Edzel B.

Briones
STS 1 W
Group 6
February 13, 2014
A look on the UPLB Old Sewage Treatment Plant
A STS 1 Term Paper
Different offices, institutions, housing institutions and dormitories
within the UPLB campus generates wastewater or sewage that have potential to
pollute the receiving bodies of water and threatens the universitys beautiful
environment. That is why it is important to have a sewer system and a sewage
treatment plant in the management of wastewater here in the university.
Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater to
produce an environmentally safe fluid waste stream by employing several
physical, chemical and biological processes. The ultimate goal of sewage
treatment is the protection of public health in a manner commensurate with
environmental, economic, social and political concerns.
Basic sewer systems for waste removal were already in use in ancient
civilizations like the Mesopotamian, Greek and Roman. The need for modern
sewage systems arise during the mid-nineteenth century due to the
exacerbation of sanitary conditions brought by heavy industrialization and
urbanization. Also, cholera outbreaks during the 1800s due to the
contaminated water supply led to sanitation reforms in European cities. By the
late 19th century, chemical treatment of sewage became possible by chemically
breaking down the contaminants by the use of microorganisms through the
use of trickling filters and contact beds. At the dawn of twentieth century, the
development of secondary treatments to sewage led to invention of activated
sludge process that utilizes air and biological floc composed of bacteria and
protozoa in treating sewage. This is a significant invention and the process
most used around the world nowadays.
From Philippines independence in 1946 until 1955 the water supply
systems in the Philippines were operated by local authorities. From 1955 to
1971, the urban water supply is handled by the national government and also
been subjected to extensive reforms that leads to creation of numerous
institutions. However, it was only in 2004 that a comprehensive water
resources management system is introduced through the passing of Republic
Act 9275 or commonly known as Philippines Clean Water Act of 2004. The

main objective of this act is to improve water quality, sanitation and wastewater
treatment in the country. Today, even though 5% Philippines population is
connected to a sewer network, several cities in the Philippines have their own
sewage treatment plants through the efforts of local government units, private
institutions and external development agencies (ADB, Germany, USAID, JICA
and World Bank)
Here in the university, the Molawin Creek played a role in the
establishment of the then UP College of Agriculture because it provides a good
source of water for drinking, constructing and bathing among others. The
Creek also sustained a rich flora and fauna that inhabited the area which was
necessary for the UPCAs biological laboratories. Soon, with the help of the
Rockefeller-Ford Foundation, a Five-Year Development Program (5YDP) was
enacted by the the former UPCA dean, Dioscoro Umali during the 1960s that
makes construction of new facilities including a sewage treatment plant facility
possible. The Sewage Treatment Plant was initially built in 1970 costing 1.1
million pesos using a trickling filter system with a capacity of approximately
0.8 million liters per day (MLD). The facility is located at the back of UPLB
Physical Plant Management Services Office near the Rambutan Road. It is
designed to receive wastewater from buildings in the lower campus and the
houses at UP Cornell (UPCO) Staff Housing. The wastewater flows generated
from the buildings in the lower campus and the housing units are conveyed to
the STP facility through a network of sewer lines that are originally built in the
1960s.
The Sewage Treatment Plant includes a pump station; comminutors that
cut up and grind the coarse solids into smaller sizes to prevent clogging;
primary clarifiers that removes the settleable organic and inorganic solids by
sedimentation; trickling filters that removes biodegradable dissolved and
colloidal inorganic matter by the use of aerobic microorganisms; anaerobic
digesters that breaks down biodegradable materials by the use of
microorganisms in absence of oxygen; and sludge beds that dries sludges.

However, due to old age and issues with respect to operation and
maintenance, the sewage treatment plant ceased its operation in 1999. There
are still efforts to revive the sewage treatment plant and that includes
rehabilitation of the facility in 2000. Sadly, after the rehabilitation, the facility
just continued its operation until 2002 due to lack of competent operator. The
engineer-in-charge of the said operation terminates its contract to the

university and leaving the facility with no one to operate and ended up in
disrepair. Since then, the wastewater of UPLB is discharged directly to the
Molawin Creek without any undergoing treatment. This act of negligence by the
university can cause pollution in the receiving water that includes Molawin
Creek and Laguna de Bay. With the increasing population of the UPLB
community, the level of contamination also increases. The degree of pollution is
shown by several studies conducted in the Molawin creek and the results show
that there are increasing levels of BOD, conductivity, total dissolved solids,
hardness, TOC, alkalinity, total and dissolved phosphates and nitrates.
Dumping of sewage to the Molawin Creek have its repercussions and that
includes putting at risk the citizens of Sitio Riverside, Brgy. Batong Malake, Los
Banos, a community of informal settlers who uses the downstream creek water
for their daily use.
The sewage that the university is discharging are likely to contain
pathogenic organisms similar to those that are found in the human digestive
system. The four groups of pathogen that can be found in sewage are bacteria,
viruses, protozoa and helminths. The mode of transfer of pathogenic or
potentially pathogenic bacteria is through faeces that is a part of the sewage.
The most common type of infection is Diarrhoea and cholera is the worst form.
Bacterial pathogens can also cause typhoid, paratyphoid and other Salmonella
type diseases. Numerous viruses that may infect humans are also passed in
faeces. Some of this pathogenic viruses includes adenoviruses, enteroviruses
(including polioviruses), hepatitis A virus, reoviruses and diarrhoea-causing
viruses (especially rotavirus). On the other hand, protozoa are often passed as
cysts in faeces and ingesting them may cause infection that can cause
diarrhoea and dysentery. Also, many species of parasitic worms or helminths
that can be found in sewage uses human hosts that can cause serious
ilnessess.
Aside from public health concerns, untreated sewage effluent can disrupt
the molawins ecosystem and may accelerate the eutrophication process.
Pollution from the universitys sewer systems and other human-related
activities can increase the flow of both inorganic nutrients and organic
substances in the creeks ecosystem. This increased levels of nutrients can
cause a negative response of the ecosystem for example, increased algal growth
and then may cause depletion of oxygen in the water that can cause reduction
in populations of fishes and other animals. This response is called
eutrophication and may cause troubling ecological impacts which are
decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance, and

