CONTENTS November 2018 Vol 01 | Issue 01

10 16 20 55

62 49 64

67 68

VALUE OF WASTEWATER
Smart Water & Waste World reaches out to wastewater companies,
regulators, contractors, and engineering experts to look at the needs
of wastewater segment, with a focus on opportunities in wastewater
technology and innovation, while developing cost-effective strategies.

Inside>>

06 EDITOR’S NOTE 23 COVER STORY 44 HUNTING FOR MICROPLASTICS 52 UNDERSTANDING ZERO LIQUID
DISCHARGE AND THE KEY
46 ARLINGTON COUNTY, VA CONSIDERATIONS TO CHOOSE
24
IN THE NEWS
TAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH
08 TO REHABILITATE AGING TERTIARY WASTEWATER THE RIGHT SOLUTION
INFRASTRUCTURE DENITRIFICATION BEST-IN-CLASS
55 INTERVIEW WITH TURBAASHU
PRODUCTS
NUTRIENT REMOVAL
13 27 ADVANCED MBBR/IFAS BHATTACHARYA, BUSINESS HEAD,
TECHNOLOGY FOR BIOLOGICAL ROSERVE ENVIRO
47 HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIOFILM
NUTRIENT REMOVAL AND CARRIER USED IN MUNICIPAL 56 WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND
14 SWWW@IFAT UPGRADATION OF EXISTING WASTEWATER TREATMENT REUSE IN FOOD & BEVERAGES
ACTIVATED SLUDGE SYSTEMS INDUSTRIES
48
FEATURE STORY
COMPACT TECHNOLOGY
16 30 FEATURED PROJECT - 130 MLD
HALVES THE HEAVY COSTS OF
59 HOW CHEMICAL COMPANIES CAN
SEWAGE WATER TREATMENT EVAPORATE AND COMPLETELY
INTERVIEW WITH YAGNESH BUCH, TRANSPORTING SODDEN WASTE RECYCLE THEIR WASTEWATER IN A
PLANT REUSE EPC IN KORADI
DY. GENERAL MANAGER, KSB LTD SUSTAINABLE WAY
32 CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN 49 MICROVI MNE PROCESS
WATER - AN INITIATIVE OF DEMONSTRATES TOTAL NITROGEN 60 ADVANCED WASTEWATER REUSE
19 COLUMNS GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU REMOVAL AT WWTP TECHNOLOGY

19 MARKET INSIGHT
BY FROST & SULLIVAN
34 GAS HYDRATE BASED INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER TREATMEN
50 CHANGING SCENARIO OF
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS
62 COMMUNITY
64 URBAN WATER 36 RO AND ION EXCHANGE - UNIQUE
(STPs) IN INDIA
WATER
BY ROBERT C. BREARS PROCESS STEPS TO MINIMIZE INTERVIEW WITH PUNEET
65 KNOWING OUR WATERS THE LIQUID DISCHARGE 51 WASTE SRIVASTAVA, MANAGER-POLICY,
WATERAID INDIA
BY AUSTRALIAN WATER 38 HURRICANE-FORCE
MANAGEMENT
POINT OF VIEW
PARTNERSHIP (AWP) PERFORMANCE AS NEW
SCREEN LIVES UP TO 66
RECOMMENDATIONS IN UTAH
20 COMPONENTS 40 GRIT KING SYSTEM SAVES THE
52 TECH FOCUS - 67 URBAN WATER
BUSINESS PLANT FROM A NEAR DISASTER
WASTEWATER 68 THE SECOND
42
RECYCLE & REUSE
GENERATING SURPLUS POWER
OPINION
PERSON OF THE MONTH -
BM BALAKRISHNA, AQUAPOT FROM WASTEWATER TREATMENT

4 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 << editor’s note

Put Your Money Where

The Value Is!
I
would begin with a humble and heartfelt ‘thank you’ - to all of you - who have accepted and sup-
ported our new initiative - Smart Water & Waste World (SWWW). We launched our inaugural issue
in October and introduced it at the IFAT India show in Mumbai. The timing proved to be perfect,
as all the exhibitors, participants, and visitors gave us a big thumbs-up (see page 14-15). A special
thanks to national and international water experts, authors, and consultants who reached out to me with
their positive feedback and insightful suggestions for the magazine. We promise to keep surprising you
with new features, interesting sections, and ground-breaking content, as always in an unbiased manner.
MAYUR SHARMA | Editor This month, our cover story is the “Value of Wastewater”. We reached out to wastewater technology and
mayur@smartwww.in service providers, contractors, and engineering experts to analyze the current and future needs of waste-
@SmartWWW_IN water segment, with a focus on innovations and cost-effective strategies for recycle and reuse.
The fast-growing population and expanding industrial landscape have rapidly increased sewerage and
industrial waste. Water scarcity and day-zero like situations are no longer a future threat. There is no sur-
prise then that wastewater in already being seen as a potential source of drinking water.
The wastewater market has been growing at a fast pace and will continue to do so. China’s wastewater
treatment market, for example, was valued at USD 39.3 billion in 2016. The wastewater treatment compa-
nies in China treated more than 100.0 billion metric tons of wastewater in 2017 alone.
The largest segment of global wastewater market - residential & commercial - is expected to increase
its market share because of improving standards of treated water. The other big segment - industrial - will
grow steadily right now but may slow in future because of reduced water consumption and emissions
(results of new manufacturing technologies), though it would take longer than what is being expected,
specifically in developing countries.
I only feel angry Enforcement of new laws on wastewater management is already driving the adoption of technologies
when I see waste. like Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD). The global market for ZLD could reach USD 1,002 million by 2025. In
a country like India, Thermal Power, Distillery, Iron & Steel, Textile, and Pulp & Paper industries need to
When I see people adopt ZLD sooner than later, being major the most water-intensive and highly polluting industries.
throwing away things And then there is the point of “Value of Wastewater” itself. Currently, a Wastewater Treatment Plant
we could use. (WWTP) consumes the energy equivalent of more than two power plants per year, at most places. On the
other hand, if innovative techniques, combined with an optimized integration of available technologies,
- Mother Teresa are used for an energy-positive wastewater treatment, then the same plants can produce up to 12 power
plants’ worth of efficient and renewable energy. Converting WWTPs into efficient renewable-energy gen-
erators will help in making our economies even stronger.
Our next two issues will be December (we will focus on “CTOs Speak on Exciting New Technologies”,
and “Automation & Instrumentation”, and January (Annual Edition - “Municipal Cases Studies Special
Issue). I welcome editorial contributions on these and all other topics which you find significant for the
water sector.
Keep sharing your thoughts, inputs, and suggestions.

Smart Water & Waste WorldTM Vol 01 No 1 November 2018

FOUNDER & CEO Printed and Published by Shailesh
Kailash Shirodkar Ramaswamy Iyer, B-305, Gopinath
Smruti CHS Ltd. Goddeo, Bhayander
EDITOR (East) Dist - Thane 401105 on behalf
Mayur Sharma of Beyond Expectations, Printed
at Taco Visions Pvt. Ltd. 105- ABC,
DESIGN & LAYOUT
Govt. Industrial Estate,Charkop,
Nocturnal Brains
Kandivali (W), Mumbai 400067, and
PRODUCTION Published at Beyond Expectations
Shailesh Iyer B-305, Gopinath Smruti CHS Ltd.
Goddeo, Bhayander (East) Dist,
Thane 401105 Maharashtra, India.
Pages 76
Copyright © 2018
Beyond Expectations.
All rights reserved throughout the world.
Reproduction in any manner, electronic
or otherwise, in whole or in part, without
prior written permission is prohibited.
*Responsible for selection
of news under PRB Act

Important: Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy, it is not possible to verify its contents. Beyond Expectations cannot be held responsible for such contents,
nor for any loss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its publications. We therefore recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

