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S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t A s p e c t s
Pollution and Waste Management
031 Water quality
Description
This indicator measures the level to which coastal waters
and river waters that discharge into the coastal area are
within the water quality standards prescribed for the specific
water use (e.g., drinking, swimming, boating, fishing,
aquaculture, etc.).
Rationale
Criteria and standards for water quality are based on
scientific information related to water use and potential
risks to human health (e.g., transmit waterborne diseases),
productivity (e.g., decrease fisheries productivity) and/or
the ecosystem health (e.g., destruction and degradation
of habitats). Different parameters provide indications of
ecosystem health and potential threats to water use.
Data Requirements
Priority parameters (temporal/spatial)
• Water transparency (secchi depth/total suspended
solids) (marine/river/beach)
• Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (marine/river/
beach)
• Total/fecal coliform counts (marine/river/beach)
Secondary parameters (temporal/spatial)
• Chlorophyll concentrations (marine/river/beach)
• Nutrient (nitrates, phosphates) concentrations (marine/
river/beach)
• Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentrations
(marine/river/beach)
• Groundwater quality (nitrates and heavy metals)
Results
PG-ENRO’s water quality monitoring program covers
Batangas Bay (8 stations) and Pansipit River (8 stations).
Additional stations are tested when and where requests can
be accommodated. In mid-2007, PG-ENRO initiated the
monitoring of coastal waters in Balayan Bay.
Results of the monitoring program indicate that total coliform
and dissolved oxygen (DO) in Batangas Bay were within
acceptable standards, with the exception of a sampling
in June 2007 that happened to coincide with heavy rains
(Figures 20 and 21). In April 2007, three out of eight Pansipit
stations, namely, Pob. Lemery (3.81 mg/L); Bgy. Wawa
(4.66 mg/L); and Delta Wawa (4.85 mg/L) had DO levels
below standard (5 mg/L). Pansipit nutrient concentrations
measured in 2002 and 2003 showed an improving trend
which may be due to the dismantling of fish cages in the
River, which started in 2002 as part of the Pansipit River
Rehabilitation Program (Table 8). Total coliform levels in
some parts of Pansipit River, Benangbang River in Balayan,
and in Calumpang River were well above standard on
occasion, indicating the discharge of untreated domestic
sewage and animal wastes to the rivers as the likely source
of contamination (Table 9). No data were gathered on
groundwater quality.
98 State of the Coasts of Batangas Province