After a delay of more than two years, all concessionaires of the Virac Water District will be charged the P3.56 per cubic meter septage fee beginning this June 2025 billing.
The collection of the new fee will finance the VIWAD’s full implementation of its Septage Management Program presented to stakeholders in a public hearing on November 2022 and finally approved by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Board of Trustees through Resolution No. 21, series of 2025.
General Manager Gabriel Tejerero said the program is designed to ensure the regular desludging of septic tanks and the proper treatment of septage at the district’s Septage Treatment Plant (DTP) in barangay Cavinitan.
All 10,600 concessionaires will be charged the Environmental Safety Fee of P3.56 per cubic meter of water consumed, along with a 2% Franchise Tax as mandated under LWUA BOT Resolution No. 285, Series of 2004.
“This fee enables us to provide regular desludging services every five years to all concessionaires, helping prevent the costly and often delayed cleanups that pose health and sanitation risks,” the management said.
The charge will apply regardless of whether a customer has a septic tank or not, as the program also supports the long-term maintenance of communal sanitation facilities and environmental safeguards.
Non-VIWAD customers, including residents of the other 10 towns, may avail the desludging services on a pay-per-service basis at P3,500 per trip for residential clients and P5,000 per trip for commercial establishments, plus applicable inspection and administrative fees depending on the location of the customer or establishment.
The initiative reflects VIWAD’s commitment to the national goal of improving water quality, reducing pollution from untreated wastewater, and fostering a healthier, more sustainable community, the management said.
Inadequately-treated domestic wastewater such as septage and sewage account for nearly half of water pollutants as most septic tanks are either undersized, unlined and regular desludging is not practiced, with the waste directly discharged to drainage canals.
Septage, the solid and liquid mix in the septic tank, contains toxic chemicals, hazardous and organic substances, and pathogenic organisms and thus will cause serious health problems and damage the ecosystem if left untreated.
The Philippine Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge into the earth of any substance that will pollute groundwater while the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973 mandates water districts to provide not only water but also wastewater facilities in their jurisdiction.
The wastewater management program will initially cater to the water service concessionaires of VIWAD and will eventually expand its services to the entire population of Virac.
The development and construction of septage treatment facility, including lot acquisition and procurement of vacuum and water trucks, cost more than P30 million and, together with estimated utilities expense as well as operation and maintenance cost for the five-year cycle, was used in computing the septage fee.
Thus, for a minimum consumption of 10 cubic meters, a residential customer will pay a minimum monthly septage fee of P35.60, with the five-year total coming up to P2,136.00.
Using the May 2025 concessionaire data, each residence and commercial establishment consumes an average of 26 cubic meters and 39 cubic meters, respectively.
In five years, their total septage fee would be P5,554 and P8,300, which are way lower than the P15,000 to P20,000 being charged by private septage companies.
There is no other sewage treatment facility in the entire island, with the private desludger either bringing the untreated sewage to the mainland or, worse, dumping it in canals and rivers.
Under the program, the district will implement a desludging service cycle of once every five (5) years, which is the prescribed frequency for septic tank cleaning set by the Department of Health.
During the 2022 hearing, the VIWAD initially proposed the following desludging schedule for the 31 barangays and six subdivisions in its service area: Year 1 – San Vicente, Ibong Sapa, Capilihan, Francia, Rawis, Sta. Cruz, Marcelo Alberto and Lanao; Year 2 – Sta. Elena, Constantino, Danicop, Sto. Nino, Sogod Tibgao, San Roque, San Pedro, Salvacion, San Jose and Moonwalk are; Year 3 – Concepcion, San Pablo, San Juan, Gogon Sirangan, Gogon Tiad, Gogon Centro, Palnab del Norte and Palnab del Sur; Year 4 – San Isidro Village, Calatagan Proper and Calatagan Tibang; and Year 5 – Cavinitan, Valencia and Bigaa.
However, GM Tejerero said that the technical staff have yet to present the final schedule.
Prior to implementation, VIWAD would have to conduct an information dissemination campaign in its coverage barangays, along with a survey to collect data on concessionaires, including information on existing septic tanks, its location, number of toilets and number of users.
The vacuum and water trucks will then visit the concessionaires and conduct desludging based on the schedule, with the septage to be unloaded at the sewage treatment facility’s stabilization reactor.
From the reactor, the sludge will be discharged into a drying bed, with the liquid going to an anaerobic baffled reactor and then an anaerobic filter.
It will be further treated in a planted gravel filter and finally an activated carbon filter before being safely discharged into the holding and chlorination pond.
Since the opening of the STP, more than 40 residential, commercial and institutional buildings have been served by the VIWAD’s desludging program, including two elementary schools in Pandan and Bagamanoc whose fees were shouldered by Unicef