Miguel P.

Ocampo BSME 4A Methods of Research for Mechanical Engineering

Environmental Problems

1. Unsafe Public Water System

Nowadays, water refilling stations are in demand. You can almost see one in every
corner of the street. But why?

Although the city water district offers an abundant supply of water, still many
chooses to buy potable water. It is because a large number of people have doubts in the
safety of the current public water system. Based on the article about an issue about
Legazpi City’s water supply posted in The Manila Times , it was stated that “instead of
super clean, purified mineral water coming out of their faucets as promised by
Philhydro, residents are getting a yellow-brown fluid that the regional health office and
city council say is not fit for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing laundry.

2. Fumes exhausted by vehicles

Today, jeepneys are one of the most used modes of transportation here in the
city. With the great number of passengers, jeepney drivers drive to and fro the city all
day. With the non-stop roaming of the vehicles, fumes exhausted can also be noticed.
Theses emissions are byproducts from the engine combustion process and from the
evaporation of fuel. Despite the ever-growing number of vehicles on the road, studies
show that ten to thirty percent of vehicles cause the majority of vehicle-related air
pollution. Vehicle exhaust fumes contain certain poisonous chemicals, including carbon
monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, benzene and soot, all of which
can be detrimental to the human body if consistently inhaled in large quantities

3. Cutting of trees to make infrastructures resulting in floods

Urbanization and deforestation are responsible for the loss of vegetation and
soils. The vegetation holds down the soil, and contributes to its protection from
heavy rains. The soils are very important because they act as a sponge, and absorb
most of the water when it rains. When we cut trees and build roads, we make it
easier for the rain to erode the soils. And when the soil disappear, rainwater simply
rushes to the lowest point in the topography, where it accumulates and causes
flooding.

Between 1990 and 2005 the Philippines lost a third of its forst cover, according
to FAO estimates. Widespread logging was responsible for much historical forest loss
in the Philippines. Despite government bans on timber harvesting following severe
flooding in the late 1980s and early 1990s, illegal logging continues today. In recent
years, deforestation has been increasingly blamed for soil erosion, river siltation,
flooding and drought.