Acciona unit offers solutions to address PHL water problems

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

AMAR MORKANI
Acciona Agua Regional Director for
Development — COMPANY HANDOUT

THE Philippines should invest in rain harvesting and other sustainable water solutions to combat the impacts of climate change and secure clean water for its population, an Acciona Agua executive said.

“We have to understand the reason for those droughts is the impact of climate change. The rain pattern is changing and the drought season is much longer. It rains more in a shorter time, which then creates flooding and landslides,” Acciona Agua Regional Director for Development Amar Morkani said in a virtual interview.

Acciona Agua, a unit of the Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona, offers sustainable, end-to-end water treatment and management solutions.   

Mr. Morkani cited water harvesting and the desalination of seawater, among many sustainable solutions.

“The first thing is to enhance rain harvesting and storage. Harvesting rain from areas where pollution isn’t that present, like the forest. Its side effect is that you will decrease the probability of flooding and landsliding. It is essential to study the rain pattern in the necessary facilities, in order to help during the drought season,” he said.

“It is also difficult to handle the degradation of the water quality in the water table. You need to decrease the stress in the water table, meaning to pump in deep wells less than what we used to, in order for the water table to regenerate through the rainy season and harvesting season,” he added.

Water scarcity, which affects 40% of the population, is increasing due to global warming.

Mr. Morkani said that water desalination, which is a treatment process that converts seawater or brackish water into drinking water, may help boost water supply.

Acciona has been working on local projects such as Maynilad Water Services, Inc.’s Putatan Water Treatment Plant 2 in Muntinlupa City. The plant treats up to 150,000 cubic meters of water daily from Laguna de Bay.

“Acciona has sustainable solutions not only for the treatment of water but as well for the implementation. We have very strong engineering to develop water storage. We work with the government to fund the plan since each region has its complications, like the solution for Cebu may not work for Palawan,” Mr. Morkani said.

Wastewater must be treated sustainably through recycling, so that it can be released into the environment, he said.

“We have to treat wastewater. We must recycle the water in two steps: the first is the industrial (sector), all the wastewater produced must find a way to be recycled in the facilities. Then, release it to the environment so it can be used for agriculture watering, municipal watering of gardens, and the like,” Mr. Morkani said.

In the future, Mr. Morkani said that the water treatment technology will only become cheaper and consume less energy.