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Pilot and Demonstration Activities
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Facility for the Lilo-an Public Market

Sublime beaches used to attract tourists to Lilo-an, Cebu until the coastal waters turned dangerously dirty. Wastewater from the market's septic tank was discharged straight into the sea. This PDA helped build a new wastewater treatment facility for Lilo-an, and cleaned the town's coast.

  
PDA SNAPSHOT
Project Site Lilo-an, Cebu, Philippines
Cost Estimate $50,000
Status Completed
Approval Date 2004/07/06
Completion Date 30 April 2006
Category Urban Services
Type Appropriate Technology
Proponent Shigehiko Muramoto, Central and West Asia Department
Partners Lilo-an Municipal Government

BACKGROUND

The quality of Lilo-an's1 coastal water is deteriorating. Local newspapers have repeatedly reported high coliform cell counts in its coastal waters. The poor hygiene of the coastal water is not only a nuisance for the residents, but it also affects their tourism industry. The Lilo-an beaches used to be a highly popular destination of weekend visitors from Cebu City. However, due to current water pollution, the number of visitors has dropped dramatically and the tourism industry, such as restaurants, transportation, souvenir shops, and numerous small beach vendors, have faced a serious customer decrease.

High coliform cell counts in water is a definite indicator for fecal contamination, caused by wastewater effluents of domestic origin. The wastewater coming from the Lilo-an public market is considered to be the largest source of this pollution. The public market is equipped with only a septic tank that is insufficient to maintain proper hygienic conditions of the coastal water.

Lilo-an, like other Philippine municipalities, cannot afford to construct a centralized wastewater treatment system with an extensive collection system and a treatment plant. A decentralized wastewater treatment, which is far less expensive than a centralized system, is considered to be more suitable for this small municipality.

In March 2004, the President of the Philippines signed the "Philippine Clean Water Act," highlighting the need for wastewater treatment. This PDA could be a timely demonstration activity in support of this new legislation.

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OBJECTIVES

  • Construction of a decentralized wastewater treatment facility (WTF) at the Lilo-an public market—The proposed WTF would be designed to treat approximately 60-70 m³ of wastewater per day. Some neighboring households of the market will also be connected to the WTF. Additionally, this project will install new toilets at the public market to further increase the hygiene condition in the place.

  • Organization of cooperative to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance (O&M) of the WTF—The cooperative will collect fees from the market vendors, and operate and maintain the WTF using the collected fees.

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EXPECTED RESULTS
  Outputs     Indicators  

The local market vendors and the neighboring residents are the users and direct beneficiaries of WTF. Indirect beneficiaries would be restaurants and souvenir shops along the coast, and beach vendors who would benefit from the revival of tourism when the quality of coastal water improves.

Expected outcomes include:

  • Construction of a pilot WTF in the public market
  • Demonstration of effectiveness of low-cost, decentralized wastewater treatment facilities
  • Demonstration of successful O&M of WTF by the cooperative
  • Enhanced public awareness on water quality and wastewater treatment technologies
  • Increased public participation in wastewater treatment
  • Increased people's willingness to pay for sanitation
  • Revival of local tourism
  • Dissemination of low-cost decentralized WTF in the other places

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REPORT CARD

This PDA was completed on 30 April 2006. Read the Final Report [PDF].

  Achievements     Recommendations  

This PDA

  • Constructed a Water Treatment Facility (WTF) that can treat approximately 60m³ of wastewater a day.
  • Installed new toilets at the public market to further increase the hygiene condition in the place.
  • Developed the capacity of the Lilo-an Community Multi Purpose Cooperative to operate and maintain the WTF

But more than this, this PDA has reduced the coliform cell counts along the Lilo-an coastline, making it safe once more. Sanitation and the health situation in Lilo-an significantly improved.

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REPORTS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

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  1. Lilo-an is a municipality with a population of approximately 70,000, located on the east coast of Cebu Island, some 19 km from Cebu City.