toxicity effects. In a aquatic ecosystem like the molawin creek, if there is an

increase in nutrients, the primary producers like algae reaps the benefits first.
This can cause an increase in population of algae (called an algal bloom) that
limits the sunlight available to the bottom-dwelling organisms like the
photosynthesizing plants and then in turn cause a decreased amount of
dissolved oxygen in the water. When dissolved oxygen levels decline to
hypoxic levels, fish and other marine animals suffocate. As a result, creatures
such as fish, shrimp, and especially immobile bottom dwellers die off and their
dead bodies are consumed by microorganisms that use the remaining dissolved
oxygen in the water. The level of eutrophication in Molawin Creek can be seen
in the increasing levels of its Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). If the
eutrophication continues, the Molawin Creek can be considered as a dead zone
like the Pasig River. How ironic if this happens, the university with its all
research institutions and researches about environment science and then we
have a dead river lying around. Also, some algal blooms also produces toxic
compounds that can make their way up to the food chain that results to animal
mortality and thanks God not for human mortality because the residents of
Sitio Riverside still rely on the creek for fishing.

For years, the university with all its knowledge on the harmful effects of
sewage disposal to the Molawin Creek have no action, whatsoever until in
2010, a study of Dr. Macrina Zafaralla, an environmental biologist, paved way
to a cost-effective water filtration system for lakes and rivers by the use of
water hyacinths to absorb pollutants from bodies of water. The Aquatic
Macrophyte Biosorption System (AMBS) is basically a water filtration system
made of bamboo sticks and water hyacinths or water lilies (Eichhornia
crassipes). Acting as a barrier, the bamboo sticks are made into a structure
similar to an organized beaver dam interlinked by chicken wire and supported
by heavy rocks at the front. The water hyacinths are placed like a mat behind
the bamboo sticks so that they will not float away. The system is placed
perpendicular to the running water, so that the water that will pass through it
will be filtered by the roots of the water hyacinths, which absorb solids and
filter heavy metals, particularly lead, which causes nervous system decline.
This decreases the chance of lead contamination for the people of Sitio
Riverside that catch fish like Tilapia and Biya in the creek. With the installation
of the water filtration system, positive remarks from the residents and
significant change in colour of water was observed. However, this measure is
not enough and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources pushes
the university to take action in rehabilitating the Sewage Treatment Plant. Also,

the rehabilitation is also voiced out by different concerned groups and

stakeholders in Los Banos critical of the university directly disposing off its
sewage into Molawin Creek.
Aside from protecting the environment, the rehabilitation of the STP will
also satisfy the legal requirement of UPLB in accordance with RA 9275
(Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004). Chapter 5, Section 27 of the said law
prohibits discharging, depositing or causing to be deposited material of any
kind directly or indirectly into the water bodies or along the margins of any
surface water, where, the same shall be liable to be washed into such surface
water, either by tide action or by storm, floods or otherwise, which could cause
water pollution or impede natural flow in the water body. RA 9275 also states
that the wastewater must pass standards before it is discharged to a water
body in order not to harm the environment. The Molawin creek, which is the
receiving body of water of the UPLB, is classified as class C (Fishery water for
the propagation and growth of fish and other aquatic resources; Recreational
Water Class II, for boating, fishing or similar activities; For agriculture,
irrigation and livestock watering) according to DAO No 34 series of 1990. For
this classification, the DENR Administrative Order No. 35 Series of 1990 sets
the standard effluent quality as shown in Table 1. Table 2 shows on the other
hand the summary of the data for wastewater sampling during 2012.
Table 1. DENR Standard Effluent Quality for Class C water.
PARAMETER UNIT

EFFLUENT

STANDARD

pH

---

6.5-9

BOD

Mg/L

50

COD

Mg/L

100

TSS

Mg/L

70

Oil and Grease

Mg/L

Color

TCU

150

Total Coliforms

MPN/100mL

10,000

Table 2. Summary of the Data of Wastewater Sampling.

