Assessment and Evaluation of IWRM Implementation in Palawan, Philippines

According to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6), the world needs to sustainably manage water resources through integrated water resource management (IWRM). The Philippines is committed to this goal by ensuring the implementation of IWRM at all levels. Concurrently, there is growing evidence that there is presently no consolidated data on the status of implementation at the sub-national level. With water shortages on the increase, it's more important than ever to find solutions to settle disputes and trade-offs so that water can be distributed effectively, sustainably, and equally. This paper aims to investigate the degree of implementation of IWRM that presents the actual state of affairs in terms of water management at the sub-national level. This study is focused on Palawan Province, with the following sites: Puerto Princesa City, El Nido, Roxas, and Taytay. A structured survey questionnaire was drawn up in accordance with the existing questionnaire developed for this purpose. The obtained data were computed using the steps developed for calculating the indicators of IWRM implementation degree. Puerto Princesa City, El Nido, Roxas, and Taytay have the following IWRM ratings: 39.93, 32.03, 37.99, and 36.32%, respectively, which means "medium-low" in which the IWRM components have largely been institutionalized, and deployment is well underway. In these regions, a subnational water management scheme exists, but its maximum capacity is mostly unrealized due to numerous constraints. The findings show that the numerous water laws are confusing and that water data for planning purposes is lacking. Even though there are many water agencies, they are not interconnected. This study is useful for successful IWRM implementation, which should encourage sustainable water resource management for environmental sustainability. Integrated methods for water resource management help to organize sustainable growth by assessing how water is handled in agriculture, urban applications, and the surrounding ecosystems. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-02-08 Full Text: PD

Drying Kinetics of Mango Seeds in a Greenhouse-type Solar Dryer

A greenhouse-type solar dryer is employed in drying mango seeds, which are insignificant by-products in a mango processing facility. Wireless sensor networks (TelosB nodes) were used in monitoring process conditions such as temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and illuminance (lux) inside the solar dryer. Moisture contents during the drying period were measured at different sample tray levels (tray 1, tray 3, and tray 5) and the drying kinetics were established. Drying curves of the sample for sunny, cloudy, and rainy conditions were compared. The drying rates and effective diffusivity were calculated and estimated for the different sample tray levels and for the three weather conditions during the nine-month experimental period. Results showed that the tray level has a significant effect on the drying rates and effective diffusivity of the samples wherein the drying rate is faster for higher tray levels. The same phenomenon is observed for the three weather conditions, and the fastest drying rates were observed during sunny periods. Curve fitting was done using the obtained drying kinetic data. Applying the 14 empirical thin-layer drying models, the drying of mango seeds in the greenhouse-type solar dryer can be best described by the approximation of the diffusion model. The drying kinetics for mango seeds established in this study is a first for a fully functioning industrial-scale greenhouse-type solar dryer. This study is found to be useful in the design and scale-up of a solar dryer wherein agricultural by-products can be dried more efficiently using solar energy, thereby reducing energy costs

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)–Based Water Quality Monitoring for the Characterization of Fishing Grounds Near the Mining Areas of Tubay, Agusan Del Norte, Philippines

Water quality has an impact on the fishing and aquaculture industry of a community. Tubay Bay is one of the main sources of coastal products of nearby cities like Butuan and Cabadbaran and also serves as the navigation routes of hauling ships of mining companies. Of the Water Quality Index (WQI), the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) water quality data shows that the pH levels exceeded the limit. This paper presents the initial outputs in the development of a low-cost wireless sensor network (WSN) system using open-source hardware platforms to monitor the pH of the water bodies at Tubay, Agusan del Norte, Philippines. The proposed system is devised to be highly scalable in terms of the type of sensors, the number of sensor nodes, and the technology applied for each node. This is well suited for a wider coverage of monitoring the WQIs of Tubay Bay. Results of this study showed a good transmission performance of real-time water quality data in any areas where GSM signal is present. The established platform and database of this study could provide valuable information that could support or contradict claims by the local government units (LGUs) on the effects of mining activities to the agro-fishing activities in the area and provide insights on which water quality parameters or water condition that are highly correlated to pH must be closely monitored. This demonstrates the use of WSN in establishing a low cost but effective monitoring tool that can be replicated in other areas that need extensive monitoring

Extreme Event-based Rainfall-runoff Simulation Utilizing GIS Techniques in Irawan Watershed, Palawan, Philippines

River flow assessments and ecologically sustainable water management plans are now possible due to the advancement of sophisticated computer models. The US Army Corps of Engineers developed the HEC-HMS model, which can be used for various hydrological simulations. Rainfall-runoff modeling aids in estimating peak flows, which is critical for water resource management planning. On December 18, 2017, a heavy rainfall event in the ungauged Irawan basin in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines, was simulated to determine the peak flow and amount of water. The current research aims to construct a rainfall-runoff simulation model. A specific hyetograph is used to make the hydrographs for the basin. This study utilizes ArcGIS and QGIS, which perform the geospatial analysis and provide the HEC-HMS model's hydrologic modeling inputs. The hydrological parameters were determined using soil type, land use, and land cover maps. Incorporating SCS loss, Clark unit hydrograph, and Muskingum flow routing, HEC-HMS was employed in the rainfall-runoff simulation. Rainfall data corresponding to the recorded streamflow was used to calibrate and validate the parameters. Several performance metrics, including Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and Percentage Bias (PBIAS), were utilized to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the system. An effective decision-making and warning system can be implemented using the developed model. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-01-017 Full Text: PD

