Pondy varsity teachers develop cheap, green tech to treat sewage
Bosco Dominique
Puducherry:
A small fishing hamlet in Villupuram district has shown the way in realizing the Union government's ambitious campaign, `Swach Bharath Abhiyan'. The panchayat has established a clean, green and inexpensive sewage treatment plant with technical expertise from a team in Pondicherry University and has been running the plant successfully for the past one year.
“A year ago sewage used to stagnate in the locality , giving out a foul smell. The stagnant water that used to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes compounded our misery ,“ said Chinnakalapet panchayat president R Nagaraj.The Pondicherry University team's help in setting up the sewage water treatment plant changed everything. “Now the place is clean without stagnation of water and there is no foul smell in the air,“ he said.
The plant treats sewage from 30 to 40 houses in the lo cality. “We plan to replicate the model in other parts of the region. Land to set up the plant is the constraint currently ,“ he said. There are about 100 households in the village. The technology developed by former Pondicherry University professor S A Abbasi and his team, comprising two assistant professors and a research scholar from the centre for pollution control and environmental engineering, uses aquatic, terrestrial and amphibious plants to treat sewage water.
They used aquatic plant, water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) to treat sewage water at Chinnakalapet panchayat near the Pondicherry University , which falls in Villupuram district. The treatment plant with a capacity of 10,000 litres measures nine metre by two metre and treats sewage water from more than 35 houses in the locality . Water hyacinth used in the facility absorbs pathogens and microorganisms and the treated water is used for irrigation.
The team termed the technology Shefrol (Sheet flow root level) and obtained a patent for the invention with financial support from the department of biotechnology .Abbasi said the technology requires less investment when compared to conventional plants. A plant to treat waste water from 30 to 40 households can be set up with an investment of Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,000 using this technology , he said.
“Moreover, the technology is very efficient. The plant is totally green and eco-friendly as it uses no chemicals,“ said Abbasi.
