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Engineer lends hand to Bulk Water Supply Project opposition

BAGUIO CITY (May 10) — “We should educate the public about the dangers of this project”.

This, a water treatment process expert expressed after hearing over a local FM station the Pro-Consumers’ stance against the much-debated Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) between the Benguet Corporation (BC) and the Baguio Water District (BWD).

Joel Escober has worked for 10 years with Benguet-based mines Philex, BC, and Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo). After resigning from his post as president and general manager of German company Schuback PTC in 2003, Escober said he intends to give back his services to communities.

Escober is a metallurgical and mechanical engineer whose expertise is in ozonization, particularly in the disinfection of food and hospitals. He earned an Master in Business Administration degree at the Ateneo de Manila University and studied in Europe for his specialization. As a water treatment process expert, he designs the process considering the raw water quality to achieve the desired end-product.

After learning that a test has confirmed the presence of heavy metals lead, cadmium, and mercury in the proposed water source for the BWSP, Escober wondered why the proposal has not been called off. BC intends to use a former open pit mine in Itogon as a reservoir.

Escober said that the water eyed for human consumption is contaminated with heavy metals that may be harmful to the body.

Escober was tuned in to 95.9 Big FM early this week when Pro-Consumers Spokesperson Chie Galvez was being interviewed. Alarmed at the health hazards posed by the BWSP, Escober contacted the Pro-Consumers group and offered his help to the group’s cause.

“Water is the reason why there is life on Earth, and I would like to share what knowledge I have for you to have a better grasp of the issue and in forwarding this cause,” he said to members of Pro-Consumers, including some Itogon folk in an informal meeting this week.

Heavy metals in your water

Heavy metals, once in an individual’s system, are transmitted through generations, Escober said.

“Itogon water cannot be used anymore, all you will get is water contaminated with cyanide”, he added, having worked with BC for sometime. Cyanide spray is used in BC’s carbon-in-pulp plant in Antamok, where its leachate finds its way into the groundwater. It takes three to four years for cyanide to deteriorate.

He explained that once raw water registers the presence of heavy metals, it is already unsafe, since raw water components have an effect to the product water.

“Knowing that the water source for the (bulk water) project has heavy metals should tell those concerned that the project should not be allowed”, he said, adding that raw water should be analyzed before being treated, which entails several tests.

Gleaning from several BC papers obtained by Pro-Consumers, including an illustration of BC’s water treatment system, Escober commented that such system is a “fairytale”.

“Definitely, this is not a state-of-the-art water treatment process”, he said. Escober said that BC’s water treatment system entails the use of chlorine.

“The use of chlorine in filtering was abandoned in the United States and Europe 100 years ago”, he explained. He continued to comment that the first filtering system in the country, the Balara pipes near UP Diliman are even more modern.

Modern water treatment systems use ozone in its processes.

BC’s water treatment system is so expensive. To desalinate water from the nearest coastal area would even be cheaper, he added.

Escober said that in Europe, phytomediation has been used for decades to treat raw water. In this process, plants are used to remove the heavy metals in the water, which is aged in a reservoir for at least six months. This, he explained, is even more cost-efficient.

The product water must also be analyzed such that stability and composition should be monitored at various levels. The US-based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that elements must be monitored with certain regularly — daily, monthly, or yearly, depending on the elements at hand.

Public’s decision

Meanwhile, project’s awarding to BC has been put on hold due to sustained opposition.

Escober suggested that Baguio consumers push for an independent laboratory test for the analysis. He added that an education campaign through Pro-Consumers will be helpful in the opposition.

“The people of Baguio should be educated on this for them to take the issue in their own hands”, he said.

Pro-Consumers thanked Escober for his help and his affirmation to the group’s basis of opposition to the project. # ATB for NORDIS

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