stp

Residents of South City apartments in Bengaluru were in for a rude shock this February when Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) served them a notice demanding penalties up to Rs 54 lakh. Similar notices were also sent to Purva Highlands apartment complex. The Vigilance Police Commissioner (BESCOM) from the Hosakote branch said that two months ago, a huge gated community on Doddaballapur Road, with over 3000 flats had everything from a spa,  a beauty parlour, an ATM to Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), fire hydrants and club house facilities on their apartment premises. Hence, it was charged under LT-5 tariff referred to…

Last October, we spoke about several instances of individual and community initiatives towards solving water problems of the city. Sewage water treatment and rainwater harvesting are tools households and communities can use for decreasing their water dependency. These are small initiatives in comparison with the water issues Bangalore faces, but aggregating initiatives at the city scale holds potential; such is the discourse, right or wrongly, held by some activists, public servants, businesses etc. Stretching the idea slightly we have: the water problem of Bangalore can be solved through collective action. Stretching it even further: the BWSSB can do its own…

The fully functional water treatment system. Pic: Akshatha M Arjun Ravi Kumar, a builder, once visited T-Zed, an apartment-cum-villa community that treats and reuses all its waste water. There he met Srinivasan Sekar, who as part of the Management Committee there, worked on the water system design. He recalls, "Sekhar offered me a glass of tap water saying that it is generated from sewage, initially I was a bit reluctant to drink it but when I did, (I realised) it was as good as any bottled water. " Arjun lives in an apartment that his firm built - Surbacon Maple,…

At a public awareness programme organized by the BWSSB in November 2016, an irate apartment RWA Member asked the BWSSB official present, "What is the point in setting up an STP when we're already connected to the sewerage network? Treated sewage is going to mix with our neighbouring locality's raw sewage in your drains which you will treat in a large STP. What is the point of all of this?” Over the years, Bengaluru city has not only grown horizontally—to areas outside the sewerage network—but also vertically: previously sewered areas are seeing a manifold jump in sewage generated per acre…

Bengaluru's bruhath problem with sewage is notoriously well known, with pictures of foaming lakes and fish kills attracting global media attention. But what is less well known is the fact that this city has the highest number of apartment-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the country. With over 2000 small-scale STPs housed in apartment complexes alone, along with an equally substantial number in commercial complexes, Bengaluru could well be called the 'city of STPs'. The primary driver of this ‘revolution’ of small-scale STPs in the city is the 2004 KSPCB order mandating all new residential complexes with more than 50…

Instance 1: Summer of 2012. T-Zed Homes, a gated community spread over five acres in Whitefield was facing acute water shortage, resulting in water rationing within the complex. With ever-growing water needs, even the water supplied by 10 tankers everyday proved to be insufficient for the residents of this housing complex. In the last four years, however, things have changed dramatically for the residents of T-Zed Homes. The successful implementation of sewage water treatment and rainwater harvesting have helped them reduce the dependency on water tankers. 100% working implementation of the sewage treatment plants in the apartment space has led…

We are delighted to tell you that finally our Puttenahalli lake, (near MLR Convention Hall, J.P. Nagar) is showing, almost, its true glory! The alligator weed which had covered most of the entire expanse of the water has been removed thanks to funding received from Deloitte Shared Services India Private Limited.  27-Mar-2016 Before deweeding 18-Apr-2016 Their CSR support enabled us to hire Yellappa and his team of fishermen who began work from 3rd April and completed it on the 20th. They were an excellent group of workers who did not let anything deter them. Not the heat nor the water snakes…

If you are like most people, you are only vaguely aware of Kundalahalli Lake. Maybe, it is to you that largish pond between AECS layout and EPIP. A water body whose shimmer perhaps caught your eye while you once glimpsed out of your tenth-storey office window. If you are a motorbike-rider, it is a well-known — and sadly, illegal — shortcut to your workplace. No wonder that this lake, an urban environmental gem, is largely unvisited except for transit purposes. For it is hidden, surrounded by that most Bangalore of combinations, that is, gleaming tech-parks and wretched slums. Almost everybody is guilty of dumping…

Date: 17th May 2015Venue: In front of the South City Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)Time: 9:45 a.m. onwards Some 40 people - South City assn (SUGRUHA) Management Committee, members and staff, PNLIT trustees, BBMP and KSPCB officials, residents from the neighbourhood were waiting eagerly. It was a very special day not just for them but indeed also for the city of Bangalore.   The much awaited day   A milestone was set that morning when at 10:30 a.m., Dr Vaman Acharya, Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) released excess treated water from the STP at South City to…

PNLIT is delighted to announce that a long cherished dream of seeing our neighbourhood Puttenahalli Lake brim with water will soon be a reality! The Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Dr. Vaman Acharya will be formally inaugurating the pipeline to supply surplus treated water from the Sewage Treatment Plant of South City apartments (Arekere Mico Layout) to the Puttenahalli Lake tomorrow, Sunday 17th May at 10:00 a.m.  After the pipeline was laid, a trial to check for any leakages was done earlier this month, and it seems that all is fine. We are truly grateful to the South City Management Committee…