The Army's Battle Cry: CLEAN WATER

Warfare is undeniably negative, many people die because of mass murder, because of unresolved conflicts between two polar principles of nations but the great irony of humanity is that we don’t know how many people struggle and die because of polluted water which is supposed to be a very basic necessity.

Ignorance, Negligence, Irresponsibility is said to be the root cause of such problems for developing nations like the Philippines. Sleazy officials do not really see the need for such monumental change because they focus more on the aesthetics, they really do not know how to prioritize things. The problem emanates from idiocy; many people irresponsibly dump trash on the sea or even have landfills wherever they want to. And here comes the government, who is very passive in addressing the problem but the most crucial of all, is on how these hypocrites can only give lip service or even false hopes about waste management in order to get their votes during election.

What most of us don’t understand is that, it’s not too late to have that transformation. You can’t really have a monumental change in a blink of an eye, it requires a lot of hard work and the sustainability is highly demanding. But what really is wastewater treatment? It is a process of taking wastewater and making it suitable for discharge back into the environment. A very concise and inclusive definition of wastewater treatment but how many people really paymuch attention to this social issue? It is really a struggle in coming up with solutions but we have to deal with it nonetheless because the status quo calls for a drastic change over sanitary and health issues.

Wastewater

We are all contributors to this problem. At home, each time we use the toilet, each time we do our laundry, each we wash the dishes and each time we take a bath we contribute to wastewater. But it doesn’t just stop there; there are industries, businesses that carelessly dispose harmful chemicals to our rivers. The need arises and now is the right time to find sustainable solutions.

What wastewater treatment aims to do is to a) remove solids i.e. plastics, rags and even smaller particles from in waste water b) remove organic matter and pollutants and lastly c) restore oxygen enough to support life once released in our rivers.

Wastewater Treatment Plant

BY: HAZEL ANNE C. RIVERA

Wastewater Treatment Process

There is a need for good waste water treatment processes and water management since the world is currently on the brink of water scarcity. To avoid such scenario, there should be an increase in mass knowledge about wastewater treatment and management. Because of this, former approaches are now being innovated by adopting new technologies. The current treatment the world is using in wastewater management brings up numerous problems such as that it generates a large amount of sludge that must be sent to the offsite for disposal and handling it is a difficult task. Another is that most processes of the treatment are proved to be ineffective. It also requires high energy and tedious maintenance in operation. With innovation, technology can improve the conventional process and produce greater results.

Wastewater treatment process includes at least five steps. The first stage is the preliminary treatment wherein it uses screens to remove the solid inorganic material such as paper and plastics then followed by the removal of particles such as grit and silt which are abrasive to plant equipment. 

Next is the primary treatment. The wastewater passed through a primary sedimentation tank wherein solid particles are removed by gravity settling. The resultant settled primary sludge is raked to the centre of the tank for further process.

Wastewater Treatment Process

Following the primary treatment is the activated sludge process. A biological process which breaks down dissolved and suspended organic solids by using naturally occurring micro-organisms. 

Next is the use of chlorine which is usually dosed to the treated wastewater stream for disinfection. This is the tertiary treatment of the whole process. It helps to reduce pathogens, microorganisms which can cause diseases to humans. 

The last stage is the Sludge treatment. The sludge collected during the treatment process contains a large amount of biodegradable material making it amenable to treatment by different microorganisms. It is usually heated in closed digesters. The liquid remaining at the end process is pumped back in the aeration tanks for further treatment.


BY: RON JOSEF M. CRUZ

Reference:http://www.sawater.com.au/SAWater/Education/OurWastewaterSystems/Wastewater+Treatment+Process.htm

The Forward Movement of the Militia: A step towards solving the dispute

In a developing country like the Philippines, where resources are scarce and mismanaged and sustainability is merely a dream the difficulty of managing a central formula is almost impossible.

Muntinlupa is impressively overhead with regards to wastewater treatment. It partnered with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) just a few years ago and was constructed by the Public Market Cooperative, a part of the local government, and a specialized firm that provided the technical assistance. It operates 24 hours, 7 days a week and treats 210 cubic meters of sewage per day with a biochemical oxygen demand of approximately 600 milligrams per liter.

