Himachal’s first eco-friendly STP to be constructed in Manali

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, February 10

The state’s first eco-friendly sewage treatment plant (STP) will be set up in the tourist hotspot of Manali.

The sewerage and drinking water schemes worth Rs 369 crore have been approved to connect the town and seven panchayats in the suburbs of Manali City with the sewer system. This scheme will be built under the sequential batch reactor system.

17 MLD capacity

An STP under the sequential batch reactor system of about 17 MLD capacity will be built in Gojra Bihal. The project being built using the latest technique will be eco-friendly and the possibility of pollution will be less. Arun Sharma, Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Vibhag

With this system, the amount of pollution in the STP will be negligible. So far, STPs have been built in the state with a simple technology. The biochemical oxygen demand of the ordinary treatment plant remains up to 30 ppm. However, the biochemical oxygen demand of this STP shall not exceed 10 ppm.

A tender worth about Rs 100 crore has been opened for laying the sewerage network in the first phase and the process is underway to award the job soon. The drinking water line will be completed in the second phase and the STP work will be carried out in the third phase. According to the authorities of the Jal Shakti Department, the entire project will take around three years for completion.

The new sewerage network will benefit thousands of people in the Old Manali, Chachoga, Prini, Jagatsukh, Nasogi, Gaderni and Vashisht areas. Apart from Manali City, more than 50,000 population of surrounding seven panchayats will be benefitted after the completion of the project. Along with this, hotels built in these areas will also be connected to the sewerage.

Jal Shakti Vibhag Executive Engineer Arun Sharma said an STP under the sequential batch reactor system of about 17 million litres per day (MLD) capacity would be built in Gojra Bihal. He said this project being built with the latest technique would be completely eco-friendly and the possibility of pollution would be very less.

The sequential batch reactor is a type of activated sludge process for the treatment of wastewater. Under this system, five processes take place in the same tank at different times. The nitrate nitrogen is converted into free nitrogen and mixed in the atmosphere. After turning on the oxygen blower, the biochemical

oxygen demand in the tank does not increase by more than 10 per cent. Focal polyform from this plant remains less than three to four ppm, the total nitrogen less than 10 ppm, and the phosphorus, oil and grease less than five ppm. The treated effluent may be suitable for discharge to surface waters or possibly for use on land.