MANILA, Philippines --- The Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development - National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday urged barangay leaders to lead their constituents in conserving water and protecting the environment for the benefit of future generations.

DOH-NCR Director Eduardo C. Janairo emphasized this cause as it started its series of seminars for barangay captains and other community leaders that showed the importance of preserving water and other environmental resources.

"Each of us is responsible in protecting our water resources to ensure that current and future water uses are met and wastages are avoided. Our choices and our actions contribute to the well-being or deterioration of our environment. That is why we must safeguard it in order to have access to a clean source of drinking water which is very essential to good health," Janairo said.

Participants of the Lakbay Aral program toured the treatment plants of water providers in Metro Manila such as in La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.

Experts from the Manila Water Company and Maynilad gave the community leaders a glimpse of the various stages of water purification before they are distributed to residents and establishments in the NCR. The experts also explained the process of eliminating wastewater from the sewer or septic tank to its disposal in rivers. The presentations made by the water concessionaires involved the processes on water production, distribution and laboratory operations, service connection installations, pipelines maintenance and its information dissemination programs.

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Save Water, Barangay Leaders Told

Forty years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, efforts to control pollution are shifting to a broad range of sources agricultural, storm sewer and other runoffs.

There are still some needs out there, said municipal wastewater manager Wendy Turri of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, referring to concerns about pollution from single sources. For instance, new research shows evidence of harm from hormone levels and traces of prescription drugs in rivers that werent able to be scrubbed by wastewater treatment facilities.

But today, experts argue, the bigger threat is nutrient runoff from fields, feedlots and storm sewers.

In 1987, amendments to the Clean Water Act added whats known as nonpoint sources of pollution, or pollution that comes from a variety of places. The amendments established a comprehensive program for controlling pollutants and stormwater runoff, directed states to create voluntary programs to manage pollutants not discharged from a single point, and encouraged states to pursue groundwater protection.

The challenge is that the regulations arent as strict as those for pollution from a single location and its much harder to identify or control many different pollution sources, said Winona County water planner Natalie Siderius.

In the cities and towns around Winona County, Siderius said, there are runoff standards and best-management practices for farmers. Feedlots are regulated, as are septic systems.

But for the most part, Siderius said, managing pollution from a variety of places relies on the cooperation of individual landowners.

Its a tough nut to crack, Siderius said. You have to work with people to implement as many best practices as you can on their lands.

There are two farmer-led councils in Winona County in the Whitewater and Rush Pine watersheds tackling agricultural pollution on their own, Siderius said.

Farmers realize unless they take care of things themselves, there may be additional regulations, she said.

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Next challenge for clean water: controlling pollution from runoff

JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL (WBRC) -

Jefferson County has not had a sewer rate increase in years. But now that the county is in bankruptcy court in part due to the sewer debt, the county has to come up with more cash to pay that debt.

Jefferson County commissioners have hired a consulting team to gather information about running a sewer system and complying with the clean water act.

Commissioners want to see that report first, but in the past commissioners admitted some sort of increase will be warranted. The commissioners hoped to keep that increase around or below five percent.

There has also been discussion of implementing a non-user fee on households that have septic tanks to share in some of burden of paying off the sewer debt and providing clean water in county.

"I haven't see the recommendations yet, but Judge Bennett was clear that the commission was to consider a revenue increase," commissioner David Carrington said.

The public will be able to give their opinion on any possible recommendation at a November 6 public hearing. The commission could possibly vote on the recommendation after that meeting.

Copyright 2012 WBRC. All rights reserved.

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Jefferson County sewer rate increases possible