THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEWAGE AND SEWERAGE

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEWAGE AND SEWERAGE I think that many people do not know the difference between sewage and sewerage, so I decided to do some research about it. To make a long story short, sewage is the material that flows along a sewerage system, and the system is the infrastructure that enables sewage to flow. Having said that, I could now say that for the most part, very few LGUs have built their sewerage systems, and that could be partly the cause of flooding in some areas. Strictly speaking of course, the lack of sewerage systems is not the only cause of flooding. The bigger culprit I think is the lack of drainage systems. Not that I want to focus on semantics, but again strictly speaking, rain is not the cause of floods. The real cause of floods in my opinion is the lack of drainage systems, meaning that there are no systems to drain the rainwater into the rivers, lakes, streams and seas. Microsoft Co-Pilot defines sewage as “the actual waste water and solids that flow through the underground pipes. It’s the murky mix of human waste, industrial effluents, and whatever else we flush down the drain”. In other words, sewage is not just plain water that needs to be drained into the waterways. The final destination of sewage should not be the waterways, but rather the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) that the LGUs should have. In many parts of the country, some LGUs have built open canals in lieu of piped underground drainage systems. That could be good enough, for as long as the water flows to the waterways, but if not, these LGUs should be held accountable for both negligence and endangering human lives. I say that because flooding causes death as we already know it. What do we do with the LGU officials who are responsible for not building the proper drainage systems and sewage systems? Are there appropriate laws that could punish them? As I have pointed out here, these officials keep on blaming the rains as the cause of the floods, but now we know that the real cause of the floods is their failure to build the proper drainage systems. As I recall, there is another law that requires LGUs to build water catchment ponds, as a preparation for El Nino. As far as I know, very few LGUs have complied with this requirement either. What is the use of passing these laws if they are not implemented? And who among the National Government Agencies (NGAs) could be responsible for not enforcing them? Could it be the DPWH? The DILG? The DENR? The NDRRMC? Perhaps it is about time that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. should create a cabinet cluster composed of all agencies that are directly involved with the supply chain of sewerage, drainage and flooding. IKE SENERES/09-09-2024