Almost all of the monitoring and analytical equipment used for ambient and source air and water quality monitoring is imported into the Philippines. U.S. firms are in an excellent position to take advantage of opportunities in this sector because Filipinos generally believe U.S. equipment is of high quality and reliability. Opportunities for sales of organic vapor meters and other soil contamination measuring equipment will have to await passage of stricter regulations concerning liability for site contamination and remediation.
According to estimates generated by the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC), the total market for monitoring and analytical equipment in the Philippines exceeds $100 million, with water and wastewater monitoring equipment accounting for about 70 percent of the market, and air monitoring equipment for the remaining 30 percent. The monitoring equipment market grows at a rate of 15 percent per year as the national government and local governments strive to improve the monitoring and control of deteriorating water and air quality in the country. Current water and air pollution monitoring efforts by government and industries are concentrated in Metro Manila, especially in areas around the Pasig River, Manila Bay, and Laguna de Bay.
Products and services that conform with the Philippine Government guidelines for water and air quality monitoring, analysis, and control offer the best market opportunities. The general guidelines are contained in the document Philippine Standard Methods for Air and Water Analysis, available from the Department of Environment and Natural ResourcesĘ (DENRĘs) Environmental Management Board.
DENR-prescribed water quality monitoring consists of two parts: ambient water quality monitoring and effluent monitoring. Two regulations, DAO 34 Series of 1990, Revised Water Usage and Classification and DAO 35 Revised Effluent Regulations of 1990, specify standardized analytical procedures for the measurement of monitored water and wastewater parameters.
The USDOC estimates that the best sales prospects in water and wastewater monitoring include buckets, sump pump calibrators, weirs, Parshall flumes, open pipes, open channels, and automatic water samplers.
Air quality monitoring consists of sampling (ambient sampling and source sampling), analysis, data interpretation, and reporting. Air sampling involves either manually operated instruments or continuous automatic analyzers with recorders. DAO 14 Series of 1993, otherwise known as the Air Quality Standards and Rules and Regulations Relating to Air Pollution Control, prescribes the procedures for air monitoring and sample analysis.
To date, monitoring efforts have focused on ambient air quality and emissions from stationary sources in Metro Manila. The best equipment sales prospects in this market segment include, among others, automatic air samplers, gas/vapor samplers, impingement collectors, particulate analyzers, inert containers, suction blowers, flow metering devices, and gas analyzers and recorders.
Vehicular emission monitoring constitutes a promising market as well. The market is still relatively small (about $2 million), but is growing at a rate of 36 percent a year, according to USDOC estimates. Local government units, (LGUs) which are responsible for implementing and enforcing vehicle emission regulations, are expected to be the primary purchasers of mobile source monitoring equipment. Several LGUs in the Metro Manila area are planning to purchase vehicle emission monitoring equipment in the near future. The Makati City Pollution Control Office, for example, has plans to buy smoke analyzers, while the Muntinlupa City Traffic Enforcement Division plans to buy smoke meter machines. The national government, through the Land Transportation Office, is also a potential end-user in the vehicular emission monitoring market segment.