Referring to Table 2 it can be concluded that using grab sampling the

COD and BOD measured was far above the DENR standard. However, using
composite sampling, the results comply with the DENR standard already. It
therefore appears that the wastewater generated by UPLB is typically dilute and
of low strength and would only require minimal treatment to comply with the
regulations. Even though with these findings, in order to truly comply with the
regulations and demonstrate to the community and stakeholders the
universitys commitment in protecting the environment, Chancellor Victor Cruz
formed an Ad Hoc Committee in 2012, headed Prof. Rex Demafelis and Engr.
Eliseo Ana, for the design and build for re-commissioning and rehabilitation of
the sewage treatment plan. The Ad Hoc Committee aims to assess the physical
condition and functionality of the equipment at the facility and other electromechanical parts of the pump house, provide costing for the retrofitted design
or new design of the Sewage Treatment plant and recommend appropriate
technology to be adapted in the re-commissioning of the said Sewage Treatment
Plant.
Even though of the main objective of the Ad Hoc committee is the
rehabilitation of the 1960s Trickling Filter Technology of the STP, it is also
important to look into modern alternative treatment technologies. One of them
is the one I said before, the Conventional Activated Sludge (CAS) technology.
This is a biological treatment process that speeds up waste decomposition. The
activated sludge process uses microorganisms to feed on organic contaminants
in wastewater, producing a high-quality effluent. The basic principle behind all
activated sludge processes is that as microorganisms grow, they form particles
that clump together. These particles (floc) are allowed to settle to the bottom of
the tank, leaving a relatively clear liquid free of organic material and suspended

solids. This technology needs low construction and installation costs however
the operation cost is high and not a very flexible method (the volume and the
character of the sewage should be constant). Another technology present is the
use of Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR). It is also works with the same principle
as the activated sludge process but the major difference is that the SBR tank
can carry out funtions of equalization, aeration and sedimentation in a time
sequence rather than in the conventional space sequence of continuous-flow
systems. This process is more flexible and controllable but higher level of
maintenance due to more sophisticated controls is required. The principles of
trickling filters can be used in the technology of Rotating Biological Contractor
(RBC). The RBC is a fixed film biological secondary treatment device which
utilizes a rotating shaft surrounded by plastic media discs. This process have
low operation, maintenance and energy costs but doesnt have operational
flexibility and requires frequent maintenance. The current technology used is
the Trickling Filter System that biodegrades organic matter by trickling the
wastewater through a circular bed of coarse stones or plastic material. A
rotating distributor which is a rotating pipe with several holes across itevenly
distributes the wastewater from above the bed.. The bacteria break down the
organic waste and remove pollutants from the wastewater. Even though the
construction costs are high, the Ad Hoc committee recommended that UPLB
still adopts the Trickling Filter System and take advantage of the existing
facilities that will likely reduce the capital expense. The trickling filter system is
also a simple and reliable process with low operational, maintenance and
energy costs.
The growth of student population is one of the main factors looked into
by the committee. According to the study of R. P. Laude, from the current
population of UPLB that is 13,000 it could grow into 24, 925 by 2042. From
the current 2 MLD sewage flow, it is forecasted that it may reach 3.8 MLD by
2042. The university is then faced with two options and that is construction of
totally new STP in a different site with higher capacity or rehabilitation of the
existing STP and maximizing the use of additional treatment trains near the
site to treat the additional flow. The projected cost of rehabilitating the Old STP
costs around 130 million pesos while constructing a fully new STP would cost
around 144 million pesos.
With mankinds advancement in science and technology it is also our
responsible for the more waste we generated. The University of the Philippines
Los Banos, a premier national state university should be the one of the
institutions spearheading the sustainable growth and maintaining the balance

of nature around us. The universitys negligence over the years is an example of
Philippines lack of interest in the improvement of waste management in
general. The university should set an example and not continue to pollute the
surrounding nature around us. The Molawin Creek is a gift to us and we
should not neglect and ruin it.

References:
Durian M. V. (2011). The Los Banos Times. Water lilies, Bamboo Sticks to
Clean
Laguna
de
Bay
Tributaries.
Retrieved
from
http://lbtimes.ph/2011/2011/09/29/water-lilies-bamboo-sticks-toclean-laguna-de-bay-tributaries/
Laude R. P., et. al. November 2010. Revitalizing UPLB as a Premier Research
University of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment:
MANPOWER.
Natural Resources Management and Environment Department. Health Risks
Associated
with
Wastewater
Use.
Retrieved
from
http://www.fao.org/docrep/w5367e/w5367e04.htm
STP Ad-Hoc Committee. (2012). Feasibility Study of the Rehabilitation and Re=commissioning of the Existing UPLB Sewage Treatment Plant.
Tchobanoglous G. & Burton F. L. (1991). Wastewater Engineering: Treatment,
Disposal and Reuse. McGraw-Hill Inc.
United Nations Economic and Social Commision for Western Asia. (2003).
Waste-water Treatment Technologies: A General Review. Retrieved from
http://www.igemportal.org/Resim/Wastewater%20Treatment
%20Technologies_%20A%20general%20rewiev.pdf