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Water Treatment

BWSSB discovers the power of sewage

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Deccan Chronicle             27.12.2013

BWSSB discovers the power of sewage

Bangalore: The BWSSB is working on a project to generate electricity from sewage. In a pilot project, at Rs 220 crore, power will be generated using sewage in Kora­mangala-Challaghatta valley and will be used to run the sewage treatment plant at the same station.

In a first of its kind project, the BW­SSB is planning to use sewage being collected in K&C Valley. “We expect the project to start generating 1 kilo watt power by mid 2015. The power will be used to a sewage treatment plant of 60 MLD capacity,” a BWSSB official said.

The project is being done with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, whi­ch is already funding some of BWSSB’s projects. The BWSSB is also working with a Singapore firm on building capacity in treating waste water for household use in the future.  

Ideally, the sewage generated by a city should be comparable to the water supplied to it. In Bangalore, the sewage reaching the water bodies is less than 18 per cent. When asked whether and how the power generation unit will have enough sewage to operate, the official said: “Firstly, to generate 1.05 KW power that we aim to generate in the pilot project does not require too much sewage. Also, with Agara, Sarakki and other lakes which drain into K&C Valley, an adequate quantity of sewage should not be a problem.”

 

NMC to increase STP capacity by March 2014

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The Times of India            13.12.2013

NMC to increase STP capacity by March 2014

NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), which is releasing untreated sewage into Godavari river, is expected to revamp its sewage disposal system by March 2014.

The city gets around 390 million litres per day (MLD) drinking water, of which sewage of around 240 MLD is generated. The NMC is treating 200 MLD sewage, while the remaining 40 MLD is released in Godavari River. The civic body is to increase the treatment capacity 310 MLD by March 2014.

Municipal commissioner Sanjay Khandare said, "We have started planning for the drinking water and sewage treatment of the city, considering the population growth by the year 2022 and 2036. Presently, the NMC has six sewage treatment plants (STPs) across the city with joint capacity of 200 MLD. Presently, we are unable to treat sewage of 40 MLD. But we have started working on increasing the sewage treatment capacity."

He added, "We are in the process of adding a new sewage treatment capacity of 110 MLD by March 2014, that will increase the total sewage treatment capacity from present 200 MLD to 310 MLD. The sewage treatment capacity of 70 MLD is to be added by December end, while rest is to be added by March 2014. Apart from this, we are also planning to build new STP at Pimpalgaon Khamb, near city with a sewage treatment capacity of 32 MLD. We are taking efforts to get the land for this proposed STP. The work of the STP will begin once we acquire the land."

The pollution in Godavari river has become a matter of concern for the NMC in the runup to the Kumbh. Nashik is one of the four major cities in the country where Kumbh mela is held after every 12 years. The forthcoming Kumbh mela is scheduled in 2015.

Accordingly, the NGO Godavari Gatarikarn Virodhi Manch and Nashik Godavari Purohit Sangh have sought the NMC as well as the district administration to make the rive pollution free. The Godavari Gatarikaran Virodhi Mach has already moved the high court against the NMC for releasing sewage in Godavari and thereby causing river pollution. The court too has directed the NMC to take measures to make the river pollution free as per the suggestions of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

Khandare further added, "We have made some boats operational in Godavari to clean the river by collecting nirmalya and other solid waste. We have already made the river free of hyacinth. Moreover, we have also appointed to NGOs to collect 'nirmalya' at Ramkund. We have also put there large steel-made utensil for the collection of nirmalya there."

 

Desilting plans for Rankala take shape

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The Times of India            12.12.2013

Desilting plans for Rankala take shape

KOLHAPUR: The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) is preparing a plan for the internal treatment of the Rankala lake to remove the huge amount of accumulated sludge, estimated to fill as many as 70,000 to 1,00,000 dumpers, officials said.

The lake, which is a part of the National Lake Conservation Plan ( NLCP) initiated by the Union environment and forests ministry a decade ago, is yet to fully utilize its sanctioned amount of Rs 8.65 crore. Since the 16 works, including the major task of arresting sewage water discharge, are in the final stage, the KMC is mulling the next step to desilt the lake.

The KMC has drafted a couple of plans, including chemical treatment to neutralize the sludge as well as flushing it out by creating gates at the bottom of the lake. The civic body's experiments to remove the sludge manually had failed in the past. "We are yet to finalize the plan and have appointed a consultant for this phase of work. The structure of Rankala is like a dam; which overflows when its reaches the maximum storage capacity. Obviously, the sludge remains in the lake for years and it may keep on polluting the water," said R K Patil, environmental engineer of KMC.

KMC had laid a pipeline for Sarnaik Vasahat, Deshmukh hall, Shyam Society and Partala nullah, which were directly polluting Rankala for years. The work of pipeline of 2.8 km is almost complete, only a small section of 150 metres remains.

Patil said that they are looking at various options to remove the sludge to clean the lake. "We have Rs 1.88 crore kept aside for interior treatment of the lake. The sludge has to be removed else all efforts of arresting sewage water would go waste. It will take months to remove the sludge and require funds of Rs 30-35 crore," he said.

Environmentalists and experts have cautioned the KMC before taking further steps, saying the earlier steps to desilt the lake had failed. Eutrophication is a natural phenomenon and no manual efforts to remove sludge are possible in Rankala lake case, they said.

Eutrophication is a process by which a water body acquires high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates, through fertilizer run-off and sewage discharge. These typically promote excessive growth of algae.

"We have to work on alternatives. The previous efforts had failed since the volume of sludge was huge. If KMC is preparing such plans again, it has to work on the use of sludge first. I don't think a natural gate to desilt the lake exists," said Jeevan Bodake, architect and nature lover.

Jay Samant, a member of Wetland international, Asia, warned that the KMC should first concentrate on fully arresting the discharge of pollutants and then go for removing the sludge. "We have to understand the lake with wetland perspective. It is not a water-tank which can be flushed out clean," he insisted.

 


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