6 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

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 IN THE NEWS
IDE Technologies to Build BWRO Desalination Plant in Israel
The plant will take brackish surface water and produce high-quality water for
agricultural and hydroelectric applications.
SWWW Staff
Israel
IDE TECHNOLOGIES HAS
been commissioned by Afikei
Mayim, a local water utility, en-
gaged in water distribution in
the Beit Shean valley in Israel,
to build its Brackish Water Re-
verse Osmosis (BWRO) desali-
nation plant. The desalination
LANXESS India Bags Awards for
Sustainable Practices and CSR Initiatives
SWWW Staff
India
LANXESS INDIA PRIVATE
Limited has been acknowl-
edged for its diligent adher-
ence towards sustainable
practices and concerted ef-
forts in the field of corporate
social responsibility (CSR),
and has been conferred with
the Indo-German Chamber
of Commerce (IGCC) Award
for ‘Outstanding Contribution
towards best Sustainable Busi-
ness Practices by a Large En-
terprise’ for the year 2018 and
the Indian Chemical Council
(ICC) Award 2017 Certificate
of Merit for Social Responsi-
bility.
LANXESS’ sites focus on op-
timal use of natural resources
8 November 2018
plant will be located in Emek
Hamainot, near Sde Eliyahu,
Israel, and will produce 6,750
m³/day of high-quality water for
agricultural and hydroelectric
applications.
“The feed water of our plant
is very challenging; therefore, it
was important for us to choose
a vendor for our BWRO desali-
nation plant who has proven
ensuring minimum impact on
the environment. At its Jhaga-
dia site, LANXESS has spent
20 percent of total building
cost on sustainability proj-
ects like effluent treatment
plant, sewage treatment plant,
multi-fuel boiler, off-gas in-
cinerator and creating a green
zone. Similarly, the Nagda
site has co-generation plant,
wastewater treatment, sewage
treatment plant, wastewater
post-treatment plant and off-
gas incinerator. Further, to
significantly reduce carbon
footprint, 96% of Jhagadia’s
and 60% of Nagda’s export
consignments have been shift-
ed from road to railways.
The ICC Award 2017 Cer-
tificate of Merit for Social Re-
sponsibility was presented to
technological experience,” said plant, and operate it. IDE’s ex- has the lowest-ever cost for
Ran Ben Noon, CEO of Afikei perience includes the operation high-quality desalinated water.
Mayim. “Considering IDE’s vast of the world’s largest seawater “We’re proud to partner with
experience in the water treat- desalination plant in Sorek, Is- Afikei Mayim to create this lead-
ment industry both globally rael, as well as two other plants ing-edge BWRO desalination
and in Israel, the company was in Israel located in Hadera and plant,” said Guy Sagie, CEO of
a natural choice.” Ashkelon. All these plants use IDE Projects. “This is a great op-
IDE will design the Afikei reverse osmosis technology portunity to build and operate
Mayim brackish water desali- and integrate the world’s most another desalination plant in
nation plant, supply and install advanced desalination technol- Israel and expand IDE’s capabil-
equipment, commission the ogies. The Hadera plant also ities in the BWRO market.”
R&D Multiples Awarded
the Contract for Supply of
Butterfly Valves at a Canal
LANXESS India on the 27th
September in Mumbai and
Project in Telangana
was received by Mr. Neelanjan
Banerjee, Vice Chairman and
Managing Director, LANXESS
India and Mr. Sunder Rajan,
Head – CSR, LANXESS India.
The organization initiated and
completed twelve unique CSR
projects across locations in
the country in 2017. This in-
cluded projects like Teach for
India, empowering municipal
school with digital classrooms,
infrastructure development of
municipal schools, sanitation
& hygiene camps for working
women from slums in Thane,
upgrading healthcare facilities
in Nagda Municipal Hospital
by way of installing a sonogra-
phy machine, maintenance of
overhead water tank in Nagda SWWW Staff This project envisages the
supplying water to the local India transportation of one thousand
population and installing solar million cubic feet of water a
street lamps among others. R&D MULTIPLES HAS been day for 60 days a year from the
On the receipt of the two awarded a new contract for link between Yellampalli and
awards, Neelanjan Banerjee, design, engineering, and man- Mid Manair projects using the
Vice Chairman and Managing ufacturing of 48 nos. of 3600 SRSP flood flow canal. When
Director, LANXESS India, said, mm/144” butterfly valves for the SRSP is in flood, the canal
“LANXESS is a good example the ongoing Sri Ram Sagar is expected to serve its purpose
of creating a long-term vision Flood Flow canal project in the of taking the excess water using
to develop our business while state of Telangana. This is the gravity to Mid-Manair for meet-
keeping our commitment to largest single order in the com- ing the irrigation and drinking
sustainable practices and giv- pany’s history and it expects to water needs of Adilabad, Ni-
ing back to society a part of complete the deliveries in the zamabad and Karimnagar dis-
our success.” ongoing financial year. tricts in Telangana, India.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
 IN THE NEWS
SPML Infra Receives Zee Business ‘Dare to Dream’ Award 2018
Mayur Sharma
India
SPML INFRA LIMITED has
received the ‘Zee Business-Dare
to Dream Award 2018’ as ‘Com-
pany of the Year-Infrastructure’
at a ceremony held in Kolkata
on 27th October 2018. Abhi-
nandan Sethi, Associate Direc-
tor of SPML Infra received the
award for the company.
Subhash Sethi, Chairman,
SPML Infra said, “SPML Infra
has been in the business for
The Government of India
Reviews Ongoing Namami
Gange Projects
Claims that 70-80 percent
of work will be completed by
March-2019.
SWWW Staff
India
NITIN GADKARI, MINIS-
TER for Water Resources, River
Development & Ganga Reju-
venation recently carried out a
review of each ongoing project
under the Namami Gange Pro-
gram in the states of Uttara-
khand, Jharkhand, Bihar, and
West Bengal.
Gadkari said, “Some projects
have been completed, some are
under progress and tenders
for some projects have been is-
sued. I am hopeful that we will
complete 70-80 percent work
in the Namami Gange Program
by March 2019.”
National Mission for Clean
Ganga has sanctioned over 288
projects on Ganga in the states
of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand, and West
Bengal.
Around 32 sewerage infra-
structure projects (STPs) have
10 November 2018
almost four decades and de-
livered some of the most chal-
been sanctioned in the Uttara-
khand state. Two sewerage in-
frastructure projects have been
sanctioned in Jharkhand state.
Both projects are in progress.
Around 21 sewerage infra-
structure projects have been
sanctioned in Bihar. 13 STPs
in Bihar are at various stages of
progress. Tenders for 4 projects
have been received and are un-
der evaluation while 3 projects
are under tendering and 1 proj-
ect is to be tendered. 16 sewer-
age infrastructure projects have
been sanctioned in the state of
West Bengal.
The Central Government
has also notified the minimum
environmental flows for River
Ganga that has to be main-
tained at various locations on
the river. Environmental flows
are the acceptable flow regimes
that are required to maintain
a river in the desired environ-
mental state or predetermined
state.
with a project of Rs.15 Lac for
water supply in Mizoram and
at that point in time, water was
not a business proposition at
all. But we dared to dream to
make clean drinking water
available to all citizen of India
and started with the North
Eastern part of the country.
With our continued focus on
improving water distribution
management and infrastruc-
ture development, SPML Infra
lenging and iconic projects in is currently executing projects
the country. Our journey began worth over Rs. 6,000 crores in
ACCIONA Expands Footprint in Italy with
Two Water Contracts Worth €31.5 Million
The contracts are for maintaining and upgrading
water and sewer networks for Acquedotto
Pugliese and for sewer management in Tuscany
for Publiacqua.
SWWW Staff charge of water management
Italy in the area of Florence (Tus-
cany) has awarded ACCIONA
ACCIONA AGUA HAS ob- Agua a contract to maintain
tained two new contracts in drinking water and wastewater
Italy: one for sanitation and treatment plants. The contract
water treatment plant mainte- covers ordinary and extraor-
nance in Tuscany, and another dinary maintenance work and
to manage sewer networks in upgrading water treatment
Apulia. The two contracts are plants, including ancillary
worth a total of €31.57 mil- work such as civil engineering,
lion. waste transport and mainte-
Publiacqua, the company in nance of thermal dryers.
Bentley Systems Announces Winners of
Year in Infrastructure 2018 Awards
SWWW Staff
UK
The winners for going digi-
tal advancements in infrastruc-
ture for “water segment” are:
Water and Wastewater Treat- search Incorporation Limited -
ment Plants Category: MCC 400,000 ton/day Water Supply
Capital Engineering & Re- Project of Wenjiang District,
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
almost every states of India
and providing drinking water
facilities to more than 40 mil-
lion people across the country.
SPML Infra is the first Indian
company that has continuously
featured among the world’s top
50 private water companies. On
behalf of hundreds of SPML
employees and associates, we
are thankful to Zee Business
for this recognition of our work
and certainly, it will enhance
the optimism to continue
dreaming and realizing.”
Acquedotto Pugliese, the
public water company in the
Apulia region, the most indus-
trialized region in Southern It-
aly, has awarded a consortium
headed by ACCIONA Agua
a contract for sewer inspec-
tion and maintenance in the
province of Taranto, in which
ACCIONA Service also partic-
ipates with its environmental
activity. The contract is worth
€15.57 million.
Chengdu City - Chengdu, Si-
chuan, China. Water, Wastewa-
ter, and Stormwater Networks
Category: DTK Hydronet Solu-
tions - Conceptioneering and
Master Planning of Bankura
Multi Village Bulk Water Sup-
ply Scheme - Bankura, West
Bengal, India.
 IN THE NEWS
Royal HaskoningDHV’s Nereda Wastewater Treatment Technology
Expands into China
SWWW Staff
China
BEIJING ENTERPRISES
INDUSTRIAL Environmen-
tal Solutions Limited (BEIES)
has entered into a partner-
ship with Royal Haskoning-
DHV and Century 3 (Shang-
hai) for the delivery of
sustainable Nereda® waste-
water treatment technology
into China.
The move to introduce
Nereda® Technology into
China represents an exciting
opportunity for the country.
Danfoss Chairman Receives
Prestigious Chinese Award
SWWW Staff
China
DANFOSS CHAIRMAN OF
the board Jørgen M. Clausen
has been awarded The China
Friendship award - the high-
est award for foreigners - as a
recognition of 22 years of Dan-
foss contribution to the devel-
opment of the Chinese society.
22 years after Jørgen M.
Clausen decided to open up
Danfoss first operations in
China in 1996, the Chinese
market has grown to be Dan-
foss second home market and
the second biggest market for
12 November 2018
BEIES can now install this
state-of-the-art technology
in its wastewater treatment
projects across China, ensur-
the company with more than
5000 employees, 6 production
sites, and 6 billion DKK (805
M Euro) in sales.
Danfoss chairman of the
board, Jørgen M. Clausen was
awarded the prestigious Chi-
nese Government Friendship
