DC beaches polluted, but Samal’s okay

The beaches along Davao City are highly polluted with coliform while Samal Island’s waters are still within the standards for coliform presence.
These according to a 2015 study released during a meeting of Regional Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health (RIACEH) yesterday (March 10). The study conducted by the  Department of Environment and Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) on the level of coliform in Davao Gulf.
Coliform are rod-shaped bacteria commonly associated with feces of animals and humans.
During the Kapehan sa Abreeza Mall media forum held today (March 11) Engineer Gloria Raut of the Department of Health said that Davao City’s beaches have high coliform content is because of the high coliform content in Davao River and the lack of septage facilities where household dump their wastes to the water.
According to Maria Socorro Mallare of the EMB-XI, the highest fecal coliform reading in a sampling station in Davao River amounted to 16-million MPN (most probable number) per 100 liters. The passable standard is 200 MPN/ per 100 liters. Total coliform reading also amounted to 16 million MPN/100 liters as compared to the standard of 1000 MPN/100 liters. And these readings are located in the downstream areas.
Based on EMB study sampling stations in Davao City beaches showed above normal coliform content. The most polluted is Liberty beach near the mouth of Davao River which has total coliform reading of 160, 115 MPN/ 100 liters and fecal choliform reading of 123,433 MPN/100 liters.
Talomo Beach Resort sample had a total coliform reading of 36,971 MPN and fecal coliform of 21,984. Beaches sampled include Guinoo Beach, Bonguyan Beach, Seagull, COACO, Bago Beach, Lanang Aplaya, Kalayaan Beach Resort, Mergrande and Marina Azul I.
In the Island Garden City of Samal only Camp Holiday have higher than standard fecal coliform content at 237 MPN/ 1000 liters however it is still below the standard range for total coliform content as it registered 328 MPN/ 100 liters. Raut said the reason for the high fecal coliform content would be the presence of landing barges emptying their wastes to the sea.
Raut said that resort owners in highly-polluted beaches must put signboards to warn people not to swim in their areas. She said that with the onset of the warm summer season, bacteria will breed faster as the temperature is conducive to their growth. Symptoms associated with swimming in high coliform waters include diarrhea, skin rashes and sore eyes.
She said that there is new evidence that polio virus thrives in dirty waters, with the country going polio-free, thus a strong chance that polio won’t be eradicated because of the polluted rivers and beaches.
The DOH with the support of the World Health Organization is planning to put up sampling station along the mouth of the Davao River as a form of environmental surveillance for the polio virus.
Raut said their intention is not to besmirch the tourism industry of Davao but to make people aware of the state of our waters. 
The news is nothing new as early last year the late City Councilor Leo Avila sounded off the alarm, based on a 2014 water quality assessment of the EMB, the City’s beaches failed miserably.
According to Mallare comparing to past studies and the present the presence of coliform is increasing. (PIA/RG Alama)