HMWSSB to set up FSTPs for scientific disposal of faecal sludge

Two FSTPs to come up at Nagaram Lake and Injapur lake

Hyderabad: To ensure scientific disposal of faecal sludge generated in the city, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is working on setting up two Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs). While one is being planned at Nagaram Lake, Keesara Mandal, the other would be set up at Injapur lake, Abdullapurmet Mandal, both with 20 KLD treatment capacity.

The HMWSSB has already floated tenders to execute the project and each plant would cost over Rs1.29 crore. As part of the plans, the task of manning, operation and maintenance of the plants will be entrusted to the agencies for two years. The move comes after Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao directing HMWSSB to set up FSTPs to ensure scientific disposal of faecal sludge.

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In the absence of scientific disposal mechanism with sufficient capacity, septic tankers carry waste and dispose of the faecal sludge in water bodies or open plots. This practice is rampant on the city fringes. As part of Swachh Telangana, the State government had come up with a policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in urban local bodies. Based on the policy, municipal officials have been working on promoting the concept of co-treatment of faecal sludge. Accordingly, a few such plants were set up across the city in Hyderabad, said a senior official from HMWSSB.

There are different technologies involved in faecal sludge treatment and HMWSSB is exploring the best and cost-effective mechanism. Though efforts were made to set up Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants last year under Public Private Partnership mode but things did not take off as planned by the officials. Now, HMWSSB plans to execute the project with its own funds and entrust the task of manning, operating and maintaining the facility to agencies.

What is the co-treatment of sludge at STP?

The city currently has 18 STPs and according to municipal officials, all of them can be used to co-treat the septage. The existing STPs will be retrofitted with certain additional features for the purpose. The co-treatment process involves establishing a holding tank including stirring facility and recirculation system for homogenization of sludge and valve operation for controlled discharge of septage into the functional STPs.

Warangal already operating two FSTPs:

Even as Hyderabad is working on the installation of Faecal sludge treatment plants, Warangal had already installed two such plants. While the first FSTP with a capacity of 20KLD was inaugurated in November 2017, another FSTP with a capacity of 15 KLD on the same premise was inaugurated last year. While the first FSTP is the first-of-its-kind thermal-based unit, the second is based on the geo-tube technology.

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