DENR Central Luzon launches eco-toilet program to address Manila Bay pollution
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 3 has launched an eco-toilet program that seeks to help stop the further pollution of Manila Bay.
According to DENR Regional Executive Director Paquito Moreno Jr., the eco-toilet facility that was developed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau will mitigate the potential contamination of river systems and coastal areas with the E. coli bacteria.
Sources of E. coli can include untreated human sewage, defective septic tanks, livestock agriculture, pets, wildlife, and illegal connections from home sewer systems to surface water.
The newly-introduced facility built at the Sibul II Mangrove Nursery and Eco-Tourism Park in Orion, Bataan promotes the use of a waterless toilet or dry toilet system as an alternative solution to water-flushed toilets.
“Through this initiative, the volume of pollutants draining to water bodies along the Manila Bay area may be reduced, which will eventually help us in achieving the coliform limit of 200 MPN/100mL for Class C water classification,” Moreno said.
The executive director added that the concept of the first waterless toilet facility in the region supports the DENR’s efforts to employ biotechnology as a solution to address environmental concerns and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Experts from the MGB explained that the eco-toilet system works by separating human waste from urine, which passes through the urine-diverting dehydrating toilet bowl.
Upon separation, the nitrogen-rich solid waste is covered with agro-industrial materials like fly ash, bentonite, and zeolite and organic-rich matter such as shredded dried leaves and carbonized rice husks. This creates an alternating layer of materials that become the basic components of fertilizer.
The urine, on the other hand, is treated and processed into liquid fertilizer.
The DENR said it plans to install these toilet facilities in other Manila Bay areas in the region.