Reusing waste water

Even as the State Government is scrambling to come up with schemes to provide water to a parched Bangalore City and even as it is commissioning several studies, organising seminars, holding meetings and undertaking studies to search for a viable alternative to the Cauvery, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has come up with a revolutionary idea.

The BWSSB has finally realised that augmenting Bangalore’s water supply should begin at home and it has decided, albeit a little late, to resolve Bangalore’s water woes by reusing water.

Reusing or recycling natural resources has never gained popularity in India and there has not been any serious effort either by the Government or the people to reuse natural resources or recycle waste.

Water is one of the natural resources that can be easily reused. The reused water can be used for non-potable purposes like cleaning, gardening and for toilet purposes. Infact, the technology for reusing water is so good that it can even be used for drinking and  this is what the BWSSB proposes to do.

The BWSSB has drawn up a large-scale plan to reuse water. This, it feels, will not only lessen the dependence on the Cauvery but also replenish ground water levels and provide the authorities with the much needed buffer to rejig the water supply network and also provide better services.

This would perhaps be the first time in India that an urban water supply board is using treated water to augment potable water supply. Ambitiously labelled as the Vrishabhavathi Valley project and this many say is the first of its kind in India, will see 300,000m3/d of sewage effluent undergo stringent secondary treatment. The next step is to treat half of this amount with tertiary treatment before releasing it into the Arkavathy river, where it will mix with fresh water.

This combined flow will be pumped into the Tippegondanahalli (T.G. Halli) reservoir, where the water will be further treated before being distributed to the western parts of Bangalore.

The BWSSB plans to construct a 147,000m3/d ultrafiltration plant at the Tavarekere pumping station. This would be state of art project and would cost at least Rs. 474 crores (USD112 million).

Since the project has been approved under the JNNURM scheme, 50 per cent of the cost will be borne by the Governments- Central Government will bear 35 per cent and state government 15 per cent. The other 50 per cent will be borne by the BWSSB and the water board proposes to raise this amount through loans from financial institutions.

Waste water from the domestic sector or households is also known as sewage and it can generally be divided into two distinct forms:

Blackwater – which is grossly contaminated by faeces or urine; and Greywater - which is not grossly contaminated by faeces or urine.

According to water usage surveys, an average wastewater flow of

586 litres is generated per day per house hold and Grey water represents about 68 per cent of the total waste water stream. When kitchen waste water is also excluded, the percentage of grey water

becomes about 61 per cent. This shows that grey water is a recyclable water resource

The BWSSB says that 80 per cent of the City’s water is met from the Cauvery and the rest from the Arkavathy and borewells. The current water supply is in the region of 870,000m3/d, though demand exceeds 1.2 million m3/d. The shortfall is met by the 3.14 lakhs borewells and this has severely strained the ground water table.

The Board has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Singapore Co-operation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation (TF), an investment arm of Singapore government, for recycling and reusing treated water.

The Board wants to avail of technical guidance from Singapore as it has adequate expertise in waste water treatment, recycling and re-use.

BWSSB wants to develop a project across the Vrishabhavathi Valley as it already has five sewage treatment plants along the course of the river. The Board will now have to set up a reuse treatment system.

Even the Interim Report of the Expert Committee to Assess Long Term Additional Needs of Water for Bangalore City had recommended this measure among others to ensure that excessive dependence on fresh water is reduced.

The report points out that 1520 MLD of water goes into the Valley after treatment at BWSSB treatment plants. This water could be used to recharge groundwater, supplement inflow to Arkavathy and also be used for non-potable purposes.

It also suggest dual pipelines to transport potable and non-potable water for drinking and other purposes to houses and establishments and this can substantially reduce the burden on fresh water.

Bangalore has 14 secondary sewage treatment plants (STP) and all of them operate much below capacity due to insufficient inflow. They have a collective capacity of treating 873 MLD of water.

Apart from these plants, the BWSSB is installing smaller STPs near several lakes. But, Bangalore uses less than 7 MLDs of treated water. There is thus scope for larger use of recycled water. This is really ironical considering that Bangalore’s first sewage network was developed as early as 1922 but the treatment of waste water started only in 1974.

A small step to revive a river

Even as the authorities, particularly our own Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) draws up grandiose plans for rejuvenating the Vrishabhavati, other agencies and organisations already seem to have taken the lead in lending a helping hand.

Bangalore University and the Ramanagar civic agency are among the two agencies that have already taken the lead in cleaning up that portion of the Vrishabhavati that flows in their jurisdiction.

