In its effort to provide better sewage treatment facility in the national Capital, Delhi Jal Board on Tuesday commissioned a state-of-the-art Waste Water Treat Plant (WWTP) at Chilla in East Delhi. In a first, Improvised Sequential Batch Reactors (ISBR) technology was used to deliver better output as compared to other technologies.
A senior officer of the DJB claimed that this plant is a dual membrane dome and used in generation of hydropower, which are the two important and unique characteristics of the ISBR technology and is first-of-its-kind in the world. The patent for technology is pending.
This WWTP is located at Chilla in East Delhi, which is a densely populated area. The use of the ISBR technology makes it possible to set up the plant in a small area. Hence, DJB has constructed this 9 MGD plant on a very small foot print, i.e., about 40% of the size of a conventional plant, along the Shahdara Drain no. 1 on a DBO (Design-Build-Operate) basis.
‘With the introduction of the ISBR technology the sewage will be treated with better efficiency and more economically. The technology uses both anaerobic and aerobic processes to treat sewage. The combi-treat unit generates biogas by treating the sewage anaerobically, which then reduces the organic load to be handled by further treatment in the ISBR basins,’ said DJB’s spokesperson.
The biogas generated is stored under flat-roofed combi-treat unit which ensures proper sealing of the reactor to avoid any leakage through it, which is generally observed at dome like digesters.
The membrane dome pushes out the gas but remains unharmed due to the corrosive gases within the digester which is not possible with conventional metal-roofed digesters.
The ISBR provides aerobic treatment and has improvements over the SBR sewage treatment technology that enables it to create a suitable condition for the generation of hydropower while maintaining the outlet quality at par with the SBR technology.
It is pertinent to note that this is the only technology in the world which can generate hydropower through sewage even on a flat terrain.
In addition, power is also produced from methane and biogas which keeps the environment clean and healthy. The power generation within the plant will reduce dependency on power grids, as well.