Reinventing Wastewater

Friday, 22 January 2010

By: "paschim paaila"



Kathmandu: Through community effort, the traditional Newar community of Shrikhandapur village has proved that liquid waste can generate income and save environment, if managed wisely. Kavrepalanchowk has been facing the inevitable side effect of urbanisation – river pollution. The local Punyamata River, flowing from Banepa to Panauti through Shrikhandapur, which is considered a holy river, has been the victim of this.


The direct discharge of wastewater into this river at different places has been polluting it. And wards number 8 and 9 of Shrikhandapur village are also major contributors to this pollution of Punyamata. "All the wastes from our septic tank used to be discharged directly into the Punyamata River," shared Ananda Kumari Shahi, one of the residents of the village.

Safe Wastewater

However, the scenario has changed in recent times with the installation of wastewater treatment plant, which has proven to be successful in controlling the river pollution. The Reed Bed Treatment System (RBTS) was set up in the village as a community-based wastewater treatment plant and its treatment process started around two years ago. "After the construction of this plant the sewage from the village no longer gets directly mixed with Punyamata River," said Purna Bahadur Karmacharya, Chairperson of Shrikhandapur Wastewater Treatment Plant Users' Committee. The liquid that passes in the reed bed is purified by the roots of the reed. During this process, a huge amount of bacteria in the wastewater is treated thus making it pollutant-free. The treated water is then discharged into the river.

Source of Biogas

Before the wastewater reaches RBTS, it passes through two big reactors—each of 75 cubic metres—which produce biogas from solid particles. Sewer lines from around 200 households of Shrikhandapur have been connected to the biogas reactors that separate solid particles like human excreta from wastewater. While the liquid goes to the RBTS, solid particles are collected in the reactor to generate biogas.


At present, the biogas produced is being supplied to five households of the village. "We get 24-hour gas supply and it is very beneficial as we don't need to buy expensive LPG anymore," said Sujita Shrestha, one of the biogas users. They are paying Rs. 350 every month for the use of biogas. Seeing these households reap the benefit of biogas, other villagers are also demanding for the biogas connection. "We also want to get the biogas supply as it is really very cheap as compared to LPG," claimed Shahi. However, Karmacharya informed that as it is just a trial period, they are not expanding the distribution network. "We will be able to plan the expansion only after we estimate the amount of gas being produced," informed Karmacharya. They are planning to use the digested sludge in the biogas reactor to make compost manure in the future after the reactors get full. "All the income will be utilized for the maintenance and management of this treatment system," added Karmacharya.

For the community, by the community

The Dhulikhel municipality has provided Shrikhandapur Wastewater Treatment Plant Users' Committee four ropanis of land for the treatment plant and biogas system. The financial aid, of about Rs 5.5 million, has been provided by the UN HABITAT for the construction of the system through Dhulikhel municipality. The technical assistance has been provided by the Environment and Public health Organization (ENPHO) while the locals are working free of cost. "We were able to do all the work by ourselves after getting support from various sectors," added Karmacharya. "Being of a large scale, this project is the first of its kind to be conducted and managed by a community in Nepal," claimed Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, Chief Technical Advisor at UN HABITAT.


At present Dhulikhel municipality is monitoring all the activities of the users' committee. Engineer Pitamber Narayan Shrestha at Dhulikhel municipality said, "The ownership of the treatment system will soon be handed over to the community." But the locals are not satisfied as the handover process is being delayed. "The municipality is not active enough towards the handing over of this project," said Karmacharya. Talking on the topic Dr Shrestha opined, "The involvement of community and municipality in the management of the treatment system needs to be identified and separated as soon as possible so that work on other aspects can be conducted smoothly."






(Source: The Himalayan Times, January 22, 2010)