Award, by the Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He.
Danfoss has experienced
high growth rates in China
- due to focus on energy ef-
ficient solutions to create a
healthy environment, food &
water safety and creating solu-
tions for heavy urbanization
process taking place in China.
ing excellent and sustainable
wastewater treatment while
effectively expanding its in-
stallations’ capacity.
Danfoss CEO, Kim Fausing
is expecting the big potential
in China to be further un-
leashed over the coming years.
“The China Friendship
Award is a recognition of the
work the Danfoss China team
has been doing the last 22
years. We are proud to receive
this recognition, and by taking
an active part in the develop-
ment in China, we expect to be
able to grow our business fur-
ther in the years to come. And
at the same time work hard to
continue to develop business
with our partners in China,”
says Kim Fausing.
BEIES has already iden-
tified two potential Nereda
wastewater treatment proj-
ects, which when complete
will not only provide im-
proved wastewater treat-
ment at a lower cost to the
environment but will also
act as demonstration plants
to showcase the capability of
the technology.
Xu, Deputy General Man-
ager of BEIES said: “We
have been following the de-
velopment of Aerobic Gran-
ular Sludge technology for
more than ten years. Nereda
SUEZ Group Announces 5 Contracts
Worth €100 Million in Europe
SWWW Staff
Europe
SUEZ HAS STRENGTH-
ENED its recycling & recovery
activities in Europe with the
award and the renewal of 5
contracts, for total revenues of
about €100 million.
In Germany, the Waste Man-
agement Association of Chem-
nitz (Land of Saxony) has or-
ganized an intensive European
tender and has chosen SUEZ
solutions for the treatment
and the recycling of pre-treat-
ed municipal waste produced
by 580,000 inhabitants. This
contract, worth more than €20
million and for 5 years, will
start in June 2020.
In the Netherlands, AVU
has selected SUEZ for the col-
lection of municipal waste of
6 municipalities located in the
province of Utrecht. This con-
tract will serve approximately
75,000 households for con-
solidated revenues of around
€21m and 4 years. The service
will be mainly provided by
LNG-powered vehicles. The
Group will also guarantee the
disposal and the transport of
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
technology, owned by the
prestigious company Royal
HaskoningDHV, is the best
example of it. Nereda has
been proven to achieve or-
ganic waste and simultane-
ous nutrient removal within
a considerably smaller foot-
print, with very low energy
and chemical consumption.”
Rong He, CEO of Centu-
ry 3 (Shanghai) Inc. added:
“Nereda technology offers a
huge advantage in land sav-
ing and energy conservation
while achieving high effluent
quality.”
62,000 tons of residual waste
to Energy-from-Waste facilities
for Cyclus, representing 8 mu-
nicipalities located in the prov-
ince of South Holland.
The group has also commis-
sioned a new center in Huy,
near Liège for the collection
and treatment of polluted soil
from construction and sani-
tation sites in Belgium. With
a total surface area of 12,000
m2, the site will have a charac-
terization and sorting capacity
of 150,000 tonnes a year.
SUEZ expands its activities
with pilot of an innovative col-
lection solution alongside the
inter-municipal organization
Limburg.net.
OPTIMO’s objective is to
standardize them and simpli-
fy sorting. A single collection
takes place every week, with
all flows in resistant bags of
different colors. They are then
separated at sorting center,
before recycling or recovery.
In this area, teams also collect
most of the waste since the cre-
ation of Limburg.net 10 years
ago and until 2020, represent-
ing around €20m of consoli-
dated revenues.
 PRODUCTS
IDE Technologies
IDE Technologies has launched its brine desalter
technology - MAXH2O - which aims to effectively
reduce brine reject from brackish water desalination
plants by ensuring a more durable and efficient pro-
cess. To increase brine recovery of brackish water re-
verse osmosis (BWRO) desalination plants, the MAX-
H2O desalter technology integrates a proprietary
reverse osmosis (RO) system with an integrated salt
precipitation unit, which together overcome the tradi-
tional limitations of brine recovery systems. The tech-
nology increases water recovery and benefits both
municipal and industrial applications such as mining
sites, power stations, and cooling towers. Early pilots
of MAXH2O on both existing and new BWRO desali-
nation plants have shown an increased brine recovery
of up to 98 percent. MAXH2O can be installed as a
standalone system or connected to an existing BWRO
plant as a tail unit on the brine stream in order to
maximize the plant production while minimizing the
brine discharge flow.
KSB SE & Co. KGA
The KSB Group has developed a special impeller
for its Movitec multistage high-pressure pumps. This
new impeller significantly improves these pumps’
suction characteristics (NPSH value). It proves its
worth particularly in applications with critical inlet
conditions (e.g. boiler feed applications) as well as
applications in which the pump is required to take in
water from low-lying tanks or at higher temperatures.
The multistage centrifugal pumps from the Movitec
range are designed for handling fluids such as water,
coolants, condensate and mineral oils. They are ideal
for a wide variety of applications ranging from indus-
trial boiler feed installations in steam circuits, recircu-
lation and fire-fighting systems, cooling water circuits
and washing plants to pressure boosting in general
process applications.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions
SUEZ Water
Technologies & out compromising quality or performance.
Solutions has an-
nounced a new
ultrafiltration (UF)
rackless membrane
system, the Zee-
Weed 700B-RMS.
When compared
to most rack types,
the required foot-
print needed for
installation is re-
duced and the cost
of the system is
lowered since there is no need for a steel rack or
feed, permeate or reject pipes. This product targets
both industrial and municipal applications as its
Endress+Hauser
Endress+Hauser has released the Memograph M
RSG45 Advanced Data Manager DIN rail version, an
intelligent remote device with extensive communica-
tion capabilities, making it ideal for IIoT applications
and use as an edge device for getting data to cloud-
based servers. It is able to acquire data from up to
20 HART or universal analog input channels and 14
digital inputs, has two analog outputs and up to 12
relay outputs and makes its data available to IIoT sys-
tems and all major automation system architectures
via multiple communication interfaces and protocols.
Interfaces and protocols include 4-20mA HART, Mod-
bus RTU/Modbus TCP/IP, PROFIBUS DP, PROFINET,
EtherNet/IP, Ethernet TCP/IP, USB, RS-232C/RS485,
and OPC. With all these interfaces, the Memograph
M easily communicates with new and existing PLCs,
SCADA systems, distributed control systems, histori-
ans and cloud-based data structures.
VSX - Vogel Software
VSX VOGEL SOFTWARE has extended its Spaix 5
product family by a compact version for pump selec-
EVENTS
innovative design reduces cost and footprint with-
It provides one of the largest surface area mod-
ules on the market, which allows customers greater
treatment capacity in the same footprint. The inte-
grated header concept in the ZeeWeed 700B-RMS
makes upgrading existing systems simple by re-
placing the module and rack to gain added treat-
ment capacity. SUEZ’s ZeeWeed 700B-RMS in-
side-out UF membranes can be used for drinking
water, seawater reverse-osmosis pre-treatment and
tertiary treatment for water reuse. They are suitable
for both new and retrofit water treatment projects.
The new ZeeWeed 700B-RMS is an upgrade to
the existing ZeeWeed 700B membrane system. The
RMS benefits from the proven strength of the Sev-
enBore fiber and increased membrane surface area
which results in reduced footprint and costs.
tion and performance curve optimization. The com-
pany decided to transfer the proven multi-platform
concept to Quick&Easy that means that besides the
desktop version, the software is also available as the
web and mobile version. Spaix 5 Quick&Easy is es-
pecially suitable for small and medium-sized compa-
nies which are focusing on performance curve man-
agement and pump selection.
Munson Machinery Company
A new Model HD-510-MS Paddle Blender equipped
with four high-speed choppers provides added shear
to break lumps and/or disperse dry bulk solids,
pastes, slurries and emulsions containing agglomer-
ates during blending. It handles free- and non-free-
flowing materials that are dry, moist, oily or paste-like
in batches up to 5.7 m3. A high-strength agitator with
paddle blades configured for the application pushes
material into the path of the choppers. The combined
actions rapidly break down lumpy, agglomerated or
otherwise difficult-to-blend materials into discrete
particles, which are distributed uniformly throughout
the batch. Each high-speed tulip-style chopper fea-
tures air purge seals for long life and is driven by a
5.6 kW motor.
November 2018 13
COVERAGE
SWWW @ IFAT 2018
 FEATURE STORY
SPECIAL
IS OUR STANDARD
Bryan Orchard interviews Yagnesh Buch, Dy. General Manager, KSB Ltd, for Smart
Water & Waste World on the many issues that are now affecting the global pump
and valve industries and how KSB is reacting by offering integrated and automated
solutions that address the potential of India’s growing and transforming the
economy.
Yagnesh Buch, Dy. General Manager, KSB Ltd.
IN A GLOBAL PUMP market
estimated to be around USD
84 billion KSB SE & Co. KGaA
is one of the top five players,
this position resulting from its
presence and manufacturing
activities across all continents.
In addition, the organization
holds a significant position
in the global industrial valve
market.
16 November 2018
KSB has manufacturing
facilities in 16 countries and
is represented in over 100
countries, employing 15,500
people. In addition, it also has
150 service centers and over
3,000 service staff to provide
inspection, maintenance and
repair services for industrial
pumps and valves, as well as
spare parts worldwide. This es-
tablished network of facilities
means that customers benefit
from the company’s extensive
experience, global service sup-
port, and in-depth technical
training.
The KSB Group is organized
into three segments based
on product groups: pumps,
valves, and service. The pumps
segment covers single and
multi-stage pumps and associ-
ated drive and control systems.
The valves segment covers the
butterfly, globe, gate, control,
diaphragm, and ball valves
together with associated actu-
ators and control systems. The
services segment covers the
installation, commissioning,
start-up, and inspection ser-
vice, maintenance of pumps,
related systems, and valves.
Its many pumps and valve
product ranges meet the fluid
handling demands of all in-
dustries, encompassing water
infrastructure, petrochemicals,
power generation, mining, ma-
rine, food and beverage pro-
cessing, agriculture and build-
ing services to name just a few.
KSB’s global position is
largely attributable to its stra-
tegic investment in global
regions where there has been
and continues to be, demand
for its products and services.
By establishing manufactur-
ing facilities in all continents,
it is able to deliver products
