Air Quality in Dumaguete

Hi All,

I hope everyone is doing well. I have a question that can sometimes be sensitive to some and cause arguments for others, so I hope the answers will remain factual, and hopefully useful for others as well as me. The air quality in Dumaguete...how bad is it, or does the sea breeze keep the air clean. Are there certain times of the year that air pollution is a problem? What is the air quality like in the Valencia/mountain area? I know the air quality in most downtown areas of some cities in the Philippines are very poor and little is done to correct the problem, so I'm hoping Valencia/Dumaguete is located in an area where pollution is carried away. Any folks living in the area want to tackle this question?

Sincerely,

 

Because there are plenty of trees even near and around the downtown area, air quality in Dumaguete is better than most cities in the Philippines such as Baguio, Cebu, Bacolod or Iloilo. However, the increasing number of vehicles is a great cause of concern. But as long as they keep the trees and decongest the downtown area, I think Dumaguete will be doing fine in terms of its environment.

 

Sorry, but my vote is that the trees in Dgte proper are not enough to offset the pollution that thousands of tricycles, cars and trucks using city streets everyday (except Sunday I guess..) emit.

It has to be a losing battle.

 

How about the burning of rubbish? That's been a nusance that affects air quality. Has that been banned?

 

hi all;
Outdoor air quality usually measured according to air quality index based upon the government standard on what is acceptable for humans without getting sick.For indoor air quality, usually for the fully insulated buildings with mechanical devices for air circulation like air conditioning system- uses air filtering devices installed according to the building code if anything exist.

 

Echir here writes that the airquality in Bacolod would be worse . Probably never been there otherwise ( sorry to say ) he would know that its total nonsense.
Dumaguete is one of the worst in terms of air quality , also because its a city on a relatively small area withe the highest density of motobikes of the philippines ( source : wikipedia) .
See also : Dgte has worse air pollution than L.A.

The solution would be that the local government would cut part of the countless ( 5000) trycicles or exclude some roads of certain traffic but in terms of traffic management its Wild-West

 

totally un-scientific evaluation

The air quality totally depends on where you a standing when you are breathing.
On the hiway, if you are behind one of the ancient vehicles that drive down the hiway sideways due to alignment issues and total lack of maintenance you can literally choke on the particles coming out of the exhaust. Sometimes you eyes get bothered by the large black soot particles.

On the Boulevard with ocean along one side the air quality is decent, about 50 % better than in town central when there is an on shore breeze. .

Downtown there are too many vehicles and the air quality is not something you want to endure for long periods of time.

Valencia has good air quality: Less vehicles and more trees.

The good news is that you are mobile and can move quickly to get around the city or out of it to find fresher air. Most times you can be in a fresh air environment within 5 minutes of time if you chose. If you are in one of the bad areas of air in town move! It is just like stepping out to the rain, if you want to be dry do not stand in the rain... if you do not like the air then move. You can see the motorcycle drivers diverting themselves away from the particle belching trucks and buses as they travel the streets.

One of the reason I chose to live here (Bacong) was because very quickly I can change my environment by going to the hills oceans...open fields etc. to a somewhat quality environment... by Filipino standards.

In the provincial areas, burning of green leaves can be predominant issue (although against the law) of air quality This occurs at about 4 - 7 PM. I think it may be a cheap way to control mosquitoes, but that is only my guess.

These comments are totally un-scientific, and just my opinions on survival here in Dumaguete. if there were equipment here to measure air quality they would lie about the results to make you happy anyway.

I would suggest that if you are looking for clean air do not plan to stay long in any urban/town center/commercial area of the Philippines. Comparing the different city's air quality is like comparing different cause of death because the result is always the same.... death..O-|.. or in air quality issues... bad air.

 

The air where I live in Bacong, 1 klick up from the beach, is normally very good. Yesterday some turd across the street and down a lot was burning a tire and we are directly down wind and my little boy playing outside so my wife had my father-in-law go and put a stop. Nasty stuff and dangerous to breath. Happens occasionally.

 

When I was in Dumaguete, I stayed within 1 kilometer of the Boulevard and the air was decent, except for the sewage smell of the water off the Boulevard sometimes. Bacong and Valencia were even better, but I wasn't living there, was a moving target and was not misfortunate enough to have someone burning a tire upwind.