Upon going to Cebu Common Treatment Facility Incorporated (CCTFI)

photo from cctfi.com

The thought of going to Inayawan dumpsite  made me so interested for some reasons. I know I would be seeing a huge mountain of garbages and smelling it but I wanted to know how is the condition of this dumpsite now. Well, as we were heading our way to the water treatment office, my scrutinizing eyes witnessed how all our trashes were being dumped. Yes, I was appalled on the huge mount of garbages while ignoring the ‘heavenly like’ smell and the pestering ‘big as a bee’ flies trying to get near us but I never realized that despite of having the dumpsite in the place, will also be a water treatment facility and it is the Cebu Common Treatment Facility Incorporated.

This facility treats hazardous wastes generated by the electroplating industry, and other industries that produces the same kind of waste. It offers environmental services to treat their client’s wastes. They do the following: wastewater treatment in their modern facility, handling and transport of the hazardous wastes, designing solutions for special wastewater and collecting sludge for treatment. Upon arriving to the said facility, we were then introduced by the lecturer to explain all about the water treatment process and how they do the treating by using their modern equipment. The wastewater treatment involves in these various processes: waste transport, analysis, storage, treatment, disposal, sludge treatment and its disposal.

Courtesy by cctfi.com

For me, it is not an easy job because the lecturer told us that various chemicals were being used and its calibration is very important for the water treatment process to be successful. Also, we were introduced to their machines and tanks that gave us an idea how they control the chemicals to be used and where the water passes throughout the treatment. The facility is treating rinse water from plating lines or pickling baths, inorganic heavy metal-containing acidic or alkaline solutions, and galvanizing wastewater from their clients.

We were also able to get inside their laboratory where we were shown how they do the water sampling. Depending on the composition of the wastewater, the chemist will propose appropriate procedures for its treatment. In regards to that, the chemist showed to us how much of an element is present in the water by putting a little nickel on the water sample and placed it inside the photometer. After a few seconds, the photometer detected about 10% nickel present in the water. That made us all amazed about how easy the procedure was.  

Lastly, the lecturer discussed the sludge in which it is residual, semi-solid material left from the wastewater treatment process. They accept sludge from companies with their own wastewater treatment plants and a pre-treatment of the accepted sludge is done by skilled operators before being sent to accredited facilities for disposal options. The process of sludge treatment includes drying of sludge using their solar sludge dryer, grinding it if necessary, mixing it with chemicals and cure it for final disposal. That was my first time seeing the sludge placed inside a barrel. It was sticky and we were prohibited to touch it because of its smell too.

Well, I learned a lot from this visit. My questions have been answered. Although the treated water is not potable drinking water, it still assures us that the returned water in the areas of Mactan is free from toxic substances. I just hope that facilities like CCTFI, should monitor their equipments from time to time so as to further improve its performance in providing a clean treated water. I saluted all the staffs there in doing their job with dedication in providing clean water in the community.