and services at a local level
and which satisfy the specific
requirements of the regions.
This approach is illustrated by
the recent acquisition by KSB
USA of Dubric Industries, a
Midwestern-based engineered
repair provider of pumps and
process equipment and dis-
tributor of pumps, seals and
related equipment, whilst in
France a major service center
was opened in Marseille and
a new valve manufacturing
plant at the KSB Valves factory
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
in La Roche-Chalais in 2017.
KSB Limited India has also
been the focus of significant of
its investment with the inau-
guration of its sixth manufac-
turing base, the Energy Pumps
Division at Shirwal, Pune last
year.
KSB in India
It is now over half a century
since KSB established a man-
ufacturing operation in India
and this has expanded in line
with the country’s significant
development in order to be
fully prepared for satisfying
the emerging and accelerated
growth of Indian industry and
other market needs. Known
for its technology leadership,
KSB has built its business on
customer trust and being able
to draw on over 145 years of
experience from its parent
company.
“KSB Limited India has long
been a dominant player in the
pumps and valves industry
and the undisputed leader in
certain product categories”,
reports Yagnesh Buch, Dy.
General Manager, KSB Ltd.
“It is recognized as an organi-
zation which has always been
proactive and receptive to
the evolving and constantly
changing market needs.” For
example, the company has pi-
oneered the indigenous man-
ufacture of vertical canister
pumps and boiler feed pumps
for supercritical power plants.
With the ambitious program
of 12 PHWR 700 MW projects
 FEATURE STORY
at various locations through-
out the country, KSB Pumps
have responded to this and
equipped itself to locally man-
ufacture the primary coolant
pumps (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Eight Vertical Canister
Primary Coolant Pumps - RSR 400/2
and Related Accessories will be
Installed at NPCIL’s Gorakhpur Anu
Vidyut Pariyojana 1 & 2 Project in
Haryana.
Local Manufacturing
and Sales
The company has a network
of four regional sales offices,
18 branch offices, and over
800 dealers and 200 autho-
rized service partners across
the country, as well as four ser-
vice stations.
“Our six manufacturing
sites across India address spe-
cific customer requirements
and market sectors continues
Mr. Buch. “The Irrigation and
Process Division is in Pimpri,
Pune; the Power Projects Di-
vision is in Chinchwad, Pune;
the Water Pumps Division in
Sinnar, Nashik; and the Valves
Division is in Coimbatore. In
order to support these man-
ufacturing units with quality
castings, we have an alloy
steel and a cast iron foundry
in Vambori, near Ahmednagar.
A pump or a valve is only as
good as its casting; so by man-
ufacturing our own castings
in these ultramodern found-
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
ries we can ensure that our
end products are robust and
reliable, thereby conforming
to KSB’s global quality stan-
dards.”
The sixth and most recent
manufacturing plant is the En-
ergy Pumps Division at Shirw-
al, Pune. Located on a 100,000
sq.m. site, this division has
been set up to handle the man-
ufacture of pumps required
for supercritical power plants
and nuclear power plants. The
opening of this Rs. 2500 mil-
lion site signalled a new era
in the history of KSB in India
as it showcased KSB‘s contin-
ued commitment towards the
development of high technol-
ogy engineered products to
meet India’s quest for energy,
through supercritical pow-
er plants and nuclear power
plants. Significantly, it also
embraces the ‘Make in India’
initiative.
Key features of this environ-
mentally friendly plant are the
material handling capability
of up to 80 tons, power capac-
ity expandable up to 10 MW
from 6 MW, the capability to
handle products up to 13 m
high and assembly in a dust-
free environment. The plant
also provides state-of-the-art
testing facilities including hot
water testing, thermal shock,
dry-running, and string test-
ing. It is also proposed that a
1 MW solar plant will come on
stream in the near future.
The advantages of this new
facility are already been re-
alized. With the Indian Gov-
ernment’s ambitious growth
plans in the energy sector, and
the aim to raise contribution
in indigenous manufacturing
under “Make in India” initia-
tive, M/s Nuclear Power Cor-
poration of India (NPCIL) has
awarded KSB Pumps Limited
with an order worth Rupees
4130 million (Euros 55 mil-
lion) for the supply of eight
primary coolant pumps - RSR
400/2 and related accessories.
These pumps will be installed
at NPCIL’s Gorakhpur Anu
Vidyut Pariyojana 1 & 2 proj-
ect in Haryana. The plant is
already geared up to supply
the primary coolant pumps
and will also be able to man-
ufacture the main feedwater
pumps.
Pumps and Valves
for All Industries
The availability of a broad
portfolio of centrifugal pumps
and industrial valves for the
India sub-continent and its
export territories results from
many years of diversifica-
tion and expansion in India,
backed by the experience and
expertise of its principle KSB
SE & Co. KGaA, Germany. This
relationship has contributed
to new products being con-
sistently introduced enabling
the company to be proactive
and receptive to the evolv-
ing and constantly changing
market requirements in India.
The portfolio includes pumps
ranging from small domes-
tic pumps for household and
building applications through
to pumps used in the water
supply, irrigation and sewage
applications, industrial pro-
cessing and power generation
(Figure 2).
“Our portfolio also address-
es the needs of power plants,
which cover the spectrum of
conventional, supercritical and
even nuclear power plants,”
explains Mr. Buch. “Our cast
and forged gate, globe, check
and ball valves manufactured
at Coimbatore cater predom-
inantly for the energy and in-
dustrial sectors. As far as our
aftermarket services are con-
Figure 2: KSB’s KRT is a Global-
ly-Proven Workhorse Pump in the
Wastewater Sector.
cerned, we support our prod-
ucts through our spare parts
operation, as well as providing
supervision of installation and
commissioning, or any further
support that the customer may
require of us.”
Since every item of any
rotating equipment results
in some wear and tear, this
leads to deterioration of per-
formance as well as potential
hazards. Hence it’s prudent to
replace the pump after it has
served its design life, which
can be 10 years to 25 years. To
ensure that the pump is run-
ning at its optimum efficiency,
the exercise starts with agree-
ing and understanding the
specification with the designer
of the application/plant. Every
pump has an optimum pump
range and the best efficiency
point. This is the combination
of flow and head at which
pump works most efficiently.
If the pumps are operated in
this preferred operating range,
then their long service life can
be expected. This is where cus-
tomers access KSB’s skill and
expertise.
The Future
In keeping with many inter-
national pump manufacturers,
KSB Limited India has been
affected in recent years by the
global economic climate. How-
ever, it has maintained growth
and sees a promising future.
“Expectancies have been
very high since the Govern-
ment came into power, but in
reality, the situation has been
rather different,” comments
Mr. Buch. “The activities in the
core sectors that would nor-
mally stimulate the economy
and industrial activity, such
as those in power, oil and gas
sectors remained at a low level.
However, there has been an in-
crease in activities in the oil in-
dustry over the past year and
a clear direction is visible in
the Indian nuclear programme
since 2017.”
“Whilst many manufactur-
ers reported business reduc-
tions throughout 2016/17,
KSB India was able to sustain
and grow its performance due
to introducing strategic mea-
sures involving product inno-
vations and availability,” says
Mr. Buch. “This effort was ably
supported by the concerted
efforts of the very loyal and
strong dealer network.”
It has to be recognized that
India has a long way to go to in
terms of further development,
but there is a feeling that im-
provements in the economy
should be coming through by
the end of 2018. Development
is slow and needs speeding up
and rural India has yet to get
the full benefits of modern
technology. However, growth
in the power sector is immi-
nent and infrastructure devel-
opment is looking positive. In
the longer term, with water is
becoming scarce, the introduc-
tion of seawater desalination
will need serious consider-
ation in the coming years.
“India is gearing up to be a
superpower in the near future
and we have the resources
(including talent and knowl-
edge) in the country to secure
a leading position worldwide,”
says Mr. Buch. “In doing so, the
pump and valve industry has a
major part to play because it is
central to all activities.
The other significant chal-
lenge that has to be addressed
is that of counterfeit products
in what is very much an unreg-
ulated environment. Not only
do they undercut prices, but
they also introduce sub-stan-
dard and potentially danger-
ous products on to the market.
It is a global problem particu-
larly in India, China and South
East Asia where many indus-
try sectors are price conscious.
KSB is taking a proactive ap-
proach to closing down on-line
sales operations and distribu-
tors of counterfeit KSB pumps,
but like many other reputable
international manufacturers
business is being lost to rogue
operators. Around 90 percent
of the pumps and valves re-
quired by Indian customers
come from multinationals and
organized local players. Multi-
national companies continue
to introduce new technolo-
gies and designs suitable for
local manufacture and which
accommodate the advanced
needs customers.
The breadth of the KSB Lim-
November 2018 17
 FEATURE STORY
ited India product portfolio
affords the company access
to a wide range of customers,
thereby ensuring that quality
control and product improve-
ment is a vital part of the busi-
ness.
“Customer feedback heav-
ily influences such improve-
ments”, continues Mr. Buch.
“We are the technology lead-
ers in most of the markets in
CASE STUDY
Introducing
the Concept of
Floating Barges
Traditionally split case
and vertical turbine pumps
have been used for water
transfer and are installed
in large pumping stations.
It is necessary, therefore, to
construct these pumping
stations appropriate loca-
tions where there is plenty
of space and civil engineered
ground works, elements that
can incur high costs. Howev-
er, where the pumps are on
a river bank or in a mining
environment, changing water
level is the major constraint in
building a pump house. Also,
in many cases, the geology at
such site does not allow any
civil construction. The answer
to this problem is to construct
a floating barge because it
avoids the issues of priming
and balancing the pump and
motor, plus it saves on civil
costs and routine mainte-
nance (Figure 3).
Figure 3: A Floating Barge Because it Avoids the Issues of Priming and
Balancing the Pump and Motor, Plus it Saves on Civil Costs and Routine
Maintenance.
In regions where monsoons
occur, river bank and mining
pumping stations can become
inoperative due to high levels
18 November 2018
which we operate in and our
products are designed to meet
needs of applications ranging
from domestic water supply to
the most critical applications
in nuclear, supercritical and