Optimizing the Extraction of Phenolic Compounds with High Antioxidant Activity from Mango Seed Kernel Wastes Using Response Surface Methodology

Mango seed kernels (MSK), which are waste streams in the mango processing industry, are good sources of phenolic compounds with high antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties. These phenolic compounds are reported to have an increasing demand over the years in the quest for healthy ready-to-eat food and nutraceuticals. To recover these compounds from MSK, solid-liquid extraction (SLE) can simply be applied, although there is a knowledge gap in the systematic exploration of this process for mango-based phenolic compounds. In this work, phenolic compounds were extracted from MSK through SLE using ethanol-water solvent system. A statistical-based approach was used to evaluate and optimize the extraction conditions in relation to the yield of phenolic compounds from MSK. The central composite design together with response surface methodology was adopted to assess the effect of extraction temperature (30oC, 45oC, and 60oC) and ethanol concentration (25%, 50%, and 75%) under fixed extraction time (105 min) and solid-to-solvent ratio (1:10) on the extraction yield. Both temperature and ethanol concentration provided positive effects on the yield and the optimum conditions of temperature and ethanol concentration were obtained at 63.21oC and 53.21% ethanol, respectively. A second-order polynomial equation was obtained describing the extraction process, and a validation test of this response model showed that it sufficiently described the process. Furthermore, the extracts obtained at optimal conditions possess a potential antioxidant activity at IC50 = 45 ± 0.002 µg GAE mL-1 extract. The results indicated that phenolic compounds in MSK can be recovered through extraction using aqueous ethanol.  This study also promotes value-addition of a seemingly useless waste material while reducing its health and environmental impact

The Power of Electricity: How Effective Is It in Promoting Sustainable Development in Rural Off-Grid Islands in the Philippines?

Electrification plays a crucial role in the advancement of rural communities but establishing its impact to the communities’ sustainable development remains a challenge. This paper presents a pragmatic framework for assessing how electrification affects sustainable development at the grassroots level with eight indicators in the economic, technical, social, and environmental dimensions highlighted. An exploratory factor analysis approach is applied to determine how these dimensions contribute to the community’s overall sustainable development. The framework is applied in two islands in the Philippines of less than 500 households and varying electrification levels. Results indicate that Gilutongan Island, which has less than 24-h electricity access rarely find productive uses of electricity and still make use of conventional fuels for lighting. Meanwhile, Cobrador Island, which has 24-h access see improvements in almost all aspects, although they are slightly burdened by the unaffordability of tariffs. This means that islands with limited hours for electricity access rarely experience positive impacts to their socioeconomic development while the opposite is true for islands with longer access. The framework can be a useful tool for decision- and policy-makers to assess electrification in rural off-grid communities and to streamline efforts in helping these communities achieve sustainable development

Performance Evaluation of a Micro Off-Grid Solar Energy Generator for Islandic Agricultural Farm Operations Using HOMER

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a 1.5 kW micro off-grid solar power generator in a 2-hectare area of a 23-hectare agricultural farm located in Camotes Island, Cebu, Philippines (10°39.4′ N, 124°20.9′ E). The area requires at least 3000 liters of water every day to irrigate its plantation of passion fruit and dragon fruit; however, there is no water source within the immediate vicinity that can support such requirement. A 1/2 horsepower water pump was installed to provide the required irrigation. A 1.5 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system consisting of 6 units of 250-watts solar PV panel with corresponding 6 units of 200 ampere-hour deep cycle batteries managed by a 3-kW industrial grade inverter provided the power for the water pump and supplied for the electricity demand of the farm. The actual energy usage of the farm was measured from the built-in monitoring of the charge controller and the installed system was analyzed to determine its efficiency in meeting the actual load demand. The HOMER optimization tool was used to determine the optimal configuration for the micro off-grid system based on the actual load demand. Simulation results showed that the optimum configuration that could supply the actual load is a 2.63 kW all-PV system with 8 kWh batteries. Sensitivity analysis was done to consider (1) possible increase in electrical load when the current plantation expands either in progression or outright to its full-scale size of 23 hectares and (2) variations in fuel cost. This study can be considered a good model in assessing renewable energy needs of farms in the country, which can be operationalized for agricultural purposes

Solar Energy Production and CO2 avoidance of a 5.0 kW Solar Power Generator Integrated in a Mango Processing Facility

An agri-based manufacturing facility that processes mango by-products into high-value commodities can reduce its electrical energy costs by installing an on-grid photovoltaic (pv) system. Three solar panel configurations were designed and a boost configuration consisting of 20 pv polycrystalline panels each with 250-W output and a maximum power point inverter with a 4000- W rating was installed. An online pv planner (Sunny Design Web) was used to calculate for the yield and the total investment. Results were compared with the actual data collected. On its first year of operation, it has generated a total of 7.3 MW of power, equivalent to a savings of PhP 73,000 for that year. On the other hand, the CO2 mitigated by this system is measured at a total of 5.09 t CO2 per year. The chosen configuration produced over 2% than what was theoretically calculated, considering that the boost configuration was computed using a continuous grid supply and neglecting all line losses. Furthermore, the solar energy harvested was greatest during sunny days compared to energy harvested during cloudy and rainy days. The daily energy harvested follows a bell-shape profile wherein energy peaks are usually observed during the middle of the day. The solar panel system works very well in the agri-processing facility as it generates energy to compensate for its needs and requires minimal maintenance. It reduces energy costs; hence, it is highly recommended for any processing factories that have high energy requirements