HYDERABAD: With the State government firm on achieving 100% sewage treatment by the end of this year, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has expedited work on the 31 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) of 1,259.50 MLD capacity across the city.
The Water Board has set a target to complete over 50% of the under-construction STPs between February and July and the remaining between August and November this year.
The present total sewage generation is 1950 Million Litres per Day (MLD) and the capacity of existing STPs is around 772 MLD. The gap in treatment is 1,178 MLD, and under the ongoing construction of 31 STP projects, it is proposed to develop 1,259.50 MLD capacity to achieve 100% sewage treatment. Hyderabad will become the only city in the country to treat 100% sewage.
As many as 16 STPs of 985 MLD capacity will be completed from February to July, 2023. They include Nagole (320), Amberpet (212.50), Fathenagar-1 (133), Nallacheruvu-1 (86.50), Attapur-1 (64), Miralam Site-I (41.50), Mullakathuwa Cheruvu (25), Khajakunta (20), Peddacheruvu (17.50), Kokapet (15), Shivalayanagar (14), Vennelagadda (10), Durgam Cheruvu (7), Miyapur-Patelcheruvu (7), Nallagandla (7) and Safilguda (5.50).
Another 11 STPs that will treat 270 MLD will be completed between August and November of this year. They include Rainbow Vista (43), Attapur-2 (40), HPS, Begumpet (cascaded from Ambercheruvu) (40), Ramacheruvu (30), Nallacheruvu-2 (alternative site for Banda Cheruvu and Alwal) (30), Chitrapuri Colony (alternative site for Khajaguda) (21), Pariki Cheruvu (20), Fathenagar-2 (alternative site for cascaded flow from Fox Sagar, Nallacheruvu Cheruvu) (20), Kapra Lake (10), Patelcheruvu (10) and Palapitta Park (5). A few of them got delayed due to land issues, and steps are being taken to address them so that work begins at the earliest.
HMWS&SB managing director M Dana Kishore is monitoring the STP works on a daily basis and ensuring that they are completed as per the timelines. He makes regular inspections to the site and gives instructions from time to time for their early completion. Wherever issues are cropping up, he is sorting them on priority to avoid any delays.
The benefits of STPs include the prevention of sewage flow in the catchment areas and the discharge of wastewater into lakes and other water bodies. In addition to this, the environment and hygiene in the catchment area of water bodies will also be improved to a large extent due to STPs.
Most of the STPs are being constructed using the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology, considered to be the best, to treat sewage. The SBR technology requires less space compared to the Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR) technology which is used in existing STPs. The maintenance cost is also lower for SBR.