August 28, 2010

Looking after the future

Metro Manila's sewerage system is one of the worst in Asia. We do not have sewers, only drains. Which means that we do not have a centralized sewage treatment plant either and that is why our rivers are all dead. The government-owned public utility company Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), which was supposedly responsible for water distribution and sewerage but did poorly in both counts, was privatized in 1997. Manila Water holds the concession for the eastern half of the metro, which includes Quezon City, where my husband and I live and work. During its first decade, its main concern was to get water to those areas which still didn't have running water and to plug all the wasteful leaks in the system. It has done quite well with those particular tasks and, at the start of its second decade, it began the even bigger task of getting a proper sewage system in place. It has finally reached our barangay and we've been living with the noise of jackhammers for several weeks now. This is what the road which connects to our street looked like last week and our own street will look like it sometime in the near future. We're not complaining, and I have not heard of anyone in our neighborhood complaining either, which I think is wonderful. It will take a long time, but there is hope for Metro Manila's rivers and waterways yet.

Manila Water digging a road for a sewer

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A promise in the making !


daily athens

Al said...

Sounds like good progress. We have neither water nor sewer at my house, we rely on a private well and septic system. As I tell my guests, our water is straight from the ground to your glass!

George said...

It sounds as if progress is in fact being made. I seriously doubt that there will be any complaints at all from your neighbors about this particular construction project. I hope it goes well.

Rob Siemann said...

Excellent news! We just hope they wont work day and night.

Cezar and Léia said...

That's great, Hilda. I hope the take it to completion. Big cities in Brazil have the same issue unfortunately...
God bless you!
Cezar

VP said...

Noisy but obviously useful and overdue!

Kaori said...

It's nice to know that they are trying to better the place :D

brattcat said...

an excellent direction to be taking. hope the noisy part is over soon.

escape said...

i just hope it's not too late. i also noticed some repairs done in our area.

Kim said...

Wow, what a huge undertaking. I see the backhoe operator is wearing protective garb. My older bro was a waste water management pro so this stuff always interests me. I'm glad your neighborhood is getting service soon.
-Kim

Francisca said...

Don't even get me started on this topic... But I am glad there is hope. Even if it is on Manila time. :-)

Matteo said...

Wow, I never even realized that such a huge metropolis like Manila wouldn't have a sewer system in the 21st century! Incredible.

Although, if a lot of us in the States don't get our act together, we may end up in a similar situation. Most of our sewer systems are so old and underfunded. It's definitely something you take for granted.

Also, thanks for being my first comment on my CDP blog!! :)

Joy said...

Don't get me started. But as you said, we live in hope.

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