thermal power. We have access
to advanced products and sys-
tems from our principles for
which Indian customers are
yet not ready. Remote moni-
toring of pumping systems is
of rainwater. KSB Pumps Ltd
has successfully undertaken
many such projects, so with
its wealth of experience, it
is a preferred option when
it comes to supplying the
pumps their correct installa-
tion.
The problems or challeng-
es faced when pumps are
installed directly in river lo-
cations without the construc-
tion of a civil structure or
floating barge are:
• Water schemes at the hill
station
• Riverbank
• River sand
• Solid particles or pollutants
in the river
• Water stream
• Change in the water stream
in monsoon
When it comes to mines,
the challenges include:
• Changing water levels
• Solid contents
• Continuous digging of
open pits varies the water
level during every mon-
soon
The main solutions that
address the above problems/
challenges typically are:
• Traditional pumping sta-
tion with the civil struc-
one such example. When the
market in India is ready for
high efficiency, integrated and
automated solutions we are
completely ready to satisfy all
requirements.”
At KSB, the mantra is ‘Spe-
cial is our standard’. “This”,
says Mr. Buch, “means taking
special care during pump or
valve selection, matching the
materials the liquids handled,
ture
• T emporary foundation on
river bed or bed of reser-
voir/ water body
• Transportable installation
of pumps
• Nonclog submersible
pumps along with HDPE
floating barge
KSB’s Floating
Barge Platforms
KSB offers a proven alter-
native technology to these
problems. This involves con-
structing custom-designed
floating barge packages for
applications that require
mounting the pump over a
large body of liquid (Figure
3). Floating barge platforms
can be towed into place and
anchored, where a pump can
then be lowered or raised on
an integral hoist for ease of
access.
Figure 4: Providing Balanced Buoyancy, the HDPE Cubes are Corrosion
Resistant.
KSB engineers work with
their customers in the design
of the system so that it meets
the specific requirements of
the project. The buoyancy is
provided by HDPE cubes po-
sitioned within a rugged steel
envelope that provides the ad-
equate rigidity for the entire
pontoon/ barge. This modular
construction can be assembled
and dismantled as required
Figure 5: KSB Recommends Supplying Floating Barge Along with IP: 68
Protected Submersible Pumps which Cater to High Flow and High Head.
on site. Providing balanced
buoyancy, the HDPE cubes are
corrosion resistant and enable
KSB’s engineers to modify the
design of barge in the event of
adding a pump on the barge
(Figure 4). A further advantage
of the HDPE cubes is that if
one or two cubes are damaged
(punctured), buoyancy is not
affected. This is in stark con-
trast to the traditional barge/
pontoon damage which can
unbalance the buoyancy and
therefore requires immediate
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
and installation and commis-
sioning. It is a way of life, and
that is why a KSB user enjoys
being our customer because
they are assured of the reliabil-
ity and quality performance of
KSB pumps or valves.”
Bryan Orchard is an inter-
national freelance journalist
who specializes in water and
environmental engineering.
maintenance or replacement.
Floating barge pumping
provides an easy flow and the
enables the rate of liquid flow
to be altered as duty condi-
tions change. Perfect for appli-
cations in which mounting the
pump over a large liquid body
is required; these independent
pumping systems are mobile
and can be used in various
locations, thus allowing for
improved mine water manage-
ment as conditions demand.
Considering the require-
ments of an application, KSB
recommends supplying float-
ing barge along with IP: 68
protected submersible pumps
which cater for high flow and
high head (Figure 5). Being
submersible pumps NPSH
(net positive suction head)
and balancing issues are re-
solved automatically and can
be operated in monsoon con-
ditions. The maintenance of
KSB’s submersible pump is
comparatively less than sur-
face-mounted pumps and is
designed to handle solids up
to 120 mm size, thereby re-
moving the problem of clog-
ing.
 COLUMN
Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment
Systems
By Frost & Sullivan
WITH RAPID URBAN-
IZATION, availability of
good-quality water is becom-
ing scarce. Adding to that
pressure is increasing popula-
tion and pollution. The world
population is increasing by
80 million each year, growing
to be globally water-scarce by
2025. Hence, it is getting cru-
cial to consider alternative op-
tions before the global scarcity
increases significantly. The
increasing population trigger-
ing growth in water demand
calls for improvement in both
the quantity and quality of wa-
ter. Increasing water demand
to support cities, industries,
and agriculture is resulting
in a limited distribution of
freshwater resources. Urban
development is also impacting
freshwater resources and the
water cycle. Hence, decreas-
ing freshwater resources will
encourage resource recovery
and water recycling and reuse,
thereby driving the need for
advanced treatment systems.
The ageing wastewater in-
frastructure is making the
treatment process complex
and forcing operators to make
the difficult decision of ei-
ther refurbishing or replacing
equipment with new advanced
technology. With numerous
facilities functioning beyond
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
their designed lifespan, it will
make more sense for equip-
ment to be replaced with
new and advanced treatment
systems. Many systems are
close to 100 years old—far
surpassing their design lives.
Over time, these systems will
have experienced inadequate
repair, upgrades, and main-
tenance, leading to increased
stress, reduced efficiency,
and rapid failure and dete-
rioration. Hence, it becomes
important to replace such
systems with new and smart
treatment technologies. One
of the pivotal drivers for ad-
vanced treatment systems is
stringent regulations. Globally,
every country has its own leg-
islation on water quality and
reuse with an increasing level
of enforcement.
Innovation in the water in-
dustry has led to a number of
cutting-edge advancements in
wastewater treatment. Water
and wastewater municipali-
ties are on a continuous search
for novel tools. The treatment
technologies have been evolv-
ing over time, addressing
different kinds of pollution
problems. For instance, util-
ities were not too particular
about treating micro-pollut-
ants a few years ago; howev-
er, it has become a concern in
Europe. Micro-pollutants can
be addressed with technolo-
gies that can detect and treat
low-concentration pollutants.
Activated carbon adsorption
and innovative filtration tech-
nologies are employed by util-
ities to treat micro-pollutants.
Many technology compa-
nies are constantly address-
ing issues related to drinking
water quality and effluent
quality. Automation of such
treatment processes has been
made possible through Super-
visory Control and Data Ac-
quisition (SCADA), albeit with
limitations. Developments in
the field of IoT in the water
industry have improved wa-
ter management. With various
collaborative tools that can
integrate water treatment tech-
nologies with sensors, analyt-
ics platforms have enhanced
customer satisfaction. IoT-led
innovation is re-designing the
water industry and its value
chain. It is changing a verti-
cally integrated water industry
into a diverse, dynamic, and
well-distributed system. For
instance, IoT has transformed
the way smart meters are col-
lecting and processing custom-
er data, thus aiding utilities in
producing critical business
insights concerning real-time
and historic usage, peer com-
parison, behavioral analysis,
and so much more.
Customer-centric innova-
tion, digital transformation,
predictive analytics, val-
ue-added services, and exem-
plary customer service will
drive the advanced water treat-
ment systems market. Frost
& Sullivan has identified the
market potential of advanced
water treatment systems with
an estimated market revenue
of USD 4.5 billion and is ex-
pected to grow at a CAGR of
14.3% from 2017-2022. Some
MARKET INSIGHT
of the key technologies and
services in the advanced wa-
ter treatment systems that will
add great value are advanced
desalination technologies,
UV-LED disinfection, Ceram-
ic membranes, big data, and
predictive analytics, etc. While
the innovations in desalina-
tion technologies will move to-
wards removal of salt from the
water rather than water from
the salt, with a drastic reduc-
tion in energy consumption,
LED-based UV disinfection
systems will be the microchip
of health, due to their ability
to achieve 99.999% disinfec-
tion in 60 seconds. Also, Digi-
tal transformation has enabled
the prediction of chemical
usage and dosage patterns, en-
abling reduction of treatment
chemical wastage.
Despite all these advance-
ments in the water and waste-
water treatment systems,
many emerging economies
lack the funding option to
move to advanced treatment
systems. These utilities heavily
rely on subsidies and, hence,
look out for financially viable
options or business models. In
some cases, the utilities delay
the implementation of such
technologies. Such lacuna can
be addressed by innovative
business models that can add
tremendous value to the utili-
ties and increase the penetra-
tion rate of these technologies.
One of the innovative business
models is Pay for Performance
where companies set up pilot
plants for utilities or industries
and establish the performance
of the system before charging
clients.
Prepaid water and wastewa-
ter treatment services is anoth-
er innovative business model
that can robustly address lack
of funding problems in utili-
ties in emerging economies.
Many African cities are con-
tinuing to grow both in pop-
ulation and development at
historic rates. Basic facilities
such as water supply and sani-
tation are struggling to keep up
with this growth rate. Driven
by challenges experienced by
many water utilities to connect
unaffordable or poor commu-
nities to networks and recover
the cost of water supply, there
has been a tremendous rise in
the interest for pre-paid meters
for water supply provisions in
African cities. As urban service
providers in Africa still have
low network penetration rate
and are unable to deliver con-
tinuous 24-hour water supply
to existing customers, many
dwellers are forced to rely on
expensive alternatives such as
vendors, wells, and boreholes.
which carry a high risk of po-
tential contamination. The
focus of this business model
lies in not just prepaid meters,
but an entire prepaid system.
Numerous factors can drive or
restrain the effectiveness of the
prepaid system. These include
access to a potentially scarce re-
placement of parts by services
providers, accessibility and
convenience of pay points of
customers, the existence of un-
interrupted water supply to re-
duce technical failures, data in-
tegration and IT management,
and importance of strong com-
munication strategy.
The advanced treatment
technologies or smart technol-
ogies will be the ‘new green’, as
they serve to improve process
efficiencies while cutting costs
and making the measurements
and indication aspect of a tech-
nology simple and hassle-free.
Deepthi Sugumar is a Re-
search Analyst at Frost and
Sullivan.
@FrostSullivanEE
November 2018 19
COMPONENTS BUSINESS PERSON OF THE MONTH

