DENR: Water pollution in 10 ‘priority’ rivers down

Water pollution in 10 of the country’s “priority" rivers declined during the first six months of the Aquino administration, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Thursday. DENR chief Ramon Paje said the level of water pollution in the 10 rivers, measured by the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), decreased to 26.08 milligrams per liter from July to December last year from 28.84 milligrams per liters during the same period in 2009. A high level of BOD, which measures the amount of oxygen consumed by microorganisms in decomposing organic matter in water, means that there are more bacteria that deplete the oxygen in the body of water for other forms of aquatic life. The 10 rivers where DENR observed a decrease in water pollution were the Meycauayan River (Bulacan), the Marilao River (Bulacan), the Bocaue River (Bulacan), the Calapan River (Oriental Mindoro), the Anayan River (Camarines Sur), the Iloilo River, the Luyang River (Cebu), the Sapangdaku River (Cebu), the Balili River (Benguet), and the Paranaque River. Paje attributed the decline of water pollution in these rivers to his department’s “Adopt-an-Estero" program, where the DENR partners with private companies to clean up waterways. A total of 77 corporations, including GMA Network, have already extended resources to DENR to clean up the country’s waterways. - Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News