Water recycling is as important as water conservation. For recycling drainage water and making it useful for daily use, the second phase of the Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) program was jointly launched by Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The project, initiated in July 2017, aims at demonstrating a novel waste water management approach that will produce clean water which can be reused for various purposes. The pilot scale modular plant upon commissioning will treat 10,000 liters of sewage water per day.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said “Dutch and Indian companies are contributing to the project by sharing their existing technologies and the project will showcase how one can treat urban waste water into clean water for various purposes. We are also in the process of emulating this in projects across the country”.
" This pilot scale facility will employ multiple technologies so that the data generated becomes a tool-box of treatment technologies for replication in Delhi and elsewhere where similar drains exist. The rationale is that the mixing and matching of technologies from this tool-box will depend on the quantity (flow rate) and quality (pollutant load) of drain water, land availability, site accessibility as well as topography. "
This pilot scale facility will employ multiple technologies so that the data generated becomes a tool-box of treatment technologies for replication in Delhi and elsewhere where similar drains exist. The rationale is that the mixing and matching of technologies from this tool-box will depend on the quantity (flow rate) and quality (pollutant load) of drain water, land availability, site accessibility as well as topography.
Wetlab, a design challenge jointly supported by DBT-BIRAC and Netherlands Enterprise Agency is also being demonstrated. The intent of Wetlab is focused on making best ideas becoming an input for the realisation of the Water Experience Center that may further lead to turning the project site into an attractive center for education and technology demonstration for students, young professionals and creating opportunities for startups.
In the first phase after selection process on both sides, the project had been finalized for setting up a demonstration plant for cleaning the Barapullah drain. Barapullah is a 12.5 km long drain responsible for about 30% of pollution in the Yamuna river, collecting mainly domestic sewage and waste from small industry. The call supports high quality research and development programmes aiming at ‘new’ wastewater management to ensure good quality fresh water free of risk-causing contaminants and promote productive, safe reuse of water, thereby enhancing human and environmental health conditions.
The LOTUS-HR project is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology and Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
India Science Wire
