By Phoebe Jen Indino
Tagbilaran City, Philippines — In compliance with Republic Act 9275, or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, the Department of Health in Region 7 (DoH-7) has granted five hospitals here with waste water treatment facilities set to be finished by yearend 2011.
Environmental health program coordinator Engineer Evangeline Canoneo said construction of said five facilities were already over 80 percent complete as of last month.
The five beneficiary hospitals are this city’s Gov. Celestino Gallardo Memorial Hospital (GCGMH), Don Emilio del Valle Memorial in Ubay, Bohol and three Cebu-based hospitals including Talisay City District Hospital in Cebu, Saint Anthony Mother and Child Hospital and the Eversley Child Sanitarium.
Of the five DoH -7 retained hospitals, Eversley Child Sanitarium got the biggest chunk of the budget with P6.7 million with over 80 percent of its construction already complete, followed by GCGMH with P2.4 million.
Canoneo said in 2010, DoH 7 had also given similar grants to five hospitals as part of the agency’s continuing facility enhancement program.
She said with the installation of said facility which features bio-reactors, waste water in public hospitals will now be treated properly prior to disposal.
According to the American Journal of Environmental Sciences, hospitals generate an average of 750 liters of wastewater and these effluents are loaded with pathogenic microorganisms, pharmaceutical partially metabolised, radioactive elements and other toxic chemical substances.