So, what septic tank design is standard

Ruji Peter S. Abat

AS IF having functional septic tanks are not problems enough, by virtue of the Davao City Ordinance No.
0363-10 Series of 2010 otherwise known as Septage and sewerage management ordinance of Davao City,
households and establishments are now required to install a three-chamber septic tank instead of the
standard two-chamber tanks of before.

The Design

Unlike the two-chamber design where the bottom of the tank is layered with gravel to separate the sludge
from the water, the three-chamber design has a sealed bottom.

Other than the sealed bottom, the three-chamber septic tank has two leaching chambers that dispose the
wastewater from the septic tank. In the specifications cited in the ordinance, septic tanks should have a 50
millimeter-diameter inlet where wastes from the toilets pass through that then leads to the first chamber
called the digestive chamber.

The digestive chamber should have at least one half to two thirds of the entire tanks volume while the
next two chambers may have equal dimensions.

There should also be maintenance holes or manholes in each of the chamber for easier access in case there
is a need to remove the sludge from the septic tank. Sought out to describe the difference, Assistant City
Building Official lawyer Joseph Felizarta told Sun.Star Davao in an interview that there is no significant
difference between the two-chamber to the three-chamber septic tank.

But he was quick to add that somehow, having three-chamber septic tanks with sealed bottoms can come
in handy for households that are using water from deep wells since this will be a protection against
contaminations from human wastes being absorbed by the soil. Felizarta also assured that no septic tank
will be allowed to be built near underground water resources or watersheds as mandated by the
ordinance.

Conflict of Law

Felizarta said that the septic tank design being followed by the ordinance is compliant with the
Department of Health (DOH) guidelines.

Yet as cited Plumbing Code of the Philippines, residents and establishment owners are only required to
have two-chamber septic tanks.

"The national law has more weight so basically for us, we just have to implement the building of three-
chamber of septic tanks in our own discretion since we also cannot disregard the national law," Felizarta
said. He said in some areas especially those in the dry areas in the city or uplands they don't require
residents or establishment owners to build three-chamber septic tanks.

But for those near bodies of water like coastal areas and riversides, they are required to do so. Households
and establishment owners should also have their septic tanks desludged every after three to five years
since failure to do so may mean penalties ranging from P1,000 to P5,000 and imprisonment for not more
than six months.

"We give more focus on establishing cluster or communal three-chamber septic tanks in slum areas so
that we could minimize the pollution. Since they are informal settlers, most of them don't have septic
tanks. So might as well build a large septic tank that could catch the wastes from households in a
particular slum area," Felizarta said.

The budget for the communal septic tanks, however, is reliant on the appropriation of the City
Government.

Best Solution

Felizarta, however, described the use of the three-chamber septic tank as a very small contribution to the
overall implementation of the law since the best solution is the establishment of a sewerage system and a
water treatment facility.

"The ordinance's focus is really the sewerage system and the treatment facility because whether we use a
two-chamber or three-chamber septic tank, we still need to treat the wastewater. That is why we should
develop a sewerage system that could catch the wastewater from the septic tanks and take the waste to the
treatment facility," Felizarta said.

He estimated that the cost of building the sewers and the treatment facility would be around P100-
million.

But after five years since the implementation of the law, the project hasn't started yet since there is no
budget to begin with.

The City Health Office's Environment Sanitation Section is the lead implementing agency for the
ordinance while the Davao City Water District is tasked to construct the water treatment facility as
prescribed by the law.

In the meantime, with the shrinking sizes of residential lots, there is not enough space for three-
chambered