20 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COMPONENTS BUSINESS
BM BALAKRISHNA
Coming from a humble background and beginning his career with numerous small jobs to
now owning a well-respected and fast growing water treatment equipment company in India
with an annual turnover of Rs. 20 crores, Battala Munuswamy Balakrishna, Founder & CEO -
AQUAPOT, believes that quality and service are the pillars of his success. Mayur Sharma talks
to him about his interesting and very inspiring journey so far...
MR. BM BALAKRISHNA,
FONDLY called as ‘Bala’ by
his friends and industry col-
leagues, had come to Banga-
lore with just 1000 rupees in
his pocket which his mother
had saved by milking cows. He
had something more valuable
hidden with him though...a
strong conviction in his abili-
ties and the discipline required
to channel all his energies into
whatever he worked at.
After completing his 10th
standards, Mr. Balakrishna
joined Intermediate wherein
he passed in the subject Math-
ematics in his 8th attempt after
failing in it 7 times. He says,
“Later on, I was further inter-
ested to complete my educa-
tion. Therefore, I joined for a
diploma in Nellore and came
out with a good 72%. So in
college days, I can say that I
was topping in my trade. That
is how I finished my diploma.”
He completed his Automobile
Diploma in the year 2001.
When 72% Marks
Couldn’t Land
a Job Offer
Coming to jobs, Mr. Bal-
akrishna thought 72% marks
were more than enough to
get a good job. He had walked
in almost all the automobile
showrooms in Bangalore like
Opal, Mahindra, Maruti, etc.
Though every showroom had
his resume, he did not get a
single call from any of them.
By now, he had decided to join
any random job as the 1000 ru-
pees given to him by his moth-
er was slowly getting spent.
She had saved this money by
milking cows which at those
times was sold at 3 rupees a
liter.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
“I had decided to go back
to my village if I didn’t get
any work. I requested a small
Maruti service station own-
er saying that I would accept
any salary and any kind of
job. He told me that if I want-
ed to do even a mechanic job,
I will have to wash cars for at
least 1 year. I accepted his of-
fer and started working. He
offered me 400 rupees per
month. It was in the year 2002.
I had completed my diploma
in 2001. Within 3 months of
completing my diploma, I had
joined into Maruti. I worked
there for around 6 months.”
From Rs. 400 Rs. to
Rs. 2000 a Month
Mr. Balakrishna had been
applying for many jobs while
he was working as a car wash-
er. His parents had provided
him with more educational
facilities compared to his sib-
ling. They had spent quite a
lot of money to educate him.
He thought if he kept continu-
ing there, it would take a lot of
time to reach a certain level.
Therefore, he started applying
for other jobs. He adds, “One
day I got the call from CRI
Pumps. They needed a Mar-
keting Executive. The starting
salary that they offered me was
2000 rupees plus a stipend of
150 rupees for each tour. I felt
it was something crazy jump-
ing from 400 rupees to 2000
rupees. I decided to do mar-
keting and come out of the
automobile mindset. I then
joined as a Marketing Execu-
tive in the Chittoor branch of
CRI Pumps. It is in the border
of Tamil Nadu. I worked there
for 3 years. In those 3 years, I
travelled to almost all the vil-
lages. My job was to create my
company’s brand awareness
among the customers. Maybe
that is the experience that I am
using right now in my brand
awareness programme. There
I learned - how one can create
the brand awareness. We used
to travel in open-top jeeps to
all the villages. The roads were
not good. We had the target to
cover 5-10 villages in a day. We
used to keep a mike with us
and announced our branding
through it. We used to meet
the farmers, carry irrigation
pumps and give them demon-
strations. These 3 years were a
very big learning point for me
at that time.”
Moving to Hyderabad
Mr. Balakrishna had bigger
aspirations. He now wanted
to move to a bigger market.
He comments, “After those 3
years, I decided to go to Hyder-
abad. I was working in a town
but I wanted to move to a city. I
applied for jobs in Hyderabad.
In those 3 years, I had travelled
a lot and suffered from back
pain due to the continuous
long journeys. There is a com-
pany who are into air pollution
control.
They offered me a job as
a Resident Engineer. My job
was to cater to industries like
cement, food, pharma, steel,
and all those where there was
air pollution. I used to pro-
mote my company products in
all these industries. I worked
there for 7 years. I had worked
well and the company had also
taken care of me. It was a very
good journey in that company.
I had loved working there.”
The Idea of Business
PERSON OF THE MONTH
Venture Came at a Wa-
ter Expo
At one point in time, things
started to become a regular
routine for Mr. Balakrishna
which was very unlike him.
His dynamic nature wanted
him to do something different.
He recollects, “I thought of do-
ing something myself, on my
own. One of my friends asked
me to go to an expo that was
going on in Chennai. It was
the place where we decided to
start our business venture. He
asked me what we wanted to
do. I told him that I wanted to
work with domestic products.
One of my friends came from
Salem also. He was already
there in this business. He told
me that he would train me for
the same. This was the year
2010. I visited the Water Today
Expo. From here, I straight-
away went to Salem though it
was not in my plan.”
Started RO Business
with PF Amount
Before going to the expo, Mr.
Balakrishna had read about the
water industry online. He had
read somewhere that only 12%
of the world’s population has
access to safe drinking water.
So it was one of the budding
businesses. At Salem, he was
handling domestic assembling
of ROs. “I sat with their techni-
cians and tried to understand
the technology and learned
how to assemble the system.
I also learned to make minor
repairs, etc. My friend told me
that if I wanted, I could buy
products from him.
I had just received my PF
amount of 1,27,000 rupees in
my bank account. I told him
that I would transfer the same
amount to him and buy prod-
ucts from him. So I transferred
the amount and also got 15-
20 systems from Salem. One
of my friends, Mr. Navin, was
also in the same business. He
was already operating from an
office. But he wanted to dis-
pose of that office. He asked
me if I wanted to take it. Ini-
tially, I had got 20 systems
from Salem.
The Precious First Order
“My first order was given by
my friend’s neighbor. I had got
it at 5000 rupees and sold it at
7500 rupees. I took the system
on my back and went for its
installation. I had fitted it on
my own and everything went
right.
I became confident in my-
self then. Within 1 month, all
the systems were sold out. It
was the year 2010 then. There-
after, I got to know that I could
make it on my own by sourc-
ing the components from Hy-
derabad. It was suggested to
me that it was always better to
procure it locally and then as-
semble on your own. Initially,
I went to a few of the traders
in Hyderabad and got the com-
ponents and assembled it. Ini-
tially, I used to assemble them.
Later, I hired 2-3 people for the
same. I had hired some techni-
cians and trained them as well.
I was concentrating on mar-
keting. I made a small notice
stating the Aquapot products.
I still have one or two copies of
them.
At that time, Aquapot brand
was not there. One fine day, we
decided that we must give it a
name because it will then be
a branded product. Instead of
selling it as a local product, we
November 2018 21
 COMPONENTS BUSINESS
(L-R) BM Balakrishna with Mayur Sharma and Kailash Shirodkar (SWWW team)
could make it a brand and then
sell it.”, says Mr. Balakrishna.
Aquapot Name - A Mix
of Tradition and Water
Mr. Balakrishna made his
first product in the year 2010.
It was of the capacity of 13 li-
ters per hour. When his friends
saw the product for the first
time, they found it quite good
and thought he could do
something in the market with
it. He had started selling it by
the brand name Aquapot. He
had first stored water in a clay
pot. So, mixing tradition with
water, he came up with the
combination name Aquapot.
The one thing that he was sure
about is that it would start with
Aqua. Since it was a water-re-
lated product, he captioned
it - ‘Purity Assured’. Aquapot
is his brand name and ‘Purity
Assured’ is the caption.
First Product was a
46-Components RO
Quality was his first prefer-
ence. It is the reason why he
put together an entire gamut
of 46 components together to
make a seamless domestic RO.
He believed that people would
pay for quality. Once the peo-
ple were satisfied they sug-
gested it to their neighbours.
He believes it is better than
1000 people refer Aquapot to
a single person than a single
person refer Aquapot to 1000
people. It was then that he de-
cided to push the product into
the market. He requested the
local OEMs to sell his product.
Initially, they were not much
interested. But later on, people
started believing in his prod-
uct.
Thereafter, he opened his
offices at Vijayawada, Tirupati,
and Bangalore.
22 November 2018
First Major Order -
First Year Turnover
of Rs. 20-25 Lakhs
While Mr. Balakrishna was
doing domestic RO business,
he got an inquiry from MNR
Dairy Farm of Hyderabad re-
quiring 10,000 litres capacity
RO. He had submitted a quo-
tation of 10 lakh rupees back
then. His team’s approach and
way of clarifying their techni-
cal doubts made the customer
straightaway believe them and
give them the order. This order
gave them the confidence that
they could take even project
orders, industrial orders, and
grow further. He says that this
in parallel gave them a good
number of enemies also.
Their first year’s turnover
was 20-25 lakh rupees with not
even 100 units in 2010. It was
then 45 lakh rupees, 80 lakh
rupees, 1.2 crore rupees, and
1.8 crore rupees in the consec-
utive years. “We may cross 15-
20 crore rupees this year. No
doubt, it is a very good figure
based on the Hyderabad mar-
ket.”, says Mr. Balakrishna.
An Incident to
Remember
Mr. Balakrishna tells us
about an interesting incident
that took place in his early
days. He says, “We got a call
from L&T, Hyderabad Metro
Rail Project stating that they
required a 10,000 liter RO. We
went to the site to see the exact
situation. What they needed
was a water softener, not an
RO. We told them that techni-
cally they were looking for a
wrong product and the best al-
ternative would be a softener.
They asked how big it would
be. We told them it would be
a 4000-liter resin model with a
big vessel. It was actually lifted
with the help of cranes back
then. Even today, I can claim
that it is the biggest water
softener in Hyderabad. After
we sent them the quote with
the technical specifications,
they had asked for competitive
quotations. There were a total
of 17 people. On the basis of
the technical requirement, 10
people were rejected. Among
the 7 left, they again wanted a
price list. At the last moment,
they asked for its rough draw-
ing. They said that they could
make the vessel, procure the
resin, and make it on their
own. They would save 2-3 lakh
rupees in the project in this
manner. Its value back then
was around 10 lakh rupees. I
told them that no doubt they
could make it, but a little bit
of expertise was also needed.
If they could give us a chance,
it would be good. Initially, they
were worried about its perfor-
mance and therefore asked me
a bank guarantee of 10%. We
had to arrange a bank guar-
antee as there was a shortage
of money. L&T said that if we
wanted some advance money,
they would give us 10% - 20%
of the total amount. They had
never done that before. We
gave them a bank guarantee
against their order of 10 lakh
rupees. We took the complete
amount of 90% started work-
ing on it. It was executed very
well. We never received a
single call from them except
after 1 year to take that 10%
bank guarantee back. We had
thought that the 10% money
would never come back. This
is because even we did not
have 100% confidence in the
regular traditional softener,
and this was a huge one. Luck-
ily everything went well and
finally, we received our bank
guarantee money.”
How did the Solar Water
Purifier Happen?
After 3-4 years of being in
RO business, Mr. Balakrishna
thought of mixing solar power
with water. He made a compact
system that had inbuilt com-
ponents. The product came
out very well and even today
he claims that it is more eco-
nomical than the traditional
PERSON OF THE MONTH
water purifiers. The solar water
purifier is rugged and requires
zero maintenance. Thereafter,
they have developed 3 to 4
models of the same.
People were Amused
at the Idea of RO
Superstore
Mr. Balakrishna believes
in thinking beyond the lim-
its in whatever one does. He
launched the RO superstore in
June 2017. It is located at Kom-
pally, exactly 14 km from his
office at Hyderabad. He has
rented a huge space at 1.5 lakh
rupees per month for the Su-
perstore. It is a warehouse cum
store. “When I started the RO
Superstore, I invited around
100 traders for lunch. Every-
body was shocked. They said
it was unnecessary and would
never work. Almost 20 people
among them assumed that we
were going to do it successful-
ly. From that day itself, they
stopped talking to me. I my-
self made them my enemies
from that day. Many of them
laughed at that time.”
“For example, if you want
1000 pieces of small O-Rings,
you will find them at the Super-
store easily. In short, you will
have the availability of com-
ponents, complete readymade
products, and also products
with particular combination
volume-wise. Technicians are
shown with actual floor prod-
ucts, given rock-bottom prices,
as well as immediate availabil-
ity.”, says Mr. Balakrishna.
The one thing that he wants
to assure his customer is
that he is capable and strong
enough to supply any quan-
tity. He says, “Many suppliers
in Hyderabad don’t even have
a godown. Whereas, we have
7 Godowns and 1 Superstore.
What they see is what they
buy. For this purpose, I have
brought in the Superstore.”
Never Followed up with
a Customer in 7 Years
In the 7 years of his career,
Mr. Balakrishna has never
sought the phone number of
a customer for follow-up. He
says his job ends after giving
the customer a quotation. He
will assure the quality, explain
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
the product, quote the best
price, and then limit himself.
He never allows his people to
follow-up the orders. He asks
his customers to finally come
to him with the least quotation
that they might have procured
from 10 other people. “I would
show him the difference and
still give him the best prod-
uct. So the customer will start
believing me.”, says Mr. Bal-
akrishna.
He wants to make his cus-
tomer base strong and perma-
nent. Whenever a customer
calls, he takes the order, gives
the prices, and does every-
thing within seconds. He fur-
ther adds, “My service is very
fast. This encourages word of
mouth publicity of our Com-
pany. There are so many peo-
ple who are surprised. They
ask me who is supporting me,
who is behind me and all. But
there is nothing else than my
motivation behind me.”
Open for Collaboration
with Foreign Companies
Battala Balakrishna is ready
to open branches in new cities
once he finds the right people.
He is ready to enter into joint
ventures, collaboration with
foreign companies. “If some-
thing comes, like joint venture
or manufacturing, I am open
for it. I am selling more than
a manufacturer. A steel tank/
container manufacturer in Hy-
derabad usually has a stock of
10 or 20. In my store, you will
find 300 tanks.
Searching for New
Technologies in RO
New technologies, innova-
tions, new products, indus-
try peers stories, and related
events catch Mr. Balakrishna’s
attention. As he pioneers the
RO field, he is glued to articles
that have knowledge related to
the same. The columns on peo-
ple who develop new products
also interest him.
AQUAPOT recently won
an award in Dubai at World’s
‘Greatest Brand & Leaders
2017-18 (Asia & GCC)’ in Wa-
ter Treatment Manufacturing
category- a testimony to the
fact that it always stands for
the ‘new’ and ‘innovation’.
 COVER STORY