Just recently, that same model is also ongoing at General Santos City. Key outcomes are remarkable the treatment facility helped to lower water pollution due to an impressive decrease in BOD level of water discharged into the creeks and river systems. It also helps protect the families from water-borne diseases and helped ensure higher quality portable water from the deep wells within the community. It also helps economically because it was able to save P25,000 a month in pumping costs and most importantly, the project raised public awareness on proper waste disposal wastewater management, water and sanitation.

BY: HAZEL ANNE C. RIVERA

Reference:http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2011/08/20/wastewater-treatment-facility-for-public-market-done-by-yearend/

Wastewater Treatment in the Philippines

All over the world, over 5 million people die each year because of water contamination. In poor countries, water contamination disease comprises 80% of their total disease burden. It is estimated that water pollution and poor sanitation accounted for 17 percent of reported diseases and 1.5 percent of the reported deaths in the Philippines. This is an alarming rate if people of today don’t start caring about wastewater treatment. 

Laguna Lake and Pasig River

According to The Free Dictionary wastewater treatment is defined as unit processes used to separate, modify, remove, and destroy objectionable, hazardous, and pathogenic substances carried by wastewater in solution or suspension in order to render the water fit and safe for intended uses. Treatment removes unwanted constituents without affecting or altering the water molecules themselves, so that wastewater containing contaminants can be converted to safe drinking water. 

Here in the Philippines, wastewater treatment facilities are now being given much importance in providing millions of families, potable water. There are many treatment facilities scattered all over the country and one of which is year-old site located in Muntinlupa. The new treatment plant uses water from Laguna Lake as an alternative source to the Angat Dam. It is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third-largest freshwater lake in South East Asia. The facility is expected to produce 100 million litres of water per day (MLD). The plant will be capable of producing 50MLD from July and 50MLD more by September 2010. The plant supplies potable water to 4,585 households. At full capacity it will serve around 105,000 households in the south of Manila. With new treatment facilities being built, the chances of getting water-borne diseases shall decrease and provide families with sustainable health and living.

Wastewater Treatment technology in Muntinlupa

BY: RON JOSEF M. CRUZ

Reference: http://www.water-technology.net/projects/muntinlupa-plant/

FUTURE Goals of the Army

Moreover, we hope for a better way of dealing and resolving these issues we might not arrive in a Panacea wherein we aim to solve all existing conflicts but what we aim to do is to address the most urgent hostility.

We have discussed the progress in Muntinlupa and in General Santos, this doesn’t necessarily translate into a monumental change but nonetheless, it will be considered a step towards engineering a long-term benefit for the people on the ground.

The 21st century has a lot of ways in addressing the problem, the problem at hand is that where to get all the resources needed for us to take in act all the plans formulated by the authority. But resourcefulness depends on the extent on how you are going to deal with the problem. It depends on until to what extent are you willing to sacrifice for you to arrive on your goal.

Following Singapore’s model, wherein they use green technologies. A century ago, we were more developed in terms of economy, in that premise alone; there is still a chance for us to reinforce ourselves in the hierarchy. A lot of technologies are in the process of being publicly available. Using “Greener technologies” will surely help.

Singapore's Greener Technologies

Cliché, but really.. Prevention is really better than repairing what has been damaged because worst-case scenario, that destruction is beyond repair.

BY: RON JOSEF M. CRUZ

A New Waste Water Treatment Technology

Did you ever wonder how your waste be treated in the future? As the number of people increases, the wastes produce likewise increase. A research team in National University of Ireland, Galway has developed a new waste water treatment that is more efficient and low in cost. It is called as Pumped Flow Biofilm Reactor (PFBR) waste water treatment technology.

The Pumped Biofilm Reactor

   This technology can treat municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes and has a passive efficient aeration process that results to lower energy requirements, thus lower cost. It is consists of two tanks that uses readily available plastic biofilm media and pump in reactor tanks to remove organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus at low costs compared to the traditional waste water technologies.  The advantages of PFBR are the following:

• Low Energy Requirement
• Low Maintenance Requirement
• Low Sludge Production
• Excellent Performance
• Simple Construction
• Flexible Installation

The only problem that they have as of now is that who will invest and fund in this project. The PFBR is a solution that will help the whole world and community to properly dispose our wastes in a more effective and efficient way. It does not only help our environment but also ourselves and the future generations as well.


BY: HAZEL ANNE C. RIVERA


Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDUhECZHDVs&feature=related