The University of the Cordilleras (UC) opens its campus Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to visitors and students as a hands-on classroom for water management. On April 23, 2025, a delegation from the University of Baguio visited the STP for a benchmarking tour to learn how UC treats, reuses and conserves water on campus.
The visitors walked through each stage of the treatment process with the plant’s technical team. Inside the treatment room, they saw the reverse osmosis (RO) filtration units that give treated wastewater its final polish before reuse. They learned how the system works day to day and how it is maintained to meet national effluent standards.
What visitors learn at the STP
The STP is the centerpiece of UC’s Water Management Program. It shows visitors a complete cycle of treatment and reuse.
- Treatment: The plant can treat up to 1,200 m³ of wastewater a day from campus toilets, urinals, sinks and lavatories.
- Reverse osmosis: A final RO stage removes residual impurities so the water can be safely reused.
- Reuse: Treated water flushes toilets and irrigates campus landscaping instead of city water. In 2025, recycled water supplied 17,847 m³, about 35% of all water used on campus.
- Rainwater harvesting: Rooftop rainwater is collected, filtered and stored for non-potable uses alongside recycled wastewater.
- Water-efficient fixtures: Waterless urinals and other water-saving fixtures reduce consumption at the source.
Students learn on site too
UC also brings its own students to the plant. UC Grade 11 students have toured the STP to see wastewater treatment up close. Wearing hard hats, they followed each stage of the process and learned how treated water is reused for non-potable purposes.
These tours connect classroom lessons in science and engineering to a working sustainability system on their own campus. Students and visitors alike leave with a clearer understanding of responsible water use, wastewater treatment and environmental protection.
Sharing UC’s water treatment and reuse practices with other institutions and students supports SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) by spreading good water management beyond the campus. Hands-on learning at a working plant supports SDG 4 (Quality Education). Reusing treated water reduces demand on city supply, supporting SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