VALUE OF
WASTEWATER
Smart Water & Waste World
reaches out to wastewater
companies, regulators,
contractors, and engineering
experts to look at the future
needs of wastewater segment,
with a focus on opportunities
in wastewater technology and
innovation, while developing
cost-effective strategies
for recycle & reuse.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 23

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Take a Proactive Approach to Rehabilitate Aging

Infrastructure
A historic Massachusetts town has implemented a comprehensive rehabilitation
program to create a more efficient, less costly, and more predictable wastewater
collection system.
By Patrick M. Cotton, Nathan E. Michael, and Jason L. Mammone

As Part of its Comprehensive Asset Management Program, the Town of Dedham, Mass., has Smoke Tested its Entire Sewer System. The Process Entails Pumping a Nontoxic White Smoke into the System
and Observing the Surrounding Area for Smoke Escaping from the Ground or from Drainage Structures. The Appearance of Smoke Indicates Either a Direct (Image on Left) or Indirect (Image on Right)
Connection Through Which Surface Runoff May Enter the System.

DEDHAM, MASS., IS a res-
idential community located
southwest of Boston in USA.
The town’s wastewater drains
east to the Boston line, where
it enters the Massachusetts
Water Resources Authority
(MWRA) interceptor and is
ultimately treated at the Deer
Island Wastewater Treatment
Plant.
Dedham’s sewer man-
agement program (annual
program) is used to operate,
maintain, and manage its ag-
ing collection system; remove
extraneous infiltration and
inflow (I/I); and keep sewer
related costs low. The annual
program is a model tool that
supports the community’s
wastewater collection system
and saves money.
In 2006, Dedham faced a ne-
glected sanitary sewer collec-
tion system, first constructed
in 1901, and increased costs
associated with operation and
maintenance. The town soon
began a comprehensive in-
vestigation and rehabilitation
program. The approach, incor-
porated in the annual program,
benefits the town by identify-
ing and removing extraneous
I/I while repairing structural
deficiencies within the collec-
tion system before emergency
repairs are required.
ANALYZING AGING
INFRASTRUCTURE
The program began by an-
alyzing the town’s entire 94-
mile gravity sewer collection
system and separating it into
26 sewer basins. The basins
then were prioritized for in-
vestigation and rehabilitation
based on age, known prob-
lem areas, amount of work
previously completed, and in-
creased flow rates during wet
weather.
Repairs were made from
2006 to 2012. The town then
developed the annual program
in 2013 based on the results of
a comprehensive flow meter-
ing project in which 24 flow
meters were installed during
the spring of 2012. The I/I
analysis identified 3.4 MGD of
peak infiltration and 8.5 MGD
of peak storm inflow. The I/I
analysis results were used to
create the annual program.
Each project year includes
manhole inspections and tele-
vision inspections in the proj-
ect area. Evaluation, design,
and rehabilitation of cost-ef-
fective and value-effective de-
fects are then completed.
A follow-up flow metering