The Vrishabhavati originated near the industrial suburb of Peenya, Bangalore, and flows into the University campus, Mysore Road, before heading to Ramanagar or Ramanagaram district (this was till a few years ago part of Bangalore district).

The University is located on 255 acres and the Vrishabhavati that flows through it is highly toxic and unfit for both human beings and animals. However, the University has already finalised plan to tap the Vrishabhavati to meet at least a part of its water needs.

This plan-to tap the Vrishhabhavati-was discussed and approved at a meeting of the University Syndicate. This plan envisages the use of sewage water by fully treating it and then using it for non-potable purposes.

The university feels that it can reduce its dependence on both Cauvery water and ground water (bore wells) if it can use treated water for a variety of uses. 

The University will be signing a memorandum of understating (MoU) with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for utilising the waters of the Vrishabhavati.

The MoU is for obtaining treated water from the 20 MLD (million litres per day) plant across the Vrishabhavati that the board has already installed. Since the board is using only 3 MLD, it is left with a surplus of 17 MLD , which the University hopes to tap, by letting it flow back into the Vrishabhavati.

The water purification unit of  the board is around two and half kilometers from the university campus and the board has to install pipes and dig pits to carry the treated water. The board itself has undertaken to install the pipes. 

It will be the responsibility of the board to pump in 17 MLD into the river and it has to build check dams, dig water harvesting pits and cleaning pits and then let the treated waters into the Vrishabhavati. 

The inflow of fresh water into the river is also expected to recharge the groundwater in and around Bangalore University campus-Jnanabharati. As of now, the quality and quantity of groundwater in Jnanabharati leave much to be desired.

The university campus is one of the biggest botanical reserves in Bangalore along with the UAS and IISc campus. It is home to more than 354 species of plants, shrubs and trees like sandalwood apart from providing shelter to many wildlife, including peacocks, mongoose  wild rabbits, jackals, snakes, scorpions, owls, bats, a variety of  insects and birds.     

The campus also has several water basins, natural channels and barrier walls which become dry in summer. The University plans to use the treated water to revive the organic forest in the campus and also for gardening and other non-potable uses.

Similarly, the Ramanagar district administration has taken steps to clean up the Vrishabhavati that flows in the district.

The Vrishabhavati off Mysore road is so polluted that the water lets out a foul smell and it is this smell that signals that one is approaching Bangalore city.

The Ramanagaram administration decided to take up cleaning of the river after the Karnataka High Court took up the issue of pollution and ordered issue of  notices to all stake holders, including the BWSSB and the State Government among others.

There are several villages in Ramanagar district that are facing the brunt of  pollution of the Vrishabhavati and the polluted water is neither fit for domestic use or even for agriculture.

Villages in the district like Byremangala which has a large lake by the same name where the Vrishabhavati flows, Ramanahalli, Chowkahalli,  Gopahalli Seshagirihalli, Shanamangala, Ittamadu and others are affected due to the polluted river.

Apart from commissioning a private firm from Mysore to submit a detailed report, the Ramanagar administration has also asked the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Health, Agricultural, Horticulture and Animal Husbandary departments to submit a report after which follow up action would be initiated.

The Ramanagar district administration has decided to set up a water treatment plant at Byremangala lake. Villages surrounding the lake such as Vrishabhavatipura, Bannigere, Anchipure, Maregowdamma Doddi, Thimmegowdamma Doddi are also suffering from the evil of pollution.

The plant, once functional, will ensure that the water of the lake, which was once mainly used for agriculture and even for domestic purposes, are clean and fit for both human consumption and also for agriculture.  

Foaming with chemicals and detergents

Very few cities in the world have the distinction of  having a foaming and frothing tank and also a river. Bangalore has this dubious distinction and what is more the foam and froth is a perennial sight.

It may sound unbelievable but the lake is the biggest in Bangalore and till a few year ago, it boasted of a thriving fish market on its shores or bund and it irrigated large lands apart from  meeting the drinking water needs of  thousands of Bangaloreans. Today, all this is a thing of the past and the vast water body is so full of detergents, chemicals and silage that it is always in a state of foaming.

Similarly, the river, once the pride of Bangalore, is a vicious cesspool and almost al of Bangalore’s wastes, industrial effluents, debris, filth have choked it, making it more of a drain.

