Manila Water is set to ceremoniously energize the Marikina North Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Balubad Resettlement, Barangay Nangka, Marikina City, the country’s largest STP to date.
The inauguration is expected to be attended by high-ranking national and local government officials, Manila Water executives and construction partners. The STP is designed to treat 100 million liters per day (MLD) of used water conveyed through a system of 22-kilometer sewer network coming from over 500,000 residents from nine (9) barangays in Marikina City and five (5) barangays in San Mateo, Rizal. Treated effluent from the STP is categorized as “Class C” which, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is safe for recreational water activities and marine life. This will be discharged directly to the adjacent Marikina River.
“Built with world-class design and technology, this project is a major milestone in our efforts to improve health and sanitation in the East Zone, as well as aid in the preservation of our rivers by ensuring domestic used water, from the barangays it will serve, is no longer a pollutant when it is returned to our waterways,” said Geodino Carpio, Manila Water Operations Group Director for Corporate Operations.
The STP, which is built on over a two-hectare land, identified for this specific use with the help of the local government, right at the banks of the Marikina River, is built 26.5 meters above ground level in anticipation of the frequent flooding in the area. Its construction is currently marked by 6.5 million safe man-hours without lost time for accidents, the best in a Manila Water project to date.
The STP is equipped with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology, a cost-efficient and space-saving innovation, as well as with high-efficiency turbo blowers engineered to lessen the facility’s carbon footprint. The sewer network was constructed through microtunneling, wherein pipes are jacked across the ground from one entry pit, minimizing impact on the traffic and inconvenience to the residents.
Manila Water is the East Zone water and used water concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).