A Horror Story with a Happy Ending
Imagine having to "hold it in" and being in mortal fear of using and flushing your toilet for the rest of your lives !
This is what the residents of an upscale apartment complex in Bengaluru were dealing with on a daily basis thanks to their defunct 550 KLD MBBR (Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor) STP inherited from a vendor.
MBBR Technology developed by Prof. Hallvard Odegaard of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in the late '80s is a great innovation in wastewater treatment for large STPs ; it is a totally inappropriate technology for mini and small STPs. In these smaller STPs due to lack of space, and due to additional complexity of having to handle primary sewage solids ( Smelly, sticky, slimy difficult to handle Human feces) the crucial primary sedimentation phase needed for proper functioning of an MBBR is eliminated resulting in failure of the treatment processes downstream. Additionally, incompetent STP vendors use cheap cooling tower grade plastic media which do not meet the strict performance requirements for wastewater treatment unlike the more expensive variety from M/s Anox Kaldnes (Norway), which have the right shape, right size, right density, right roughness coefficient, right usable area etc., specifically tailored for use in MBBR.
Coming back to this residential complex. The (un)treated STP water was being used for toilet flush. Reuse of STP treated water for toilet flush yields significant fresh water savings, provided the STP water is treated to the right “Urban Reuse quality” as specified by the US EPA and first implemented in India by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board as far back as in the year 2005. However in this case there was a terrible odour and ominous black particles in the STP "treated" water due to the inappropriate choice of MBBR technology for this application.
A single flush would result in an unbearable stench permeating the entire flat!
These hapless residents contacted Ecotech and literally cried for help to sort out their STP woes, and rescue them from their pathetic situation.
Ecotech performed a thorough audit of their STP and converted the MBBR to the most appropriate-for-small-STPs EAAS technology (Extended Aeration Activated Sludge), and also introduced a denitrification stage to meet the latest norms set out by the Hon. National Green Tribunal (NGT) limiting total nitrogen in treated water to less than 10 mg/L. We also took over the annual maintenance of this STP to ensure continued high quality performance day after day after day. Significant fresh water savings, compliance with all Pollution Control Board Standards, and most importantly, Peace of mind !
The moral of the story: If your mini/small residential or commercial STP (<5000 KLD) is defunct please check that it is not an MBBR or SBR (Sequencing Batch Reactor), as these techs are not appropriate nor do they deliver quality water in smaller STPs - where they really shine is at the larger municipal scale (>5000 KLD).
EAAS is the best technology for small STPs ; EAAS loses out to the other technologies on the larger scale. Scale matters !! Surely it is easy enough to understand the logic that one STP Technology does not fit all sizes.
This story at least has a happy ending. Unfortunately this is not the case in the over 85% of the 3200+ STPs in Bengaluru itself (leave alone the rest of India), which are defunct and terrorizing honest residents as they go about (or hesitate to go about) their daily business.
If you are one of those hapless souls, drop a mail to [email protected] OR [email protected] or Contact us at 9845062033 and we will gladly script a Happy Ending to your Horror Story.
We want to hear you say : God’s in his Heaven and All’s right with the world – Thanks to Ecotech
Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal……………………………..April 11, 2021
Environmental Consultant
3 年Mr. Sandeepan, there is nothing wrong in clients asking for MBBR or SBR systems. All the systems work properly provided they are designed as per requirements. MBBR provides a simple and easy to operate system, with minimum foot print area. And area IS expensive specially in cities like Bangaluru or even Chennai. Leave alone Mumbai. Most crucial parts of MBBR are media, air grid and media retaining mesh. As Mr. Kodavasal says, there is no primary treatment even for Extended aeration system (or is it ?). Hence organic load on both bio systems is the same. The tertiary treatment also plays very important role in both the systems (MBBR and EAAS). What you have said about SBR is correct. Some party promoted SBR in a very wrong way and the result ? SBR got the bad name !! It is one thing to promote what you believe or like, on its technical merits. But totally another thing to badmouth other technologies. Technologies are never bad. Applications can be wrong. And badmouthing worsens the case. Hope you get what i have to say.
Water and Wastewater consultant
3 年As a consultant I quite often receives the advice from the clients themselves - please provide MBBR of SBR - we dont want any other technology. I have even seen a DPR recommending SBR for treating diluted combined sewage in a large drain with BOD < 50 mg/l . Check with recent international funded project in the desert state , SBR has been used indiscriminately in the range upto 3 MLD. If you argue - you are a bad consultant
Prof-Maritime Studies, Vels U & Head- Environment, Vigyan Vijay- NGO.
3 年Results speak for themselves.. Kudos Sir, to be Saviours.. w wshs ..
Represents KEMIRA, JACOBI, DRYDEN AQUA, KingLee Technologies, KAROFI for Kenya and East Africa
3 年Happy Ending ??