Poor sewage treatment in the Philippines is depleting crops, fisheries and burdening health systems, costing the economy almost US$260 million per year, according to a new report.
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The agriculture sector suffers the most, comprising nearly 90 per cent of the loss, compounded by expenses from hospitalisation and lost wages caused by contaminated drinking water, found researchers of Back to Blue, a joint initiative backed by Economist Impact, the think-tank arm of media organisation The Economist and Japan-based nonprofit The Nippon Foundation.
However, 67 per cent of wastewater in the Philippines is adequately treated – one of the highest in the study which surveyed the proportion of domestic wastewater safely treated in the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and Kenya, its impact on their respective economies.
Residents from Philippine capital Metro Manila have benefitted from the growth of wastewater treatment facilities in the city. Manila Water Company, Inc has built 40 new treatment plants since 1997, expanding its treatment capacity from 40 million litres per day to 410 million, and it plans to build 12 more plants.
By 2037 the utility aims to have connected all households in its region to sewers connected to treatment plants, said the analysis launched during the World Ocean Summit in Japan on 12 March.
Proportion of domestic wastewater safely treated as of 2022.
“While this progress is remarkable, countries like the Philippines need to continue to invest in the maintenance and resilience of their infrastructure to reduce costs consistently in the long-term,” noted the study.
Countries investing in improved wastewater treatment can go a step further to unlock additional benefits through circularity, said researchers.
For instance, sludge removed from wastewater can be repurposed into organic fertiliser that prevents soil erosion and supports plant growth, as well as be used to produce biogas.
Water utilities in poor areas may also implement decentralised wastewater treatment systems to compensate for populations that are not all connected to a sewer, like what is being done in Kenya, added the analysis.
Unlike a centralised system which collects wastewater in large and bulk pipeline networks, the decentralised system treats and disposes the discharge close to the source of generation. Such an application is ideal for rural communities, where the construction of the infrastructure is not as prepared to process large volumes of wastewater as well-developed urban spaces, it read.
Agriculture bears brunt of poor water treatment
The Philippines’ agricultural sector loses the most from domestic wastewater pollution compared to other industries, with expenses of about US$228 million annually, based on the study.
US$127 million is spent on wastage of sugarcane, followed by US$83 million in corn, and US$17 million in ruined rice plants.
The use of water intensive crops such as sugarcane and rice further drives losses in the sector, especially since wastewater irrigation in agriculture is common practice where there is water scarcity, like many farmlands in low-income countries, read the analysis.
“It [untreated wastewater] causes enormous damage in low-income countries where its use in farms is widespread, said Grace Wambui, water and sanitation consultant with Nairobi-based Dev-Afrique Development Advisors.
Around 10 per cent of agricultural land in poorer regions is irrigated using raw or partially treated wastewater, often containing heavy metals such as zinc, chromium, manganese and iron, which are toxic to humans, she added.
Like the UK, economic losses in the Philippines are also intensified due to high crop prices, as both these countries are relatively big importers of food products.
The Southeast Asian nation’s health sector likewise spends more than US$19 million per year due to poor sewage treatment, read the study. Three million people are exposed to contaminated drinking water that causes diseases like diarrhea, as well as cholera and typhoid.
The Philippines’ fishing sector suffers losses of at least US$9 million annually as a result of a contaminated fish populations.
“We have a variety of solutions to reduce or eliminate wastewater pollution,” said the report. “There is no reason whatsoever to have children and people falling sick from [wastewater and from its] destruction of our oceans, rivers and lakes. In many ways, the circumstances are right for us to be able to resolve the wastewater problem now.”
