DAO 2016-08 and DAO 2021-19 Effluent Standards Explained for Business Owners

Two facilities on the same street can be held to different effluent numbers, and both can be right. The limits that apply to you are not a single national table: they follow the classification of the water body you discharge into, the parameters that are significant for your kind of wastewater, and the conditions written into your own permit.

This article explains what DAO 2016-08 set up, what DAO 2021-19 changed, and how to work out which numbers your facility actually has to meet.

What DAO 2016-08 established

DENR Administrative Order No. 2016-08, the Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standards of 2016, was issued under the Philippine Clean Water Act (RA 9275). It does two separate things that are easy to confuse:

• Water Quality Guidelines (WQG) describe the quality the receiving water body should have. They are the target for the river, creek or bay, not a number you are measured against at your outfall.
• General Effluent Standards (GES) are the maximum values allowed in your discharge, at the point source. This is what a laboratory result is compared with.

DAO 2016-08 also set up the framework that makes the numbers facility-specific: water bodies are classified (AA, A, B, C and D for fresh water; SA, SB, SC and SD for marine and brackish water), each classification has its own effluent column, and for the most protected classes the entry is NDA — No Discharge Allowed. On top of that, only the parameters that are significant for your type of wastewater are monitored, and your permit lists them.

What DAO 2021-19 changed

DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-19, Updated Water Quality Guidelines (WQG) and General Effluent Standards (GES) for Selected Parameters, was signed by the DENR Secretary on 30 June 2021. It does not replace DAO 2016-08. It updates six parameters, and DAO 2016-08 continues to govern everything else.

The six parameters are ammonia as NH₃-N, boron, copper, fecal coliform, phosphate as phosphorus, and sulfate. Below are the general effluent standards from Section 4, Tables 1 to 6 of the order. NDA means no discharge is allowed to that class.

Ammonia as NH₃-N (mg/L)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	2	3	4	9	NDA	3	4	9

These are more permissive than the 2016 values, which were 0.5 mg/L for most discharging classes and 7.5 mg/L for D and SD.

Boron (mg/L)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	4	4	4	12	NDA	4	25	100

Raised for A, B, C, SB, SC and SD; Class D stayed at 12 mg/L.

Copper, now as total copper (mg/L)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	1	1	1	2	NDA	1	1	2

Read this one carefully. The order states that the previous parameter, copper as dissolved copper, is updated to total copper. The analytical basis changed, so the new figures are not a simple relaxation of the old ones — they measure a different thing. Make sure your laboratory reports total copper when your permit calls for it.

Fecal coliform (MPN/100 mL)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	100	200	400	800	NDA	200	400	800

Only the Class A effluent standard changed here, from 4 to 100 MPN/100 mL. Every other class carries the same number as before. The ambient guideline values did change, but that is the target for the water body, not your discharge limit.

Phosphate as phosphorus, total reactive (mg/L)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	1	1.5	4	10	NDA	2	4	10

The parameter is also renamed. DAO 2016-08 lists it as "phosphate"; DAO 2021-19 lists it as "phosphate as phosphorus (total, reactive)". Confirm with your laboratory which basis a result is reported on before comparing it with a limit.

Sulfate (mg/L)

Class	AA	A	B	C	D	SA	SB	SC	SD
Effluent standard	NDA	500	500	550	1,000	NDA	—	—	—

The freshwater numbers are unchanged. For the marine and brackish classes the order gives no value, with the note that there are "no recommended values due to the natural occurrence in marine/brackish waters".

Beyond the six parameters

The same order also sets the conditions for using the strong-wastewater standard for BOD (available only for discharges to Class C, D, SC and SD water bodies, and only on proof that influent data over the last twelve months sit within the prescribed influent values), sets out what a request to modify Significant Effluent Quality Parameters must contain and a twenty-working-day period for EMB to act on it, and amends Section 7.0 of DAO 2016-08 so that discharges are measured against the effluent standards table.

Two things the order does not say, and which you should not assume: it fixes no calendar date of effectivity on its face (effectivity runs from newspaper publication plus registration with the ONAR at the UP Law Center), and it contains no transitory provision, grace period or clause about permits issued before it. If your permit predates it, ask EMB how the update applies to your next renewal rather than assuming you are grandfathered.

Why your numbers may differ from your neighbour's

Four things decide the limits on your permit:

1. The classification of the receiving water body. A creek in Koronadal City and a discharge line to Sarangani Bay do not share a column. EMB Region XII publishes the classification of the water bodies it monitors; the classification, not the distance, is what matters.
2. Your significant parameters. DAO 2016-08 lists the parameters that are significant for each type of wastewater. A car wash, a hospital and a fish cannery are monitored for different things.
3. Your permit conditions. The Discharge Permit itself names the parameters, the sampling points and the monitoring frequency. Where a condition is stricter than the general standard, the condition governs.
4. Whether a special standard applies to you. The strong-wastewater BOD standard, and any approved modification of your significant parameters, both depend on data you submit and on EMB's action on your request.

