Coliform bacteria scare and other environmental issues have been hounding Boracay Island in Aklan province over the past 20 years, mostly blamed on inadequate septic and sewage systems.
Because of the drop of tourist arrivals in 1997 due to the increase in coliform levels, Boracay built a potable water supply system, sewage treatment plant and solid waste disposal system that was run by the Philippine Tourism Authority.
Seven years later, in 2004, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reported that the coliform crisis persisted as not all businesses on the island to the sewage
system.
At that time, only 50.5 percent of hotels and restaurants and only 24.9 percent of the households had installed pipelines connecting to the centralized sewage treatment plant that began operations on the island in 2003.
In 2009, after waters off Boracay were contaminated with fecal coliform generated by human wastes, Boracay Island Water Co. won the contract for the project to give Boracay improved supply of potable water and efficient sewage system.
Algal blooms appear
In 2011, a study conducted by the McKeough Marine Center, which is based at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, said that reefs in Boracay had reached an alarming state of deterioration and urgently needed protection and rehabilitation.
Beginning in 2015, residents observed that algal blooms began to appear as early as January or February and occurred longer.
Before, the algal blooms appeared only in March and April, and only in the area where tourism development was first concentrated.
Algal bloom along Boracay’s shoreline indicated water pollution resulting from “poor waste management with sewage being dumped into the waters,” the DENR said.
Many business operators and residents claimed that the algal bloom was seasonal and “natural,” but environmentalists said it was an indication of feces and other waste materials polluting the water.
The DENR said the Environmental Management Bureau in Western Visayas reported that coliform bacteria levels in a water sample taken from a drainage outlet that emptied into the sea at Sitio Bulabog exceeded safety standards.
The coliform bacteria levels reached 47,460 mpn (most probable number) per 100 millimeter. The safe level for water for swimming and other human contact activities is 1,000 mpn/100 ml.
Apart from the serious health and sanitation hazards, coliform bacteria found in human and animal waste could also adversely affect marine life and coral reefs.
Source: Inquirer Archives