Water Conservation

in the Philippines

By: Lales, Nathaniel S.

 OBJECTIVES:
 Water conservation
aims to sustainably
manage the natural
resource of fresh water,
protect the
hydrosphere, and meet
current and future
human demand. Water
conservation makes it
possible to avoid water
scarcity. It covers all
the policies, strategies
 EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
 Improved Water  Climate Resilience:
Availability and
Quality:
 Increased availability of
 Increased availability of clean and reliable water
clean and reliable water sources for
sources for communities and
communities and ecosystems.
ecosystems.
 Enhanced water quality
 Enhanced water quality through better pollution
through better pollution control and treatment.
control and treatment.
 INDICATORS OF ACHEIVEMENT:
 Water use concepts and performance descriptors that may be useful in
defining conservation and saving of water are discussed with the aim of
improving the overall performance and productivity of water use. New
indicators are proposed which include consideration of water reuse and
aim to assist in identifying and providing clear distinctions between
beneficial and non-beneficial water uses. An analysis of productivity
concepts useful both in irrigation and elsewhere is provided together
with suggestions for where commonly used terms, such as the broadly
used “water use efficiency” among others, would be better avoided in
irrigation engineering and given much more narrowly defined meanings
in agronomy and biological sciences. Particular attention is given to
economic issues in water productivity. The analysis is completed with
various case study applications at irrigation farm and system scales. It
is recommended that a set of terms (not necessarily those developed
here) be widely adopted that will provide a basis for easy, certain
communication and provide widespread common understanding of the
issues which must be faced to develop approaches to achieve efficient
water use.
 MAIN ACTIVITIES:
 RAW WATER FLUSHING  RAINWATER
HARVESTING
 Raw water is water found in
the environment that has  Rainwater harvesting is the
not been treated and does storing of rainwater during
not have any of its the monsoon season for
minerals, ions, particles, the purpose of using it
bacteria, or parasites during periods of water
removed. Raw water scarcity. Generally
includes rainwater, ground speaking, it is a process
water, water from used for collecting and
infiltration wells, and water storing rainwater for
from bodies like lakes and human use.
rivers.
 Protecting Groundwate  Utilizing Groundwater
Resources:
r
Resources:  Groundwater flows due to gravity
and eventually discharges into
 When precipitation occurs, streams. Excess pumping of
groundwater leads to a decrease
some infiltrates the soil in groundwater levels and if
and goes underground. continued it can exhaust the
Water in this saturation resource. Ground and surface
zone is called groundwater. waters are connected and overuse
of groundwater can reduce and, in
Contamination of extreme examples, diminish the
groundwater causes the water supply of lakes, rivers, and
groundwater water supply streams. In coastal regions, over
to not be able to be used pumping groundwater can
increase saltwater intrusion which
as a resource of fresh results in the contamination of
drinking water and the groundwater water supply.
natural regeneration of Sustainable use of groundwater is
contaminated groundwater essential in water conservation.
can take years to replenish.
 PROJECT NEEDS & COSTS:
SM MALLS CONSERVED WATER:
 SM Prime Holdings, owner of the largest network
of shopping malls in the country, has started a
campaign that substantially reduces its water
usage by over 1,000 tons every year.

 By replacing the traditional urinals with Falcon

Water-free Urinals, all SM Mall branches
nationwide can save up to 1,431 tons of water
each year which is equivalent to 260 water
trucks per day.

 At present, out of its 28 shopping malls

nationwide, 24 are already using a total of 2,205
Falcon Water-free Urinals. Falcon’s concept of
water conservation using water-free urinals is
expected to dominate the high traffic toilets not
only in shopping malls but also in fastfood
chains, gas stations, cinemas, bus terminals, air
and seaports, among others.
 PROJECT NEEDS & COSTS:
SM MALLS CONSERVED WATER:
 SM targets to save up to 250 million  The Clean Water Act which was passed into law
in 2004 calls for all households and public
liters of water every year and bring it
buildings including schools, business
back to host communities nationwide. establishments and hotels to connect to a
sewerage system within five years of the
 While SM Malls have sewer treatment passage of the law.
plants in all their malls, their treated  SM Supermalls is currently on track in complying
effluent which they release to the to the water conservation and water treatment
environment will mix up again with call of the government.
the polluted rivers and streams
 In SM Megamall and SM North EDSA alone where
because of the absence of sewerage
there are 200 and 142 public urinals
system. respectively, their water savings go as high as
400 tons per day which is equivalent to 72 water
 Studies show that there is hardly any trucks.
sewerage system in the country to  According to Bien Mateo, SM Supermalls
connect to. Even Metro Manila has assistant vice president, the use of innovative
only a mere seven percent sewerage water-free urinals, enable the company to post
coverage. substantial savings aside from generating
goodwill in their host community.
Thank You!
For listening