How to work out your applicable parameters

1. Identify the receiving water body and its classification — the creek, river or bay your outfall reaches, and how EMB classifies it.
2. Read your own Discharge Permit. The parameter list, the limits, the sampling points and the frequency are in it. This is the document your monitoring is judged against.
3. Match your wastewater type to the significant parameters in DAO 2016-08.
4. Check the six updated parameters above against the version your laboratory is reporting, especially copper (total, not dissolved) and phosphate (as phosphorus).
5. Sample properly. Use a DENR-recognized environmental laboratory, sample at the point your permit names, on a day that represents normal operation, and keep the chain of custody.
6. Compare, then act. A result over the limit is a compliance issue to correct and document, not a number to file quietly — see Self-Monitoring Reports and Compliance Monitoring Reports.
7. When something does not fit, ask EMB in writing. Requests to modify significant parameters and to use the strong-wastewater standard both go through a documented process.

The role of the laboratory and of EMB Region XII

Only a DENR-recognized environmental laboratory can produce results EMB will act on, and the parameter list you give the laboratory has to match your permit. The methods matter too: total copper and dissolved copper are different analyses, and a report on the wrong basis cannot be compared with the standard.

For facilities in SOCCSKSARGEN, the office that assesses, inspects and acts on all of this is the DENR Environmental Management Bureau, Regional Office XII, at the Regional Government Center, Barangay Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506 (telephone (083) 228-1071, email embxii@emb.gov.ph). Contact details change, so check the office's own contact page at r12.emb.gov.ph before writing.

How EnviSoul helps

EnviSoul reads the permit, the classification and the process together, so the parameter list you sample for is the one you are actually judged against. We prepare the Engineer's Report and the Discharge Permit application, coordinate sampling with a DENR-recognized laboratory, and organise the monitoring records that support renewals. If a result fails, we help work out whether the cause is the sample, the process or the treatment facility before it becomes a notice of violation.

See our services or send a short description of your discharge: consultant@envisoul.com, +63 950 191 8850, or the form at envisoul.com.

FAQ

Did DAO 2021-19 replace DAO 2016-08?

No. It updates the guidelines and effluent standards for six parameters. DAO 2016-08 remains the governing order for every other parameter, for the classification framework, and for the significant-parameter lists.

Did the standards get stricter?

For these six, mostly not. The ammonia, boron and phosphate effluent limits were raised for several classes, and sulfate limits were withdrawn for the marine and brackish classes. Copper is the exception that is not comparable at all, because the basis changed from dissolved to total copper.

My laboratory reports dissolved copper. Is that still acceptable?

Ask before you sample. The updated parameter is total copper, so a dissolved-copper result may not answer the requirement in your permit. Confirm the parameter and the method with the laboratory and with EMB Region XII.

Which class applies to my discharge?

The one EMB assigns to the water body your effluent reaches. If you do not know it, ask EMB Region XII in writing rather than guessing from a map; the classification decides your entire limit column.

What happens if a sample exceeds a limit?

Investigate and document, then correct. Repeat sampling only after the cause is addressed, keep the records, and report through your Self-Monitoring Report. Discharging in violation of the standards carries daily fines under RA 9275, and repeated failures invite a notice of violation.

Sources

• DENR Administrative Order No. 2016-08, Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standards of 2016 — Department of Environment and Natural Resources
• DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-19, Updated Water Quality Guidelines (WQG) and General Effluent Standards (GES) for Selected Parameters, signed 30 June 2021 (Section 4, Tables 1–6) — Department of Environment and Natural Resources
• Republic Act No. 9275, Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 — Congress of the Philippines (https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2004/ra_9275_2004.html)
• DENR Administrative Order No. 2014-02, Revised Guidelines for Pollution Control Officer Accreditation — Department of Environment and Natural Resources
• List of Water Bodies Monitored by EMB Region XII (CY 2022) — DENR-EMB Region XII

Disclaimer

This article is general information for business owners in the Philippines, not legal advice. The tables above reproduce the general effluent standards in DAO 2021-19 for six parameters; the limits that bind your facility are those in your own Discharge Permit, read together with the classification of your receiving water body and the significant parameters for your type of wastewater. Requirements change and are applied case by case; confirm the current rules with EMB Region XII or the applicable issuance before relying on them. EnviSoul prepares and coordinates applications; approval decisions are made by DENR-EMB.