ILOILO CITY, Jan. 27 – Ilonggo Senator Franklin Drilon has warned of a possible fish kill if pollution at the Iloilo River is not averted.
The Ilonggo senator on Friday urged the public to refrain from throwing their wastes at the Iloilo River even as the city government and other concerned sectors are doing their best to clean the said body of water.
“We are on the borderline,” he said as cited siltation and pollution as factors causing the deterioration of the river’s water quality.
Nonetheless, Drilon, who has been pushing for the revival of the Iloilo River, was happy to note that some fisherfolks can already be seen along the river with their fishing rods.
Engr. Samson Guillergan of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in his report during Friday’s Iloilo River Development Council (IRDC) meeting revealed a not so favorable result of their monitoring done at the river.
His report revealed that the value of dissolved oxygen present at the river is way below the desirable standard of five milligrams/liter (5mg/L) or more.
Guillergan noted that while the value in 2010 of 4.54mg/L showed an improvement as against the 3.9 mg/L in 2009 yet it declined in 2011 at only 3.1mg/L.
The low dissolved oxygen could be attributed to the failure in the replenishment of water by the tidal action as a result of the slow movement of water to almost being stagnant.
Guillergan also echoed the fear of Drilon of possible fish kill if this situation continues as he underscored that there are fish species that are sensitive and could not stand the lack of dissolved oxygen.
On the other hand, the coliform count is way above the desirable standard of 5,000 most probable number per 100 milliliters (MPN/ml).
The EMB data showed a consistently increasing coliform count last year with 332,621 MPN/100 ml for the fourth quarter; 169,400 MPN/100 ml during the third quarter; 353, 486 MPN/100 ml in the second quarter and 221,667 MPN/100 ml during the first quarter.
He added that the river is not even fit for swimming because the desirable count for contact is 1,000 MPN/100 ml.
Fishes taken out from the river must also be well-cooked to prevent contamination. (PNA)
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