MCWD, partner hold health, septage mgt. seminar in Talisay

Close to 70 barangay health workers (BHWs) in Talisay City attended a seminar on water-borne diseases and septage management recently organized by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) and the Cebu Medical Society (CMS) Inc. at the Poblacion Barangay Hall.

MCWD partnered with CMS, led by its president Dr. Bernardita Sarcauga-Chua, for the information campaign, which are part of the advocacies of both groups.

Dr. Annabelle Laranjo discussed about water-borne diseases and how these can be prevented and treated.

Talisay City Councilor Richard Francis Aznar, chairperson of the committee on health, helped ensure that the BHWs are equipped with the knowledge they needed to serve their communities.

Meanwhile, MCWD Community Relations and External Affairs Department manager Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara talked about MCWD’s septage management program (SMP), which the water district started providing to water users in Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova town in August 2016.

Under the SMP, MCWD’s private partner Envirokonsult Equipment and Services desludges septic tanks of all water users in the area and brings the waste to the Septage Treatment Plant (STP) for proper treatment and disposal.

MCWD and local government units are mandated under the Clean Water Act of 2004 to implement the SMP to protect the environment, specifically water sources, from contamination and to ensure healthy communities.

After the completion of the STP in Cordova, the water district, with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, will build three more plants to serve consumers in the cities of Cebu, Talisay and Mandaue and the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela.