After the floods in August last year, the mobile sewage treatment plant of the Kozhikode Corporation was a lifesaver. The overflowing septic tanks of 46 schools used as rehabilitation camps were cleaned within weeks, without much manual labour. Now, the Corporation has decided to use the system on a large scale, with an aim to alleviate the sewage treatment problems of the city.
The compact STP, mounted on a truck, can be taken from one place to another. The equipment that costs ₹50 lakh can convert 1,500 litres of septic waste into water and just about 100 millilitres of slurry/ semi solid waste in just over an hour. It uses electrolysis technique to treat liquid waste. The waste is converted into water which could be used for gardening or could just be released into the soil with no harmful effects.
But it is just one STP, which may not be enough to cater to the needs of the whole city.
“India does not have a completely mechanised system for such jobs. Even in the case of mobile STP, one person has to actually enter the septic tank to lay the pipes before the waste is pumped into the machine using a motor,” said R.S. Gopakumar, Health Officer of Kozhikode Corporation.
