A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON THE VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF WATER

POLLUTION IN PASIG RIVER, PHILIPPINES

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Pasig River is an important river in Metro Manila, Philippines, since it

provides food, livelihood, and transport to its residents. It is a bridge that connects

the two major water bodies Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay. However, it is now

considered to be the toilet bowl of Metro Manila due to the large amount of wastes

dumped into the river. Even with the efforts of the government to revive the quality of

the Pasig River and its tributaries, it continues to deteriorate over time. (Gorme, et al.

2010)

The Pasig River is known to be in a dire state of water pollution. Olaniran

(1995) defined water pollution to be the presence of excessive amounts of a hazard

(pollutants) in water in such a way that it is no longer suitable for drinking, bathing,

cooking or other uses. Moreover, Nathanson (2020) also defined water pollution as

the release of substances into subsurface groundwater or into lakes, streams, rivers,

estuaries, and oceans to the point where the substances interfere with the beneficial

use of the water or with the natural functioning of ecosystems.

Water pollution is classified into different types. According to Denchak (2018),

there are around 6 categories of water pollution: Groundwater pollution, Surface

water pollution, Ocean water pollution, point source water pollution, Nonpoint source

pollution, and Transboundary pollution. Additionally, according to Denchak (2018),

the most common types of water contamination is agricultural contamination,

Sewage and wastewater contamination, Oil pollution, and radioactive wastes.

The necessary assessment regarding the waste disturbances in the Pasig

river for the interpretation of the state of water pollution correlating to the methods

practiced, and the efficiency in significance to the water conditions, whether the

research study may provide a significant importance in regards to the coherence of

the process on providing validified information, and the practicality of the sequence

of processes associated within the practice. In this descriptive study, the proponents

intend to present and compose an assessed interpretation of the gathered data

regarding the water pollution in the Pasig River; gathered descriptive data in regards

to the formulation of conclusion in the purpose of providing description, explanation,

and validation for the research findings.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The focus of the study is to provide relevant insight regarding the current state

and quality of the water conditions in the Pasig River by the river pollution.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the different factors that contribute to the pollution of the Pasig

River?

2. What are the different forms of water pollution affecting Pasig River?
 3. What are the measures taken by the government to address and solve the

issue of water pollution in the Pasig River?

4. What can be done to mitigate the effects of water pollution in the Pasig River?

HYPOTHESIS

The Pasig River continues to be polluted even to this day, making it difficult to

be habitable by aquatic creatures and thus, further contribute to the toxification of the

environment surrounding the premises.

As a result, should this pollution continue to amount up, it can directly affect the

water quality, impact the various life forms within the river, and overall, can serve as

a leading factor that destroys the biodiversity of aquamarine life and the ecosystem

as a whole.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study is fixated on identifying the pollutants of the Pasig River. Through

accurate observations, the study will be explored thoroughly. Through the

compilation of presented data online provided by Philippine governments,

institutions, and the conducted researches on the topic, the aim of this study will be
an attempt to explore the necessary details and data that the researchers will gather

from accurate observations from Pasig River, Philippines.

Given that the research being constructed will be out of the country and within the

boundaries of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the delimitations the researchers

encounter will be the means of information gathering - moreover, gathering the

necessary data will take time, and hence, the set timeframe of the study will be held

within the span of 2 weeks.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Contamination - the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable

element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material,

physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc.

Ecosystem - is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving

components of their environment, interacting as a system.

Pasig River - is a river in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila

Bay. Stretching for 25.2 kilometers (15.7 mi), it bisects the Philippine capital of

Manila and its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves.

Pollutant - a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has

undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource.

Pollution - is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that

cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or

energy, such as noise, heat, or light.

River - is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an

ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and

becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small

rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill.

Toxification - is the conversion of chemical compounds into more toxic forms. This

conversion can take place in the body as well as in substrates such as soil or water.

Waste - are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance which is

discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use.

REFERENCES

- https://www.google.com/url?

sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj3r

YyQvJnuAhVuRhUIHWhWAu0QFjABegQIBBAC&url=https%3A%2F

%2Fwww.mcser.org%2Fjournal%2Findex.php%2Fmjss%2Farticle

%2FviewFile%2F1760%2F1764&usg=AOvVaw0hY7g7kWP9tqjnlHu76PvN

(Olaniran 1995)

- https://www.britannica.com/science/water-pollution ( Nathanon 2020)

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221965572_The_Water_Quality_of_

the_Pasig_River_in_the_City_of_Manila_Philippines_Current_Status_Manag

ement_and_Future_Recovery (Gorme, et al. 2010)

- https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know

( Denchak 2018)