The river is Vrishabhavati, which originates in Peenya and flows for about 52 kilometres before joining the Arkavathy. The total catchment area of Vrishabhavati is estimated to be about 350 sq.km. A perennial channel of waste water, during summers it almost entirely carries sewage, both industrial and domestic from south west parts of Bangalore apart from industrial effluents from industries located in the vicinity.

The quantity of domestic sewage entering the Vrishabhavati is around 290 MLD and industrial effluents 10 MLD. Thus the total

flow during summers into the river is estimated at about 300 MLD.

No wonder, the river is now almost dead though insensitive politicians and an equally inept bureaucracy coupled with greedy encroachers continue making crores by promising to clean up the river and revive it and floating schemes after schemes, none of which seem to work.

This is the unfortunate scenario of  two of Bangalore’s best known water bodies-the Bellandur lake and Vrishabhavati river. Both today are the best examples of  foolish and mindless urban planning and a perfect tribute to the shortsightedness of man.

As late as the 1970s, the Vrishabhavati gently flowed across several localities of Bangalore and scores of villages, provided drinking water and even gave people a variety of aquatic and marine life. Even the scholarly Madhwa or Dwaitha saint, Vyasa Raja or Vysas Raya who was the preceptor of no less than six Vijayanagar Emperors, was so charmed by the rover that he consecrated one of  his by now legendary 732 Hanuman temples on its bank and this is today the Gali Anjeneya Temple.     

Though the Gali Anjeneya Temple is a landmark of Bangalore and it is visited by thousands of people every day, even it has not been spared the angst of being bathed in Vrishabhavati during the rainy season. Unfortunately, the Vrishabhavati at that point is nothing but a mass of poison, industrial effluent, untreated chemicals, waste and raw sewage. It seems even God cannot help our Vrishabhavati and this really seems ironical as Hanuman is the Monkey God who could move mountains, fly across oceans and during a childish prank alarm the Sun by trying to swallow it. But Bangaloreans have outdone this God by bathing him regularly with sewage. Oh, God, what other instance of Urban crassness carelessness is required, you may well ask, for not even having spared God and his abode.

The Vrishabhavati meandered through several villages such as Bhyremangala, Ittamadu, Chowkahalli, Shanamangala, Ramanahalili, Seshagirihalli, Gopalahalli and many other hamlets, giving free water to the people. Now, it can give only smell, disease and revulsion. 

If the Vrishabhavati at the Gali Anjeneya Temple is perhaps the most despicable act of Bangaloreans, there is more shame to follow. Go down the Mysore Road and at Bidadi take the road to Byremangala lake. This lake was constructed in 1940 at a distance of 30 kilometres from Bangalore to hold excess water from the Vrishabhavati. This water fed households and catered to agricultural needs of  a dozen villages.

Walk down the bund of the lake and when you approach the sluice gates you will be stunned to see a frothing mass being discharged. This is the water that is being used to grow vegetables and which we now eat. Take a look at how the once beautiful water now sprays detergent and chemicals.

If this is not enough,  take a look at the water almost opposite the course of the Vrishabhavati. This is the once clean Bellandur lake which catered to the needs of not only Bellandur but as many as sixteen villages just two decades ago. Today, the Bellandur lake foams so often that the sight is now more disgusting and disturbing than bizarre.

Once an integral part of Bellandur drainage system that drains the southern and the southeastern parts of the city, the water body today is almost dead and gone. The lake is a receptor from three chains of lakes upstream and it spread over a huge area. It has a catchment area of about 148 square kilometres (37,000 acres) falls over 41 wards of BBMP.

When Bellandur overflowed, water flowed east to the Varthur lake which is seven kms away, from where it flows down the plateau and eventually into the Pinakani river basin.

Just a decade ago, residents of Bellandur and visitors to the lake saw plenty of King Cobras and other wildlife like king fishers, parrots, parakeets, wood pigeons, kites, cobras, rat snakes and  monitor lizards apart from hares, frogs, several species of  fishes, ants, earthworms, all of which have now disappeared.

The only species of fish you can spot in the oily smelly water of the lakes is Tileapia and Catfish.

By the way, if you want to see the magnificent King Cobra in the wild, the best bet is Agumbe which is several hundred kilometers away. See just what urbanization has done to Bangalore. Not only has it driven away water but t has also compelled the original King to migrate to safer places. Is it worth paying such a price?.

What is shocking is that more than 412 million litres of untreated sewage per day is being let into this lake and there seems to be no end in sight to this degradation.

