The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Friday announced that the newly-installed solar-powered Sewerage Treatment Plant in Manila Baywalk area was now operational.
The STP, according to MMDA chairman Danilo Lim, is intended to treat waste water from three drainages directly discharging to Manila Bay.
Lim said the construction works of the STP and a connecting drainage/sewerage interceptor began in 2019.
Waste water from three drainage outfalls in Malate – Padre Faura Drainage Main, Remedios Drainage, and Estero de San Antonio de Abad — will undergo a treatment process through the STP before being discharged to Manila Bay.
Operating through an off-grid solar system, the STP is connected to a power supply for 12 hours during daytime, and operates on its generated solar energy for 12 hours during nighttime. It holds a 500,000 liter per day capacity.
“Now that the first STP of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program is finally operational, we are confident that this will help improve the quality of water being discharged to the Manila Bay,” said Lim.
He added “we will continuously work together to ensure we will achieve our goals in this mission.”
The MMDA chief said the agency would continue its desilting operations in Padre Faura and Remedios Main Outfall covering a catchment area of approximately 310 hectares.
He said both the STP and desilting operations would contribute to reducing coliform levels in Manila Bay.
The STP is part of the government’s continuous efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay upon the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.
