Joining the Daloy Dunong Plant Tour by Maynilad was quite an eye-opener for me. If I will be asked, I think every customer of Maynilad should be able to request a tour like the one we had, not only to appreciate Maynilad’s service but also to increase awareness on how we can all help protect our water supply and resources. Let me tell you a quick recap of how our Daloy Dunong Tour went on and I hope that at the end of the post, you’ll also have the same realizations I had.
Veterans Village Water Reclamation Facility
Before going to Maynilad’s plant, we headed out to eat an early lunch at 13 Ubay Street restaurant in Banawe, QC. There, we met Ms. Karmina Alejandro, Head of Social Media/Corporate Communications of Maynilad, and while we eat, she gave us an idea of what we will be seeing inside Maynilad’s Water Reclamation Facility in Veterans Village, QC. There were only four of us moms there, with our kids. It was quite a small group but Ms. Mina told us that they opted for this so that we can easily focus, understand and ask questions during the tour. She also said that they have also started going to some schools to increase awareness of Maynilad’s wastewater services.
Early lunch at 13 Ubay St. Banawe
It took us only less than an hour before we reached the plant. Before we were able to enter the main office to the seminar room, they briefed us of security measures inside the plant. Since this is a water reclamation facility, one where they bring contents of septic tanks from residential areas, I thought we’d smell something awful. There was none of it and the whole plant itself, I noticed when we were on the tour, was actually very clean and well maintained.
At Veterans Village Water Reclamation Facility
Brief Seminar
Engr. Ryan Orillo (Head of Septage Management) gave us a very informative briefing about Maynilad, its services and their facilities. As a speaker, Sir Ryan was very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and proud of the company. To summarize the important facts that we have learned, here’s a bullet list of interesting facts we should know about Maynilad.
The seminar started by an explanation of how the urban water cycle flows.
Engr. Orillo gave us an informative briefing about Maynilad and its services
- 80% of the water we use of drinking, bathing, cooking and other activities at home ends up in seas, rivers and lakes.
- The water we used is called wastewater and if we just leave them flowing directly to the bodies of water, wastewater can cause diseases and pollute our environment.
- There is a law called 2004 Clean Water Act of the Philippines that there should be proper collection, treatment and release of wastewater to lessen the effects to the environment.
- Each households are required to have their own septic tanks or to be connected to a sewer network. A septic tank or “posonegro” is where our solid wastes like our poops and some food particles are stored, while the liquid waste goes to drainages and canals. Septic tanks should be cleaned every 5-7 years. The solid waste formed inside is what we call “sludge”.
- Maynilad provides us clean water which we use at home for our basic needs such as bathing, cooking, etcetera, but they also provide wastewater management services for the West Zone of the Greater Manila.
- Maynilad provides 2 types of wastewater management services: Sewerage services where some of Maynilad’s customers are connected to a sewerage system where their wastewater is being treated by Maynilad’s facilities before they are discharged to bodies of waters. Sanitation services wherein the customers who are not connected to sewer lines are provided septic tank cleaning services every five to seven years. Maynilad provides vacuum trucks which collect wastes from septic tanks and bring them over to their Septage Treatment Plants for cleaning before discharging to bodies of water.
Engr Ryan Orillo shows sample of treated wastewater
Comparison of water which were still for treatment (septage) and ones which had been processed by Maynilad . The Biosolids (last small bottle) are the solid organic matter collected after processing waste water.
Maynilad Plant Tour
Part of the educational tour is seeing the actual spots where wastewater is being treated. Maynilad’s facility has high-end machines and they are well maintained, clean, and noise-free. Despite the machines running 24-hours a day, they don’t interrupt the people living in the neighborhood because the plant doesn’t emit foul smell or irritating noise. The Veterans Village facility is managed by a small number of people and yet the plant works efficiently.
This is the room which is regularly monitored by the engineers as the whole facility operates 24 hours a day.
At the main control room where the staff operates the whole facility
Plant Tour showing off Biosolids
Plant Tour at Aeration Tanks
One of the areas where wastewater was being treated by overfeeding organisms living in it.
Back to the seminar area, the kids were given Chubi stuff toys. Chubi is Maynilad’s cute water droplet mascot
Take home goodies from Maynilad : Kitchen AlaChing Tomato Garlic Sauce and Gourmet Tinapa, Island Gems Mango Jam, Dee’s Gourmet Popcorn, Steam Yard Brewed Coffee
How We Can Help
According to a study done by University of the Philippines, Maynilad customers use at least 35 gallons of water per person per day. Imagine how much waste we produce in a month and how much will that go to the bodies of water (seas, lakes) if they go all the way there without treatment?
If our waste water won’t be treated, the dirt will leak into the groundwater which is what some people use for household activities including cooking and drinking. Ingesting contaminated water or having unhygienic water around us will mean disasters such as : health problems (diarrhea, skin problems, hepatitis A, leptospirosis ), many plants, animals specially fishes and water creatures will perish which will lead to scarcity of food supply.
As we can see, Maynilad is doing their part of treating wastewater as part of the law and their concern to their customers and their environment. That’s why they continuously build facilities in places where they are allowed to build. Maynilad is working hard to achieve a goal of reaching out and providing wastewater management services to 100% of their West Zone area customers. They also organize campaigns and tours like this to educate people. But preserving the cleanliness of our water sources is not a one-way street, if you will let me use that term. The customers also play a huge part for this effort to be successful and for Maynilad to be able to do their jobs more efficiently.