Spread over 950 acres, this lake was the lifeline of  scores of villages and till the 1908s supplied potable water to residents of Bellandur,  Yamlur, Belur, Gunjur, Kudlu, Haralur, Aambalapura,  Balagere, Nagasandra, Hanathuru, Devara Bisanahalli, Kadu Bisanahalli, Kempapura, Ramagondinahalli, Siddapura, Munne Kolalu, Kariyammana Agrahara and  Bhoganahalli.

Now, it receives sewage from Ulsoor Lake, Chellaghatta Valley, Hulimavu, Doddbegur drain, Madivala Lake, Tavarrrakere, Bellandur and surrounding areas which then enter Varthur lake and further to Kudlu, Kasavanhalli, Karalur, Parapnagar and Swalakeara lakes.

With a length of  three kms and 2.75 kms in width, Bellandur is  one of the largest man-made lakes in South East Asia. Alas, what a fall to this water body. 

Strangely, the decline of both the water bodies almost coincided and it all began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was when a prolonged drought in and around Bangalore dried up lakes and tanks beds and an insensitive Government gave away these lands and civic agencies such as KHB and BDA formed layouts and sites. 

The natural valleys of Bangalore

Ask any water expert of geologist and he is more likely to say that Bangalore has four major natural valleys located within the water shed of two principal river basins, the Arkavathy to the west and South Pennar to the East.

The Bangalore plateau is made up of  the four valleys which take off from north and fall gradually towards the south. Of the four valleys, the three main are Vrishabhavathi, Koramangala and Chellaghatta and all of them run in a north to the south direction and divide Bangalore into three distinct and separate drainage zones.

The fourth valley is Hebbal and this runs from north of the ridge and continues in the north easterly direction. These are the four valleys but what is not all that well-known is that there are five other valleys and they too play a vital role in the natural drainage system of Bangalore.

The other lesser known five valleys, which  are minor in nature, are Marathalli to the East, Arkavathy and Kethamaranahalli to the North West and Kathriguppa and Tavarekere to the south.

All these five minor valleys lie outside the tributary area of the  major valleys-Hebbal, Chellaghatta, Koramangala and Vrishabhavati and and they drain independently.

The nine valleys together form a unique and natural drainage system and both excess rain water and sewage flow down the city.

However, almost all the natural channels-feeder, storm water, drains- have either been encroached upon or blocked in places and this had led to the reverse flow of water into the city and not outwards, leading to flooding of roads, footpaths and localities.

What has compounded the inability of the natural valleys to drain off the water is the almost century old underground drainage system of  the City. It was way back in 1922 that Bangalore got underground drainage and this commenced from the pete areas of Bangalore.

The underground drainage system received a massive support when the then Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) in 1950 began an extensive and comprehensive programme. Till 1964, it was the BCC that took care of water supply and sewerage. That year, the State Government decided to set up a separate agency to handle water supply, sanitation and sewerage and formed the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

Since then, the BWSSB has been in charge of water and sewerage for Bangalore City.

The BWSSB has set up three main sewage treatment plants- Vrishabavati, Koramangala-Chellaghatta and Hebbal- to deal with recycling of water. Two additional mini-plants have been built near Madiwala and Kempambudi

As far as water goes, the BWSSB supplies approximately 900 million litres (238 million gallons) of water to Bangalore every day. The is as against a demand of 1.3 billion litres.

Coming back to the drainage system, the lakes and tanks in the four main valleys of  Hebbal, Koramangala, Chellaghatta and Vrishabhavati were a vital clog of nature’s  drain. Apart from draining excess water, they also helped in supplying water and keeping the city cool.

These lakes formed the cascading chain system right from Nandi Hills and continued all the way down to Kanakapura, Ramanagar-Chennapatna, Hoskote, Anekal. The interconnectivity of the water bodies within the valleys is really unique in a city which has no major source of water nearby.

The slope of the valleys allowed rain water to drain from the municipal limits of Bangalore within five hours. The percolation into the ground was minimal. All this changed in the 1980s when prolonged drought led to the drying of tanks and lakes and the State Government itself  encouraged the formation of layouts on tanks and lake beds. In all, 43 tanks made way for residential areas and layouts such as HRBR Layout, HSR Layout, Sarakki, Katriguppe.

The valleys too were blocked at several places and the free flow of water ended abruptly, leading to water backing up in Bangalore, leading to urban flooding and massive rain damage to life and property. The sewerage lines here are interconnected by

several tanks.