RA 9275, the Clean Water Act, read for a house
Republic Act 9275 of 2004 governs water quality in every water body in the Philippines. Most of it is written for factories, water agencies and local governments, but Section 3 applies its standards and penalties "irrespective of sources of pollution", and a few of its sections reach an ordinary house: where the waste water goes, and several things a household can do that the Act prohibits. Each row below carries the section it comes from.
RA 9275, section by section, for a household
Each row gives the point, the rule in short, and the section it comes from.
The words the Act uses
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Sewage | waste water from a house | Section 4(gg): water-borne human or animal wastes removed from residences, buildings and other establishments, with any groundwater, surface water and storm water present |
| Septage | the sludge in a septic tank | Section 4(ff): the sludge produced in individual onsite wastewater disposal systems, principally septic tanks and cesspools |
| Sewerage | the pipe network | Section 4(hh): the pipelines, channels, pumping stations and service connections that collect, transport and treat sewage to a point of disposal |
Where your waste water goes
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| A house in Metro Manila or another highly urbanised city | connected to the sewer where one is available | Section 8: the water supply and sewerage agency or concessionaire, with the local government, connects the sewage lines of subdivisions and other establishments "including households" to an available sewerage system, subject to a sewerage charge unless the source already has its own system. The same section adds that "all sources of sewage and septage shall comply with the requirements herein" |
| A house anywhere else | septage management | Section 8: in areas that are not highly urbanised cities, the DPWH with the DENR, the DOH and other agencies employs septage or combined sewerage-septage management |
| The standards for collection and disposal | set by the DOH | Section 8: the Department of Health, with other agencies, formulates the guidelines and standards for collecting, treating and disposing of sewage |
| Who funds the treatment plants | national funds, local land | Section 7: a national sewerage and septage programme prepared by the DPWH lists projects by priority, and the national government may allot funds to build them; each local government provides the land and access, and may fund operation through property taxes and a service fee |
What the Act prohibits
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Anything thrown or washed into a river, creek or canal | prohibited | Section 27(a): discharging or depositing material of any kind into water bodies, or along their margins where tide, storm or flood could wash it in, that could pollute the water or impede its flow |
| Letting waste seep into the ground | prohibited | Section 27(b): discharging, injecting or allowing to seep into the soil or subsoil any substance that would pollute groundwater |
| A booster pump on the water main | prohibited | Section 27(o): directly using booster pumps in the distribution system, or tampering with the water supply in a way that alters or impairs its quality |
| Sewage or septic sludge, or solid waste, dumped at sea | prohibited | Section 27(e): unauthorised transport or dumping of sewage sludge or solid waste into sea waters, which is what the desludging contractor who empties a tank must not do |
If the Act is broken
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| The penalty for a prohibited act | a fine for every day | Section 28: imposed by the DENR Secretary on the recommendation of the Pollution Adjudication Board, within a per-day range the Act fixes, and raised every two years for inflation |
| Stopping the work or the water | closure or disconnection | Section 28: on the Board's recommendation the Secretary may also order closure, suspension of development or construction, or, where appropriate, disconnection of the water supply until safeguards are in place |
| Clean-up refused, or repeated violations | imprisonment possible | Section 28: wilful or grossly negligent failure to clean up, and gross violations, which include five or more violations within two years, can carry imprisonment: with a fine for a refused clean-up, and with or instead of one for a gross violation |
| Who watches locally | your local government | Section 20: each local government shares responsibility for water quality in its territory, through its Environment and Natural Resources Office, including monitoring and emergency response |
What it means when you build or renovate
- The septic tank or sewer goes on the drawings. Where the waste water goes is shown on the sanitary plans in the permit set, signed by the professional whose licence covers them; the house plan guide lists that sheet and who signs it. A tank whose waste seeps into the soil and pollutes groundwater is what Section 27(b) prohibits.
- Low water pressure is a design question. Section 27(o) prohibits booster pumps used directly on the distribution system. Where the pressure at the tap is poor, how the house stores and delivers water is settled in the plumbing design, before the pipes go in.
- Keep the creek clear. Section 27(a) covers material left along the bank of a creek or canal where a flood could wash it in, which includes construction debris. The easements guide covers the strip of land along a river or creek that must stay open.
- Using less water. Our sustainable design options service covers water-saving plumbing fixtures and rainwater catchment, and custom house design produces the architectural and structural drawings for the permit and coordinates with the engineers who sign the rest.
What this page does not cover
- How a septic tank is built. Its size, chambers, distance from a well and the rest are set by the Sanitation Code (PD 856) and its rules and by the plumbing code, not by this Act. The septic tank guide reads the 1995 rules, figure by figure.
- Industry and government duties. Discharge permits, wastewater charges, water quality management areas and the duties of agencies make up most of the Act and are left out here.
- The fine amounts. Section 28 sets them per day of violation; this page does not print amounts.
Source: Republic Act No. 9275, the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, as published by the Lawphil Project.