biologically dead in 1990.

A Class C water quality level means that the water is suitable for fishing and to supply manufacturing processes after treatment. It is also good for secondary recreation like boating.

Right now, Tablan said the Pasig River has become sick due to untreated direct discharge of domestic and industrial waste and solid wastes (garbage).

He said dissolved oxygen is below 5mg/l, while its 43 esteros contain even less at below 3mg/l. He added that since 1999, the PRRC has been working to upgrade the water quality of the Pasig River to Class C.

The Pasig River rehabilitation program includes cleaning up, removing and dredging the solid wastes (garbage) and sedimentation that has built up over the years.

The Philippines has been fortunate to receive a P5-billion grant from the Belgian government for the dredging of the river and the removal of up to 2.83 million cubic meters of contaminated riverbed sedimentation.

Among the items unexpectedly dredged up are a World War II tank and several types of unexploded ammunition.

To date, Tablan said, the PRRC has spent P3.5 billion on the dredging project which is expected to be completed by September this year.

Tablan said the river also needs bioremediation which would involve a massive treatment of the Pasig River’s water.

Aside from the water river clean-up, the PRRC has been undertaking other programs that include the establishment of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) to avoid the continued use of the river as a dumping ground by informal settlers along the riverbank, relocation of the informal settlers; development of linear parks; establishment of a water transport service and establishment of garbage traps with aeration and filtration device along key esteros before release of the estero water to the Pasig River.

Based on the PRRC’s timetable, it hopes to restore the Pasig River’s quality level to Class C by 2018, and use of the river as a waterway by 2015 as a result of the ongoing mechanical and bio-dredging of the river.

Once the Pasig River’s water quality level has been upgraded to Class C, Tablan said it would take “forever” to maintain that level as it could easily slip back to it polluted state.