Articles
Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC): Prospects and Challenges
March 13, 2023
Indo-Pacific Vistas for India-Japan Relationship & Cooperation
March 16, 2023New Guidelines bets on APJ Abdul Kalam’s Bio-Digester Technologies for decentralised solutions to manage sewage wastewater in Tamil Nadu
The changing public policies related to waste management has been widespread across states in India including Tamil Nadu. The government authorities were always urged to recognise the increasing pollution issues and diseases caused by it to find effective technological solutions. Sewage pollution poses multi-pronged challenges with the spread of diseases and it is a menace that continues to proliferate in rural and urban centres which are called growth centres attracting billions of new investments.
Of late, Tamil Nadu has received some attention in this regard. The state has more than 50% of its population living in urban areas which is the highest in the country. Recently, the state government notified the new “Septage Management Regulation & Operative Guidelines” on January 1, 2023, advocating many interesting new technologies for effectively managing the sewage wastewater challenges in the state. Further, the state government also framed the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies and Chennai Metropolitan Area Septage Management (Regulation) Rules, 2022 which was notified to take effect from January 1, 2023.
The new Septage Management Regulations and Operative Guidelines emphasis the removal of septage from unsewered areas in existing buildings, regulation of sewage tanker lorries operating in the local bodies with fixing GPS to track them, monitoring to prevent illegal discharge of sewage and to protect the water bodies from pollution.
Although, the new Guidelines do not increase the penalties for violation and illegal transportation of sewage by taker lorries. However, it is imperative that the Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, and also the Director of Town Panchayat covering all local bodies have to implement the above guidelines strictly to save the water bodies which are facing severe threats of sewage pollution and thereby outbreak of diseases.
Sewage management has two broad challenges: (1) what happens after toilet-use? (2) Where does all the toilet wastewater go? Toilets are either connected to the underground sewer (off-site sanitation system) or pit latrines or septic tanks (on-site sanitation system) from which the sewage wastewater is transported through tanker lorries to the common sewage treatment plants. Eventually, all sewage ends up polluting the groundwater, waterbodies, river, agricultural land, etc.
According to the new Guidelines, every building owner must construct a septic tank or have such on-site sanitation septic tank system. The new Guidelines identify the DRDO Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology as one of the best technologies to process toilet wastewater organically and in a decentralised system within the septic tank itself and produce clean water which can be used for irrigation like gardening or groundwater recharge and prevent pollution.
The new Guideline’s Technical Options for Toilets Under SBM (Urban) identifies the Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology for toilet wastewater treatment with organic bacteria called Inoculum through the scientific method of Anaerobic digestor – developed by DRDO. This Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology of DRDO was developed by a team of scientists under the guidance of APJ Abdul Kalam when he was the Chairman of DRDO during the period from 1992-1997.APJ Abdul Kalam advocated the NIP-IT-AT-THE-BUD concept for all sewage pollution with a one-stop solution where the sewage is generated.
The DRDO Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology was opened to the public in 2013 through the Transfer of Technology after decades of successful implementation by the Indian Army in the remote hilly areas as well as in sub-zero temperatures of the Himalayan region. Tamil Nadu was the first state to get the license of the DRDO Technology with private sector support (MAK India Limited, a long-time technology associate of DRDO and known as indigenous technology developer since 1973) and has been supplying bio-digester septic tanks in a readymade system for different models and different sectors across South India.
The Government of Tamil Nadu for the first time recognises in its official policy, new Guidelines, and regulatory system that DRDO’s Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology is widely used to provide 80% treatment of wastewater from Individual Household Latrine (IHHL), household clusters or institutional buildings where there is no sewerage network, the effluent should be passed through a reed bed or soak pit before discharge, and for soak pits to function soil conditions must be suitable for infiltration of effluent from septic tanks.
As per the new Guidelines, “a simple type of treatment system by combining a septic tank and a soak pit, or a biodigester toilet (aerobic and anaerobic)” methods can be constructed in new buildings for onsite toilet wastewater management for sustainable solutions. Further, the new Guidelines mention that:
- DRDO Bio-Digester septic tank is an anaerobic multi-compartment tank with inoculum (anaerobic bacteria) that digests organic material biologically without the use of any chemicals.
- This system converts fecal waste into usable water and gases in an eco-friendly manner and is used for irrigation purposes.
- The tank has two components, namely, anaerobic microbial inoculum (seed bacteria) and a specially designed fermentation tank. The tank can be made out of stainless steel, mild steel, FRP, or concrete. Semi-treated water from the bio-digester tank is needed to be further disposed into a soak pit or a reed bed arrangement for its treatment to acceptable levels of discharge.
As per the Guidelines, the key advantages of a DRDO Bio-digester septic tank are – 1) There is no sludge formation, there is no need for de-sludging and treatment. It is therefore more economical in the long-term as it conserves water and has minimum O&M; 2) Night soil degradation occurs through microbial reaction which converts it into biogas and odourless water; 3) DRDO Technology is environmentally friendly, maintenance-free, efficient and does not depend on conventional energy sources; 4) Permits use of toilet cleansing agents; 5) Suitable for mobile and stationary platforms; 6) Lifelong usage of bio-digester tank does not need recharging, re-shifting, or maintenance; 7) More cost effective than conventional toilets; 8) Easy to transport and install; 9) One-third to one-fourth capacity of a septic tank as compared to the conventional septic tank; and 10) Space requirement is less.
The DRDO Bio Digester septic tank is most suitable for all water-deficient areas and drought-prone blocks and districts in the state.
During the last two years, the current state government in Tamil Nadu has brought out many novel policies and regulations, and schemes in the areas of cities and towns towards clean and green for ease of living for all. Alas, many of these new programmes and schemes were not implemented effectively to reach the intended masses across the state.
For instance, the state government’s initiatives like “implementation of the special campaign, People’s Movement for Clean Cities” and “Meendum Manjappai Campaign”, etc. are not implemented in letter and spirit for the promotion of clean and green cities and towns. The local bodies’ administrations and elected local representatives are ruddled with an internal clash over vested interests. The actual missing links in the current governance have been better highlighted in an order passed by the Southern Region NGT that “all policies that influence one another would be designed in such a way that produce synergy, or at a minimum, reduce conflict but whether such a perfect result could be achieved is the biggest challenge. However, at least we can think of coordination and implementation”.
If all new building approvals are given at the local bodies level with a condition to implement DRDO technology there will not be any sewage pollution in Tamil Nadu in near future. Therefore, it is only hoped that the state government through its local bodies administration implement the New “Septage Management Regulation & Operative Guidelines” both in letter and spirit as this policy change has greatly identified DRDO Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology as a desirable.
Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.
Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan is Research Fellow (Urban Eco-system and Skill Development) with CPPR. His areas of research interest are economics of education, vocational education and skills development, economic reforms, liberal vision for India, water management, regional development, and city development. Chandrasekaran has an MA in Economics (University of Madras) and an MPhil in Social Sciences (Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya University, Indore).
