Rainwater Harvesting in Republic Cement’s Batangas Plant

Since 2015, Republic Cement, a leading local cement manufacturing and distribution company in the Philippines with a nationwide footprint, has eliminated its groundwater demand through rainwater harvesting for 100% of its domestic and industrial water consumption requirements. The company’s collection of ponds and reservoirs that are part of the final mine rehabilitations plan which serve as new water sources during summer months resulted in the DENR-MGB Mine Rehabilitation and Fund Committee, and the local government of Taysan’s recognition of the Batangas Plant’s water conservation effort.

With this in mind, the Republic Cement’ Batangas Plant continues to do rainwater harvesting. Together with its subsidiaries, the company is focused on being the trusted solutions partner for building a greener, stronger republic. It is backed by the global expertise of CRH, a leading building materials company headquartered in Ireland, and Aboitiz, a diversified Filipino business conglomerate recognized as one of the best-managed companies in Asia. The Batangas Plant has eliminated its groundwater demand leaving the scarce groundwater resources for its neighboring communities and farmers.

Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rainwater in natural resources or artificially designed resources to prevent runoff and avoid scarcity of water, especially during the dry months. The Batangas Plant has three major collection ponds that collect rainwater, namely, RepubLake, the Pozzolan Pond, and the East Shale Pond, which is the largest among the three. The severe drought caused by the El Niño of 2014, which almost shut down the cement plant, was the driving force for this initiative, while at the same time creating cost savings due to reduced water bills from the local water utilities.

Additionally, instead of just being backfilled at the end of quarry life, the reservoirs can now be part of the final mine rehabilitation plan and stakeholders may benefit from these new water sources during summer months. This is a prime example of how Republic Cement operates to assure its customers of consistent supply of good quality products, while taking good care of the environment in the process. Besides this, the company echoes Habitat Humanity’s mission of building homes for the homeless, and has previously donated ten housing units to the Navotas Relocation Site in Barangay Tanza, Navotas City.