Treated wastewater is not just used for gardening by residents of an apartment building in Ramagondanahalli here.
Over 500 residents in 76 flats use treated wastewater even for drinking and cooking purposes. Of their daily requirement of 48,000 litres, 30,000 litres is being generated from multi-staged treatment units in their apartment.
Additional system To make the water fit for human consumption, the residents of TZED Apartment have adopted an additional three-level waste water treatment system, apart from the one provided by the builder — Biotech Consortium India Ltd. (BCIL).
Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Vaman Acharya and his team visited the apartment on May 30 and lauded the residents’ efforts.
After he drank the treated water, Mr. Acharya, in a statement, said: “Drinking water and waste disposal problems being faced in the city will reduce substantially if all apartments adopt this technology.”
‘For the last 18 months’ According to M.B. Narayanaswamy, manager of TZED Apartment, residents have been using the treated water for drinking, cooking and other purposes for the last 18 months.
At the time of construction in 2006, a traditional wastewater treatment plant was installed to treat over 35,000 litres of sewage produced by the 76 flats every day. However, residents opted for further purification of water by adding three more treatment levels.
He said sewage was treated at four levels through the process of ozonisation, nano-filtration, and reverse osmosis at two levels.
“A scientist in the apartment has been testing the quality of treated water every week to ensure it is potable,” the statement from the KSPCB added.
“We do not have drinking water or a sanitary connection. The solid and liquid wastes generated here are treated on our site,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said.
Among the other eco-friendly steps at the apartment, the low flush sensor in the toilets have reduced water consumption by 20 per cent, according to the release.