Here are some of the best ways we can do our part to help Maynilad:
A. If you are a Maynilad customer, check if your septic tank has already been cleaned within the last 5 years. If not, avail Maynilad’s offer for septic tank cleaning. Don’t wait until it’s too late and your posonegro is already reeking or overflowing. It will only take 15 to 20 minutes for Maynilad to have the septic tank cleaned if everything is prepared.
How to request for Maynilad’s Septic Tank Cleaning Services?
You can coordinate with the barangay hall or call Maynilad Hotline 1626.
You can also send requests to Maynilad’s social media pages:
MayniladWater Facebook Page
Maynilad Twitter Page
B. Do our part in segregating our solid wastes and try our best to recycle as much as possible. Don’t flush solid materials in our toilet or in all public toilets.
“Ang tubig ay buhay.” So as much as we want to teach the future generation on how to do this and that, as adults, we should also walk the talk. Let’s support Maynilad not only because we are their end users but because we also owe it to Mother Earth.
I hope this blog post helped at least a bit in enlightening you about Maynilad’s services as we found out from the tour. For any reactions or questions about this post, feel free to comment below.
Hi Mommy Lani! So glad to have met you in person during that event. The Daloy Dunong Program is really such an eye-opener. Everyone must not just stop at being aware of these things but more so start doing their part in wastewater management.
Nice to meet you too! Hope to see you again soon and your kids too.
I like Plant Tour. When I was a kid I always look forward to Field Trips so I can see different factories. Agree, ang Tubig ay Buhay.
I didn’t know that you can call Maynilad for free septic tank cleaning, this is good! I hope they can this per barangay para the local government can disseminate the information.
This is a perfect place for field trips not only for children but for everyone who wants to have a better understanding of the water cycle and at the same time gather ways on how we can help save Mother Earth. Very informative post 🙂
Indeed, water is life, and we all cannot survive without it. This is a commendable initiative from Maynilad. Hopefully, they will host more events like this to serve as an eyeopener to their consumers as not everyone is fully aware of the dangers dirty water poses. I sure hope even local water districts in the provinces host this kind of activities to educate more people.
Glad to know that Maynilad has activities like this! Very informative and raises environmental awareness. Schools should set up field trips here.
This a great read! I, honestly did not know that we have this facility in the country. I lived in Oman before and was happy with their treatment facility as they recycle wastewater and lets it flow through sprinklers to water plants throughout the country. This is a great initiative from Maynilad.
This plant tour could be a really good field trip for older kids! For anyone, actually, coz we all need to understand what it takes for us to have clean water to use, and also know what we can actually do to help out. What a nice experience naman! 🙂
Oh interesting! I’m not aware that they provide a service to clean homeowner’s septic tank. I wonder how much it cost?
I think this is a great opportunity for kids especially to learn about wastewater and water conservation as well. It’s great that Maynilad has this initiative.
This is so informative! I now regret that I was not able to attend this tour. Thanks for sharing the tips! We really need to be more aware on how to care for our environment, including resources such as water.
I hope I can also join the next Daloy Dunong Educational Tour . I’d like to see and experience everything you did for myself.
Just recently, Maynilad went to our barangay and did their maintenance. Ang dumi pala sobra ng tubig kapag hindi pa processed. It’s really time for us to learn and teach our kids how to conserve water . BTW, Chubi is so cute 🙂
Oh this is a wonderful event. Very informative and an eye opener too… happy to see kids at the event. Seemed like they enjoyed so much too!
I am thankful that my son and I are part of this Daloy Dunong Educational tour. Honestly, I do not know anything about septic tank and how Maynilad supplies water and also takes care of the wastewater. Nice to learn new things everyday.
Thisis a great experience for kids! At their younge age, they’ll learn about the importance of water and how to keep it clean.
This is a great experience for kids! At their young age, they’ll learn about the importance of water and how to keep it clean.
Such an informative post. We often take water for granted and at times, are even wasteful. This is a good reminder to all of us on how to be a responsible user and do out part to help the environment 🙂
It’s good that Maynilad is educating the public about their what’s and how’s. It feels good to be part of their service and advocacy. In return, we should also be esponsible consumers.
Must’ve been an interesting experience, esp for the kids!
We are currently under Manila Water, but it’s good to know how Maynilad is treating water distributed to many Filipino households.
P.S. Good idea to bring the kids to these trips. Parang field trip na rin!
I missed this event. It’s good to know the Maynilad services. Looks fun in the plant tour.
This is a great tour. I think kids should have field trips with these types of tours, just so that they appreciate things better. Very timely as well because world water day is near, and really we should make an extra effort to save water and understand how we get clean water everyday.
This reminds me so much about my college thesis! My group and I chose to make a documentary about the wastewater treatment plant of Manila Water in Magallanes.
I realized after reading your event that I know so little about Maynilad. This is good info that should be shared to everyone.
Thanks for sharing this is really informative 🙂 water is really important to everyone. Hoping that our next field trip is here na lang
Daloy Dunong Program should be promoted in schools. We should teach our youth on water conservation to prepare them for the future.
Hi Mommy Millet, they were reaching out already to schools!
What a nice experience for moms and kids, very informative. Maynilad provides the water in our district and I think they already offered this septic cleaning service also. Glad to know that one can also call them for this free cleaning service. 🙂
So nice of Maynilad to constantly have these kind of tours sa office nila. They even have these educational seminars and programs along the way!