Close watch on Panglao waters ordered

TAGBILARAN CITY – Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto demanded a weekly sampling and analysis of the waters of Panglao island after one sampling station noted an increase in coliform contamination.

Chatto was unhappy to learn that the sampling station in Barangay Tawala along the Alona beach area registered as high as 16,000 probable number per 100 milliliters (MPN/100 mL) coliform reading. since the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Visayas had declared Panglao’s coastal waters as “very safe for swimming.”

On December 4 to 6, EMB tested the quality of water samples from 10 sampling stations.

EMB said the samples passed laboratory analysis, with all the fecal coliform levels falling below the standard of 100mpn (most probable number) per 100ml (milliliters).

EMB added the result was not conclusive since no uptrend was established based on previous months’ results.

According to a media release from the Bohol Provincial Information Office, there are three sampling stations in Barangay Tawala registered 33 only in November, dropping further to 23 in the first week of December.

Here are the latest water quality test results: Doljo Station 1, 7.8mpn/100ml; Doljo 2, 1.8mpn; Danao 1, less than 1.8mpn; Danao 2, 23mpn; Danao 3, 49mpn; Tawala 1; Tawala 2, 23mpn; Tawala 3, 79mpn; Bolod 1, 23mpn; and Bolod 2, 13mpn.

The latest status report was signed by William Cuñado, EMB regional head.

EMB said majority of the fecal coliform levels of the stations in Tawala and Danao had been considered safe for the last seven months.

But based on the results of the sampling done in October, high coliform levels could be observed, even reaching 16,000 mpn/100ml for Tawala Station 1. Establishments such as the Hennan Resort, Genesis Dive Shop, and Alona Tropical are nearest to the station, EMB noted in its report.

The bureau attributed the increase to a number of “possible factors,” including the presence of over a hundred tourist boats with no septic receptacles that moor nearby.

Because there are no onshore waste receptacles, and it was possible that the boat operators empty their waste into the water, the report said.