Soil Biotechnology an Alternative for Sewage Treatment
Thanks to Jayawanth Bhardwaj for idea on Soil Biotechnology for STPs. You can contact him at jayawanth_b@hotmail.com for more information. The article contains data collected from various sources and the use of same is at readers discretion.
Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is mandatory for apartment, villas and gated communities in cities. Sewage treatment plant treats domestic waste water for disposal. Most STPs in communities are Activated Sludge Process (ASP) which is very energy intensive. Moreover, air contains only 20% oxygen, the rest being nitrogen that is passed into water wastefully. Conventional STPs are designed for disposal rather than for reuse. Soil Biotechnology (SBT) based STPs are environment friendly waste processing technology. Since SBT treats water for reuse rather than disposal, SBT is recommended for apartment and gated communities in cities for solving apartment water problem.
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Soil Biotechnology (SBT) based STPs
Soil Biotechnology (SBT) is an environment friendly waste processing technology that offers systems for processing of both solid organic wastes and wastewater treatment using bacteria, earthworms and mineral additives in a garden-like setup. This technology was initially developed at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai over two decades of research. Since it reinforces the carbon and nitrogen cycles in nature, the quality of the treated water exceeds state pollution control board standards reducing Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) nitrates to very low levels unlike any other STP method.
Disadvantage of Conventional STPs
In conventional technologies such as ASP, aeration is achieved mechanically, which is very energy intensive. Moreover, air contains only 20% oxygen, the rest being nitrogen that is passed into water wastefully, further adding to process inefficiency. Many communities do not perform an independent quality test of treated water. Thus STPs in most communities not only consume large amount of resources but also pollute surface water bodies and eventually our only source, ground water, when partially treated water is dumped onto open lawns or into storm water drains. They are overloaded, poorly maintained and are prone to frequent breakdowns. Conventional STPs are designed for disposal rather than for reuse.
Soil Biotechnology (SBT) is recommended
Soil Biotechnology is designed for disposal of domestic waste water and treats them for reuse. SBT is recommended for apartment, Villas and gated communities. Unlike a conventional STP or septic tank with numerous motors, stirrer, blower, reverse flush tank, SBT based STPs have at most two motors. Life of filtering media bed is long and requires minimal maintenance, more reliable and it is energy and cost efficient. SBT can be used for arsenic/iron removal, hospital waste processing, and industrial waste water processing and industrial air purification.
Life of the specially constituted filtering media bed is long (tens of years) since with time the natural living agents multiply or shrink to optimal levels based on the actual chemical and biological load in the system. The treated water can be reused for flushing toilets, gardening, washing yards or cars instead of using drinking water for such purposes. Since SBT, processes waste on land rather than inside water it is inherently superior to all the current STP technologies in installation, operation, effectiveness and longevity. The treated water can also used to recharge ground water using rain water harvesting recharge wells. Soil Biotechnology is must for apartments, villas and gated communities for solving water woes and it is ecologically 100% safe.
