CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study

Global water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of
population growth in the last century. More than two billion people
worldwide live in regions facing water scarcity. About 1.1 billion
people do not have access to adequate water to meet their most basic
needs. Around 1.2 billion people or almost one-fifth of the worlds
population, live in areas of physical water scarcity, and 500 million
people

are

approaching

this

situation

(FAO

2003).

Water

scarcity

already affects every continent and more than 40 percent of the people
in our planet. It is expected that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be
living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and twothirds of the worlds population could be living under water stressed
conditions.
Water is said to be the universal solvent, thats the reason why
it is needed in all phases of life. Every living thing needs water to
survive

in

this

world.

Agriculture

is

the

primary

user

of

water

worldwide, accounting for about 69% of all freshwater withdrawn from

lakes, rivers and aquifers. The daily water requirement per person is
2-4 liters, but it takes 2000 to 5000 liters of water to produce one
persons daily food.
Philippines demand for water is soaring in a high level. Though,
the country has 421 river basins, 19 of which are considered major
with each draining watersheds of at least 1400 km2. There are 59
freshwater lakes, including South East Asias Biggest. Groundwater

resources

are

substantial

along

these

rivers

and

lakes.

Proven

deposits alone are in the order of 50BCM and cover 50,000 km2. These
water resources can supply 479BCM to the country annually (6,000 m 3
per person) or seventeen times what is being actually used. It is
estimated that water demand in the country will increase from 30BCM in
1996 to 86.5BCM in 2025.
Only 5% of the total population is connected to a sewer network.
The vast majority uses flush toilets connected to septic tanks. Since
sludge treatment and disposal facilities are rare, most effluents are
discharged without treatment. According to the Asian Development Bank,
the Pasig River is one of the world's most polluted rivers. The first
Philippine constructed

wetland

serving

about

700

households

was

completed in 2006 in a peri-urban area of Bayawan City which has been

used to resettle families that lived along the coast in informal
settlements and had no access to safe water supply and sanitation
facilities.
One third of Philippine river systems are considered suitable for
public water supply. It is estimated that in 2025, water availability
will be marginal in most major cities and in 8 of the 19 major river
basins. Besides severe health concerns, water pollution also leads to
problems in the fishing and tourism industries.
Although

water

resources

become

scarce

in

some

regions

and

seasons, the Philippines as a whole have more than enough surface and
groundwater. However, the neglect of a coherent environmental policy
led to the actual situation, in which 58% of the groundwater is
contaminated. The main source of pollution is untreated domestic and
industrial wastewater.
The quality of available water is also fast deteriorating, over
extraction of groundwater has led to salt water intrusion to aquifer
in coastal area. Groundwater is facing an equally serious threat from

contamination by industrial effluent and fecal matter as well as

pesticides

and

fertilizers

from

runoff.

Unless

priority

is

given

quickly to an infrastructure to assure availability of water, there

may be no water to meet agricultural, domestic and industrial needs of
a population that grows to 1.81% each year (2014 estimate).
Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from
wastewater

and

household

sewage,

both

runoffs

(effluents)

and

domestic. It includes physical, chemical and biological processes to

remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants. Its purpose is
to produce a treated effluent and a solid waste or sludge suitable for
discharge or reuse back into the environment.Sewage is a major carrier
of disease (from human wastes) and toxins (from industrial wastes).
The liquid waste will require treatment before they are discharged
into the water body or otherwise disposed of without endangering the
public health or causing offensive conditions. The safe treatment of
sewage is thus crucial to the health of any community. In the modern
living the heavy industrialization and increase of population increase
the rate of water pollution. Therefore, the need of water pollution
control has drawn the attention of the concern department.

Objectives of the Study

General objective:
Generally, this study aims to design a sewage treatment plant
located at Pueblo de Panay, Roxas City.
Specifically, it sought to:
Estimate

the

volume

of

sewage

water

generated

during

the

different periods from the area (residential, hotels etc.) of

Pueblo de Panay, Roxas City.
Design a sewage treatment plant

that

could

accommodate

the

estimated sewage discharge from the area (residential, hotels

etc.) of Pueblo de Panay, Roxas City.
Estimate the project cost.
Estimate the return of investment.

Scope and Limitation

This study was conducted only for the purpose of designing a
sewage treatment plant covering the entire Pueblo de Panay area (not
subjected to the actual treatment) and to estimate the total volume of
sewage water generated and especially estimate the project cost and
the

return

of

investment.

The

sewage

would

only

be

treated

and

directly discharged to a river near the sewage treatment plant.

Significance of the Study

The main purpose of the sewage treatment plant is to produce an
environmentally safe fluid waste stream and a solid waste suitable for
disposal or reuse. It is to support biological life when treated
wastewater will be released to the rivers and lakes.
The project is beneficial to the following:

Private Settlers and Owners. This project aims to provide a

treatment on all the disposed wastewater from residential owners and
private offices.
Fishes

and

Algae.

This

project

will

help

to

minimize

the

pollution in body of water and improve the biological life of anything

living in it.
Future occupants of Pueblo de Panay. This could be one aid in
encouraging

others

to

occupy

the

spacious

area

for

whether

residential, commercial and industrial use.

Definition of Terms
Aquifer is a body of water that also sources of freshwater like
rivers and lakes.
Sewage is a dilute mixture of the various types of wastes from
the residential, public and industrial places. It is more than
99% water, but the remainder contains some ions, suspended solids
and harmful bacteria that must be removed before the water is
released.
Sewage treatment Sewage treatment is the process of removing
contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoffs
(effluents) and domestic.It focuses on the complex physical and
biological treatments used to render sewage both biologically and
chemically harmless.
Treated

wastewater

is

water

that

has

been

treatment and is already safe for disposal.

undergo

certain

Wastewater is liquid waste from industrial and domestic wastes

which contains chemical, distilleries, highly odorous substances,
oils, human excreta, decomposed kitchen waste, soapy water, etc.