Sewage treatment plants - STPs

Bengaluru now has over 2,450 decentralised Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), including those installed in apartments and large commercial buildings. These STPs cumulatively treat approximately 615 Million Litres of wastewater per day, which is 8% of the total sewage generated in the city. Most of these decentralised STPs are poorly maintained, resulting in poor quality of treated wastewater. There is limited reuse and the excess water is often illegally discharged into open drains, resulting in polluted lakes and water bodies. Reusing treated wastewater for gardening, toilet flushing and washing common areas in apartment complexes can reduce both water scarcity and water…

On November 20, 2020, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued a notification to increase the annual CFO (Consent For Operation) charges steeply.  This notification is applicable to all Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), including the ones operated by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the private ones operated by the apartments, hospitals, malls, office complexes, IT parks, and others.  There are major issues with increasing the annual CFO charges. Here are some of the issues listed: 1. KSPCB levies CFO charges only from 40 per cent of the public who treat their sewage in their own STP…

On March 1, 2021, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued a new guideline for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) design and location. It will have a major impact on all STPs, including those of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), municipalities, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), residential apartments, commercial complexes, IT parks, educational institutions, railway stations, airports, etc. Although the document is a guideline, some aspects are mandatory. We will be analysing these new guidelines in a three-part series. This first part analyses real-time probes, which requires installation of sensors for all STPs. Here are eight compelling reasons…

In Bengaluru, apartments have to set up their own Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to manage the sewage they generate. But the design and operations of most apartment STPs are flawed. Often, residents suffer due to the poor quality of treated water which they have to reuse; and excess sludge from the STP is dumped elsewhere, endangering public health. We, at Brigade Altamont apartment in K Narayanapura, recently fine-tuned our STP system so as to make it fully legally-compliant, and with little investment. K Narayanapura has no underground sewer network, and our apartment is located near a rajakaluve that traverses Arkavathy…

The Honourable National Green Tribunal (NGT) of India, constituted under the NGT Act of 2010, bases all its directions and judgements on three basic tenets: Sustainable development Precautionary principle Polluter pays These tenets are considered the bedrock of jurisprudence in cases relating to the environment. I have absolutely no quarrel with any of these guiding principles. I have a question, however, on how the Hon. NGT defines and decides who the real polluter is, in case of dysfunctional sewage treatment plants (STPs) in apartments. Based on NGT's directions, the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been issuing notices to apartments for running…

Recently the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) slapped heavy fines on multiple apartments in the city. The reason: "STP is not running properly", "treated sewage does not meet some quality parameters". Some apartments have rightly questioned KSPCB's sampling method, the inordinate delay in sending test reports, and the fact that the apartments' own monthly tests (conducted at NABL-accredited labs) had never shown any problem with the treated water quality. While these objections are valid, the ugly truth is that many STPs may really be unable to treat sewage fully. In a previous article, I explored why this happens, and how some reforms…

Today, a large number of apartment complexes, malls and tech parks in Bengaluru have their own STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). If an STP is working properly, its treated water would look just like tap water - clear, without any odour. In addition, it must meet the specifications set by the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). If the treated water looks dark brown, or stinks, the STP owner knows that the STP has some trouble. But even if the treated water looks clear and odour-free, it may still not meet specifications; and the owner may not be even aware that his STP…

Crores have been spent on cleaning up lakes in the city, but these lakes still receive sewage. This is because of the peculiarity of Bengaluru's lake system - lakes here cascade into one another, and the land gradient supports this. So, once a lake is cleaned up, it will remain so only if the lakes and rajakaluves upstream of it are also clean. The infamous Bellandur lake is being rejuvenated now. But this exercise would be pointless unless the upstream Doddanekkundi and Kaggasadapura lakes too are cleaned, because it's from these two lakes that sewage enters Bellandur lake. So, even…