A group of professors in the city have evolved an innovative method of making polluted water clean
Chris Khetan
We are all forced to use a public toilet at some time or the other. And the experience invariably is nauseating. Why don’t do they do something to make it fit for human usage? We shrug in disgust. Well if the Green Cross Society – a group of professors who have been working on public sanitation for a decade or so – is to be believed we might have a solution at hand.
The team has invented a unique powder which converts polluted water into clean water and takes out the stench, the very bane of public sanitation. The group has been operating an odorless self-flushing public toilet in the premises of Versova Municipal Sewage Pumping Station, in Andheri West. And have been doing it quite successfully.
Two toilets serve the hundred odd encroachers on the municipality land. There is no visible water connection, but a flush operates continuously in the toilets. The water comes from an overhead tank. Now here’s where the genius kicks in. The very water that is used by people for ablution goes through a two-stage sewage treatment.
One that consists of a shallow, open filter and the other a garden and gravel filter.
About a year ago, biosanitizer granules were added to the system. Biosanitizer granules convert polluted water into clean water. “This magic formula reduces odor immediately, long Canna plants were also able to flourish in the open filter that stored sewage slurry,” says Vag Shantharam Shenai, a member of the team that participated in the experiment, and currently a supervisor of this facility in Versova.
Another section of horizontal planted filter was added for further reefing the water quality and the treated water was collected in a trough and pumped to the overhead water tank that fed the continuous flushing system. Besides taking out the problem of stinky lavatories this natural sewage treatment also ensures no pathogens or pests in the facility. As for expense besides the pump there was no added manpower or maintenance required to run this odorless self-flushing public toilet.
There is no outside water connection to the toilet and there is no sewage flow away from the toilet. In fact, sewage is treated to produce water for flushing. There is also no production of sludge and greenhouse gases such as methane or carbon dioxide. So as a result of all this, you get a lush garden behind the toilet.
The system has been in operation for the past 14 months now and has demonstrated how one can have eco friendly inexpensive sanitation facilities.
Ask if this revolutionary system is for real and Shenai corrects, “Not revolutionary, evolutionary. Government institutions and municipal agencies need to come forward to understand this model and replicate it all over the city for the public.”
As for the matter of that magic formula, the granules are called Bio-Sanitizer. Shantharam illustrated its multi-utility with a quick trip to the Four Bungalows Fish Market.
The sight one witnesses here is quite unlike any other fish market. Shantharam and his team have introduced the magic bio-sanitizer granules into the well from which the fish-mongers draw water. The result is that there are visibly less flies and mosquitoes and remarkably no odour.
He explains, “The problem of sanitation arises due to nitrates, hence nitrate management is crucial. This is achieved through the nitrate-regulating enzymes produced through the biosanitizer action.”
Biosanitizer converts polluted water into safe, hygienic oxygen-rich water. This has been found to be a resource for eco-sanitation. If applied on soil it boosts the plant growth because of its enzymes that regulate the nitrates to the plants’ need.
The resource value of the treated sewage, thus, is about Rs 300/- per liter, not dissimilar to the price at which other similar biotech-products are available in the market. The implications of this magic formula seem limitless but ask Shenai why Green Cross Society limits itself to displaying Bio-Sanitizers utility to just public toilets and he explains with conviction, “I want to restore the confidence of all Indian women by allowing them the dignity of using a clean sanitized toilet.” Amen to that.
The team has invented a unique powder which converts polluted water into clean water and takes out the stench, the very bane of public sanitation. The group has been operating an odorless self-flushing public toilet in the premises of Versova Municipal Sewage Pumping Station, in Andheri West. And have been doing it quite successfully.
Two toilets serve the hundred odd encroachers on the municipality land. There is no visible water connection, but a flush operates continuously in the toilets. The water comes from an overhead tank. Now here’s where the genius kicks in. The very water that is used by people for ablution goes through a two-stage sewage treatment.
One that consists of a shallow, open filter and the other a garden and gravel filter.
About a year ago, biosanitizer granules were added to the system. Biosanitizer granules convert polluted water into clean water. “This magic formula reduces odor immediately, long Canna plants were also able to flourish in the open filter that stored sewage slurry,” says Vag Shantharam Shenai, a member of the team that participated in the experiment, and currently a supervisor of this facility in Versova.
Another section of horizontal planted filter was added for further reefing the water quality and the treated water was collected in a trough and pumped to the overhead water tank that fed the continuous flushing system. Besides taking out the problem of stinky lavatories this natural sewage treatment also ensures no pathogens or pests in the facility. As for expense besides the pump there was no added manpower or maintenance required to run this odorless self-flushing public toilet.
There is no outside water connection to the toilet and there is no sewage flow away from the toilet. In fact, sewage is treated to produce water for flushing. There is also no production of sludge and greenhouse gases such as methane or carbon dioxide. So as a result of all this, you get a lush garden behind the toilet.
The system has been in operation for the past 14 months now and has demonstrated how one can have eco friendly inexpensive sanitation facilities.
Ask if this revolutionary system is for real and Shenai corrects, “Not revolutionary, evolutionary. Government institutions and municipal agencies need to come forward to understand this model and replicate it all over the city for the public.”
As for the matter of that magic formula, the granules are called Bio-Sanitizer. Shantharam illustrated its multi-utility with a quick trip to the Four Bungalows Fish Market.
The sight one witnesses here is quite unlike any other fish market. Shantharam and his team have introduced the magic bio-sanitizer granules into the well from which the fish-mongers draw water. The result is that there are visibly less flies and mosquitoes and remarkably no odour.
He explains, “The problem of sanitation arises due to nitrates, hence nitrate management is crucial. This is achieved through the nitrate-regulating enzymes produced through the biosanitizer action.”
Biosanitizer converts polluted water into safe, hygienic oxygen-rich water. This has been found to be a resource for eco-sanitation. If applied on soil it boosts the plant growth because of its enzymes that regulate the nitrates to the plants’ need.
The resource value of the treated sewage, thus, is about Rs 300/- per liter, not dissimilar to the price at which other similar biotech-products are available in the market. The implications of this magic formula seem limitless but ask Shenai why Green Cross Society limits itself to displaying Bio-Sanitizers utility to just public toilets and he explains with conviction, “I want to restore the confidence of all Indian women by allowing them the dignity of using a clean sanitized toilet.” Amen to that.