Assesment of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) Industrial
Contamination and Current Efforts to Solve the Problem
The Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) Industrial
Contamination has been one of the greatest challenges faced by the country in terms of
pollution control. The area has seemed been a drainage point for different kinds of
factories, from tanneries to mine refineries, leading to contamination of toxic heavy
metals, affecting the water, the atmosphere, and the life surrounding them. The
contamination levels are high enough to put MMORS in Blacksmith Institute’s “Dirty 30,”
a list of the most polluted places in the world. While this report has gained enough
attention to kickstart cleanup operations within the river system, those involved seems to
forget that the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it right where it starts – our
drainage systems and dumpsites.
After being declared as a Water Quality Management (WQMA) by the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) back in 2008, efforts to restore the river
system has already begun, focused on testing new technologies and educating the locals
and establishments within the area regarding minimizing wastes. Dredging has also been
introduced to keep the river system to a reasonable depth. Heavy metal recovery facilities
and a water treatment facility for tannery wastes has also been established to help in
dealing with pollutants. As of this moment, funding is currently the challenge faced by
those who committed to clean the river and would greatly affect the course of action, as
well as the outcomes in the coming years.
While these strategies are good enough to kickstart the cleanup process, there are
some things that needs to be addressed immediately. Considering the status of MMORS,
minimizing wastes will never be enough, and the only way to clean the river is to have all
sources of wastes pouring in to the river eradicated, hence solving the problem right where
it starts. This does not, however, necessarily mean shutting down all factories and
relocating all nearby residential areas. By simply preventing any drainage system to reach
the river system, the potential of having additional wastes to deal with will be eradicated.
Instead, artificial catch basins must be designed for these wastes to be brought to. These
structures can be designed based from artificial reservoirs, such as dams, except that these
should have stricter measures to prevent any form of contamination from spreading, such
as those used in water treatment facilities. This could either be built from existing ponds
or lakes that are not utilized for fishing or recreation, or by creating a man-made lake from
a free landscape. Wastewater treatment facilities should then be built close within these
basins for efficient treatment. Implementing the concept of isolating wastewater
pathways nationwide could generate a huge impact on pollution control, as the very idea
itself is, in fact, “control” of waste flow. If executed properly, what’s left of water pollutants
can be eradicated by multiple treatment, filtration, and recovery techniques that the world
can offer. In addition to this, dumpsites that are believed to affect MMORS should have
measures on containment of leachate caused by rainwater passing through piles of wastes.
Modern-day dumpsites have already incorporated solutions to this issue, by placing in
layers of plastic and clay on the base of the dumpsite designs, preventing contaminated
liquid from penetrating the soil.
Multiple strategies could be implemented together to fight pollution. But in the end,
it boils down to two factors: Government initiative and the people’s initiative, in terms of
waste management. It is important to keep everyone informed and involved in
environmental protection, because at the end of the day, the environment’s life depend
on how we utilize it, and equivalently our lives depend on the state of our environment.
References:
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Espina, N. (2017). Meycauayan, Marilao in world’s ‘Dirty 30’—Report. Inquirer News/Pure Earth. Retrieved
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Carle, N., Spuhler, D., & Stauffer, B. (2018). Man-made Reservoirs. Sustainable Sanitation and Water
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