Pollution: A major cause of water scarcity
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Privatisation should not be seen as the only water scarcity issue. The Philippines, despite its potential, faces an enormous pollution of waters. Indeed, according to the data released by Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA) in 2005, 42.89% of the waters in the Philippines are contaminated. Worst, according to Greenpeace, only "39 percent of the 525 water bodies may be considered as potential sources of drinking water". These contaminated waters are mainly created by industrial and agricultural effluents (56% of water pollution) and domestic wastewater (33%), (according to EMP: Environmental Management Bureau). This pollution is not only wasting Philippines water storage, it have been continuously harming Philippines population and ecosystem.
Domestic waterwaste
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Domestic waterwaste is an important problem in the Philippines. Although water supply has made great efforts in the past years, (93% in urban areas, 92% in rural areas) sanitation in philippines has been extremely scarce. Only 74% of the population has an improved access to sanitation. By saying improved access to sanitation, we mean:
• Being able to flush the toilets
• A connection to a piped sewer system
• A connection to a septic system (those terms are defined by UNICEF and WHO)
Still, the Philippines has not met those standards yet. Only 5% of the total population is connected to a sewer network. The vast majority of the population uses toilets who are connected to septic tanks, but most of the rubbish is discharged without treatment. One the best example of this phenomenon is the Pasig. Flowing in the centre of Manila, the river used to be a water supplier for Metro Manila's people. But nowadays, the river is full of thrown objects and human excrements.
This problem mainly comes from philippines society. In a country where a quarter of the population lives under extreme poverty (1,25 $ a day), people do not have the financial possibilities to afford such infrastructures, nor the education to understand how dangerously their behaviour is affecting them.
• Being able to flush the toilets
• A connection to a piped sewer system
• A connection to a septic system (those terms are defined by UNICEF and WHO)
Still, the Philippines has not met those standards yet. Only 5% of the total population is connected to a sewer network. The vast majority of the population uses toilets who are connected to septic tanks, but most of the rubbish is discharged without treatment. One the best example of this phenomenon is the Pasig. Flowing in the centre of Manila, the river used to be a water supplier for Metro Manila's people. But nowadays, the river is full of thrown objects and human excrements.
This problem mainly comes from philippines society. In a country where a quarter of the population lives under extreme poverty (1,25 $ a day), people do not have the financial possibilities to afford such infrastructures, nor the education to understand how dangerously their behaviour is affecting them.
Agriculture and Industry
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Agricultural and industrial operations has been affecting both cities and rural lands.
Factories and farms are using rivers to throw their wastewater. This wastewater includes all sorts of toxic products, such as agrochemicals (fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides...) and industrial wastes (heavy metals, acids...) who have been polluting philippines water and ground at a very high rate. Agriculture is seen as the major cause of water pollution in rural areas. Industry, along with the population, are the major cause of water pollution in urban areas (according to the EMP).
Health and environmental consequences
The consequences of such an attitude are alarming. The contamination of waters creates disease in the philippines population. Indeed, World Bank states that approximately 31 percent of illness monitored for a 5-year period were caused by water borne sources. Philippines population find herself in a vicious circle. As water companies tries to improve sanitation and supply by constructing viable irrigations, water prices increase the same way (as explained in our previous page). The population, unable to afford those costly prices, find water in unsecured water locations, thus exposing themselves to a unhealthy situation. The pollution of rivers and lakes contaminates the surface water, but also Philippines ground, endangering the country ecosystem, and decreasing numbers of Philippines freshwater sites.