Manure the man-kind

Manual scavenging is banned in India, however that fact has not deterred people to hire men to clean up the septic tanks at their homes and elsewhere. This in spite of the fact there are mechanical solutions being available.

World has moved forward in this area and have found ways to deal with human excreta. India is just now moving from defecating in the open to building toilets at home. What was considered as a practice (defecating in the open) is being seen as a shameful act now, thanks to the Swachh Bharath movement initiated by the government of India.

We have mechanical evacuation options available to empty the septic tank, however, either due to

lack of knowledge or for emergency reasons people engage in hiring humans to urgently clean up the tank, to ensure the home atmosphere is clean. Tragic death of 6 people near Chennai is just an example how, short sightedness leads to fatal situation.

How is the world dealing with this problem, lets look at thickly populated country like China. China has moved a long way in dealing with this problem and have designed septic tanks for every home, depending on the number of people and toilets available. These tanks not only collect the ‘Black water’ (Water coming from the commodes) but they process the water and collect methane gas from the same. This collected methane gas can be used for cooking and heating purposes. Human waste is considered to be high yielding in terms of gas generation.

These septic tanks are a boon where there is no centralised collection of sewerage. Most Indian cities do not have under ground drainage system, today constructing UGD is an expensive idea, as the sewerage once collected has to be processed at a collection centre (Pump House) and depending on the size of the city pump houses may have to be located in multiple locations in the city.

It is necessary to mandate installation of septic tanks which can capture methane and prevent any future hazard to the mother earth (cemented tanks have a life span of 10-15 years and there after can start leaking and pollute the soil around the area, resulting in potable water sources getting polluted. Some of the better known septic tank bio digesters have 25-30 years life span. These are typically designed to work on fit and forget concept.

The collected methane can be used to light a stove for cooking, heating etc. Methane removed and processed water is very good for gardening or farming. In Many locations where the Sewerage treatment plant water is used for lawns and farming, the green carpeting is healthy and lush.

In a country like India, human life value is considered negligible it is important a suitable legislation is mandated to install Septic tank bio digesters in all places which have no access to under ground drainage system. Any violators who are found guilty of polluting the surroundings should be severely punished.

(Copyright of all pictures used in this blog rests with the respective owners, they have been used for indicative purpose only)

Problem to Profit - Waste to wealth a possibility

Hotels generate anywhere from 300-1000 kgs of wet waste (food, vegetable chopping etc) and restaurants from about 25 to 200 kgs based on their size and popularity. This waste is considered a nuisance as decaying food will emit stink and will harm the serenity of the surroundings.

With the advent of the recently mandated Solid Waste Management guidelines and stricter implementation of the same by the local bodies it is becoming increasingly difficult for the waste generators to simply transfer the responsibility to contractors who are deployed by the local bodies meant for handling the city's garbage.

These establishments enter into an understanding with the contractors to lift their food waste and dispose it off elsewhere on payments, which are not above board. These contractors in turn might end up dumping this waste into the municipal dumps, leading to foul smell and even generation of Leachate.

Local bodies have been insisting for the past few years with these waste generators to set up bio digester units or Vermi-composting units. Problem for these establishments is the non availability of practical solutions for this problem. Most of the Bio-digester being offered in India require civil construction and huge set up. Imagine a restaurant located at higher floors how will they ensure all these. Coming to hotels, their inability to provide space for setting up these plants.

A day is not too far where the local bodies will be constrained to come down heavily on the violators of the guidelines on waste management. Already Bengaluru city corporation has issued a threat to not renew the trade license if waste management compliance is not ensured. So have many other local bodies in different forms

However, these waste generators have solutions available which can not only ensure compliance but turn their problem into a profit. There are smart looking systems available which not only ensure the waste is converted into a useful bio gas (could be used in the kitchens of these outlets) will also ensure there is no foul smell emanating and can be smartly installed anywhere, on ground floor or on terrace or even in the corridor of the restaurant. Mostly less spoken benefit is the bio slurry that comes out of these digesters is the healthiest organic manure for kitchen and terrace gardens and for farming activity at large.

Waste will no longer a problem but will turn into wealth for these business establishment. It has been established that LPG consumption comes down about 20-30% based on the quantum of waste generated by using the Bio gas generated through the Bio Digesters. With commercial LPG prices ranging at Rs70 per Kg it will be a considerable saving. No more payouts to the local body contractors for illegally taking away the food/wet waste. Slurry can be another money spinner if the same could be made available in carry away packaging. Most importantly instead of contributing to methane generation in the dumps these establishments will be utilising the methane  in the food waste for productive purpose in the form of Bio-Gas and earn carbon credits

(Copy right of the images used in the article rests with the respective owners, they have been used only for the purpose of visualisation)