BBMP to build 16 eco-friendly wastewater treatment plants
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| First water treatment plant in Bombay Muncipal Corporation, Worli, Mumbai. (Picture courtsey:VEC) |
By Ankita Lath
BANGALORE (Jan. 19)—The Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) plans to set up 16 wastewater treatment plants that use a combination of soil and bacteria to clean water.
The move is a first for Bangalore and might soon be adopted by corporate offices and gated communities.
This technology offers an energy efficient method by using biological reactions between soil and bacteria to purify water in a reactor. It is also a low-maintenance solution to wastewater treatment.
At the rate in which this world is going, using up the available resources at an extra-speed rate and dumping the filth generated into our water bodies, finding clean and pure water is going to become very difficult in the next decade or so.
Indian cities generate millions of liters of sewage per day and not even half of it is treated. Reports from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) say approximately 40 billion liters of sewage is generated by Indian cities and towns every day, out of which not even 12 billion liters is treated.
In a world where treated wastewater is helping countries to save demand for potable water, like Singapore’s NEWater, India is not far behind in coming up with wastewater treatment plants.
Dr. Chandrashekhar Shankar of Vision Earthcare (VEC) with his team developed the concept of soil biotechnology after nearly two decades of research.
This plant was first installed in the Mumbai. Bombay Municipal Corporation had a plant installed for a capacity of 3 million liters a day. The plant has also made its way through the city to sewage pumping stations and other places.
Malini Balaji, director of marketing and finance, VEC said they are “targeting at around 250 more (plants) in the next two years,” in municipal corporations around the nation.
From Godrej in Pondicherry to ACCEPT society in Bangalore and also Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), Bangalore, the plant was set up according to the requirement of the places.
The water generated after the treatment can be used for irrigation. It can be used in bathrooms to flush the toilets also.
The BBMP has decided to install 16 such plants around Bangalore in different wards serving different capacities. The tender has been passed and is under technical evaluation, said V.N. Puttamurthy, assistant executive engineer for the Solid Waste Management Department.
This technology consumes very low energy, is an all green natural process and forms no sludge. The treatment cost per 1000 liters is Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 and it has a very garden-like ambience.
If corporate buildings and gated communities as well as apartment complexes and societies make a move toward setting up this plant, the demand for water will drop and this might become a major step towards treating the waste.
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