The city government of Davao and the Davao City Water District (DCWD) have partnered to address the sanitation problems of the city due to improper disposal of domestic wastewater and septage through the Septage Management Program (SMP).
The SMP covers the desludging of waste water from households once every five years, the treatment of collected waste water in a Septage Treatment Plant, and the proper disposal of wastewater and biosolids.
DCWD will offer septage management services next year.
Jovana Cresta Duhaylungsod, spokesperson of DCWD, said DCWD started conducting an education and information campaign (IEC) on the project as well as the proper septage practices.
Duhaylungsod also said that surveys and dialogues in the barangays are also being simultaneously conducted.
“We need to make the people understand the necessity of the project. At the same time, we also need them to prepare ang ilahang septic tanks, kasi based on the study na atoang na-gather from the City Health and other sources, not everyone in Davao City has septic tanks pa. If ever naa man, dili pud standard,” she said.
Duhaylungsod said the survey is crucial in generating baseline data and in creating action plans to address the gaps found.
She said DCWD is also conducting house to house surveys to assess the readiness of the citizens for the project. The surveys were conducted in Barangays Cabantian, Indangan, Panacan, and Sasa.
DCWD’s information campaign aims to change the current attitude of Dabawenyos towards proper septage management.
The first septage treatment plant of Davao City will be located in Indangan, which is expected to start operation in the third quarter of 2023.