24 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

effects of a five-year, 24-hour

Television Inspection is Used to Re-
cord the Interior Condition of Each
Sewer Line Segment, in This Case
Revealing a Potential Collapse.
storm event on the wastewater
collection system. A scenario
was run that included average
daily flow, plus the estimated It’s estimated
five-year, 24-hour peak inflow
as observed at the 24 flow me- that the annual
ters during the 2016 I/I anal- program has
ysis. No SSO conditions were
generated during this scenario saved rate payers
run, which confirmed the sew-
er system isn’t at risk of an SSO
approximately
USD 10 million
during such a storm event.

several other types of infra- Topside Manhole Inspec- during the

A Topside Manhole Inspection Revealed Wall Infiltration and a Damaged
Internal Connection.
program was performed in
the spring of 2016 to identify
how the repairs performed be-
tween the spring of 2012 and
the spring of 2016 affected I/I
rates. The same 24-meter pro-
gram was performed, and the
analysis identified 2.7 MGD of
peak infiltration and 7.3 MGD
of peak storm inflow. The re-
sults showed the annual pro-
gram was benefiting the town
by reducing I/I, which in turn
decreases the amount of flow
being needlessly treated by
MWRA.
Every five years, a flow me-
tering project is conducted
to analyze the program’s suc-
cess and reprioritize it. This
ensures the sewer system is
operating efficiently and new
I/I sources are identified reg-
ularly.
ADDITIONAL
ANALYSES
Dedham also has performed
structure analysis.
Sanitary Sewer Overflows
(SSOs) and Hydraulic Model-
ing
Historically, Dedham has
experienced only one SSO
within the last 10 years, and
it wasn’t because of a signifi-
cant rain event. The town ex-
perienced five significant rain
events during that time, none
of which caused an SSO to oc-
cur.
In addition to reviewing
historical SSOs and rainfall
data, Dedham developed a hy-
draulic model to analyze the
tions
Manhole inspections consist
of a topside visual inspection
of sanitary sewer manholes
and are typically performed
during the spring, when peak
groundwater conditions exist
and allow for visual confirma-
tion of infiltration. Manhole
location, diameter, depth, ma-
terial, and cover casting and
size, as well as a flow estimate
for all infiltration sources, are
recorded for each manhole
inspected. Information on in-
flow sources are also recorded.
The inspection also provides
information on structural de-
program’s short
life.”
fects in manholes that could
be repaired as part of the
town’s regular maintenance
activities. Since 2007, Dedham
has inspected all sewer man-
holes several times, totaling
approximately 4,250 manhole
inspections.
Television Inspection of
Sewers
Television inspection is con-
ducted to locate and document
pipeline defects and to directly

Dye Testing is Conducted by Introducing Dyed Water into a Suspected Inflow Source (Left) and Observing the Surrounding Sewer and Drain Lines for the Dye’s Emergence (Right).

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 25

 COVER STORY
Inflow Sources Identified During
Building Inspections Included
Sump Pumps (Left) and Floor Drains
(Right).
observe infiltration rates. As
with the manhole inspections,
television inspection is con-
ducted during the spring to
coincide with peak groundwa-
ter conditions. A closed-circuit
television camera is used to re-
cord the interior condition of
each line segment. Television
inspection logs are completed
for each segment, document-
ing the location of each service
connection, joint condition
and spacing, debris deposi-
tion, pipe defect locations,
and infiltration rates. This in-
formation is used to specify
the appropriate rehabilitation
technique and to determine
the cost-effectiveness of reha-
bilitating each defect. During
the inspection, a pan-and-tilt
camera is used to observe the
pipe defects, leaks, and the
internal condition of service
connections. Since 2007, the
town has completed television
inspection of all gravity sewer
pipes multiple times.
Smoke Testing
Smoke testing consists of
pumping a nontoxic white
smoke into the sanitary sew-
er collection system and ob-
serving the surrounding area
for smoke escaping from the
ground or from drainage
structures. The appearance of
smoke indicates either a direct
or indirect connection through
which surface runoff may en-
ter the sewer system. Direct
sources include catch basins,
driveway drains, patio drains,
stairwell drains, or yard drains
that discharge directly to the
sewer system. It’s assumed
that rehabilitation can remove
100 percent of direct inflow.
An indirect source consti-
tutes rainwater that infiltrates
into the ground before en-
tering the sewer system at a
26 November 2018
sewer system defect, such as
cracked pipes or offset joints
in adjacent sewer and drain
pipes that create an indirect
connection between the drain
and sewer systems. It’s as-
sumed that rehabilitation can
remove only 50 percent of in-
direct inflow, as the rainwater
could enter the sewer system
at another defect that has yet
to be identified. Indirect in-
flow sources can occur during
a rain event when there’s an
opportunity for a drainage
structure to be hydraulically
connected to the sanitary sew-
er system. An example of this
is a cracked service connection
located below a cracked drain
line. When a rain event occurs,
rainwater migrates from the
drain line, through the soil,
and into the defective service
connection. Since 2007, the
town has smoke tested the en-
tire sewer system as part of its
annual program.
Dye Testing and Dye Flood-
ing
Sources identified during
the smoke testing process are
confirmed by performing dye
testing or dye flooding. Dye
testing uses less than 10 gal
of water and is conducted by
introducing dyed water into a
suspected inflow source and
observing the surrounding
sewer and drain lines for the
emerging dye. Dye flooding
uses more than 10 gal of water.
If dye appears in the sewer sys-
tem, it indicates the nature of
the inflow source’s connection
to the sewer system. Sources
that are inconclusive or unable
to be tested are followed up
with a visual field or television
inspection.
Private Building Inspections
The building inspection
process involves a two-person
team entering the basement
or lowest level of as many
buildings as possible within
the project area to identify
inflow sources to the sanitary
sewer system. Inflow sourc-
es identified during building
inspections have included
sump pumps, floor drains
that are subject to inflow, and
open sewer cleanouts that al-
low clean water to enter the
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
sanitary sewer system. These The CEA can result in one of program based on the 2016 I/I
sources often are used by the following conditions: analysis. The I/I removed from
the building owner to relieve • Excessive means the cost to the sewer system is no longer
flooding conditions in or rehabilitate the infiltration needlessly treated and allows
around the building during source is less than the T&T for sewer costs to increase at a
wet weather. A public notifi- cost. All inflow sources are rate that’s 75 percent less than
cation campaign is conducted considered excessive. that of neighboring commu-
prior to and during the build- • Non-excessive is the oppo- nities. It’s estimated that the
ing inspection program. site, where the cost to reha- annual program has saved rate
bilitate the source is more payers approximately USD 10
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis than the T&T cost. million during the program’s
A Cost-Effectiveness Analy- • Value-effective means the short life.
sis (CEA) is performed for all cost to rehabilitate the
identified pipe and manhole source is more than the T&T About the Authors
defects to determine the merit cost, but rehabilitation is rec- Patrick M. Cotton is a Proj-
of rehabilitating each defect. ommended because of the ect Manager and Nathan E.
The CEA compares the esti- relative value of the repair. Michael is a Team Leader for
mated cost for removing I/I In this case, the T&T cost is Weston & Sampson Engineers,
with the estimated savings in within a certain percentage Peabody, Mass. Jason L. Mam-
Transportation and Treatment of the rehabilitation cost. mone is Director of Engineer-
(T&T) costs resulting from I/I • Non-excessive Recommend- ing for the town of Dedham,
removal. ed means the cost to rehabil- Mass.
T&T costs consist of capital itate the source is more than Source: This article original-
costs to expand and upgrade the T&T cost, but rehabilita- ly appeared in the August 2018
the wastewater system as tion is still recommended for issue of Opflow, the water in-
well as annual operation and structural repairs that are a dustry’s most popular resource
maintenance costs, which are priority. on operations issues pub-
directly related to the quanti- lished by the American Water
ty of flow being discharged to EFFECTIVE RESULTS Works Association (AWWA).
pump stations and treatment Dedham’s annual program The award-winning monthly
facilities. Increased usage will treats the collection system like magazine presents new and
be reflected by increased op- a valuable asset that requires established technologies and
eration and maintenance costs routine maintenance. As a re- ideas that readers can apply
for electricity, cleaning, equip- sult, the town’s flow share at to water treatment and distri-
ment repair, etc. MWRA has dropped consis- bution as well as wastewater
The present worth of Ded- tently during the last 10 years operations. Opflow is a benefit
ham’s T&T costs was calculat- by removing extraneous flows. for members of AWWAIndia
ed using MWRA charges and To date, the town has removed and a valued resource for wa-
the town’s operation and main- an estimated 700,000 GPD of ter professionals around the
tenance and capital costs. The peak infiltration and 1.2 MGD world. To join AWWAIndia,
T&T costs have been extended of peak storm inflow as part of visit awwaindia.org. To view
throughout the life of rehabili- the existing annual sewer in- the original article, see https://
tation methods. vestigation and rehabilitation doi.org/10.1002/opfl.1049.
Investigation/Rehabilitation Total
Cementitious Lining of Sewer Manholes (per vertical ft) 7,722
Clean, Inspect, Test and Seal - 6 in. to 24 in. (per linear ft) 48,356
Cured-in-Place Short Liners - 6 in. to 24 in. (per linear ft) 2,987
Cured-in-Place Pipe - 6 in. to 24 in. (per linear ft) 166,086
Grout Service Connections (per service) 557
Cured-in-Place Lateral Liners (per service) 182
Topside Manhole Inspection (per manhole) 4,242
Clean and Television Inspection - 6 in. to 24 in. (per linear ft) 1,165,035
Cost (USD) 11,961,157
Sewer System Investigation and Rehabilitation Summary (Since 2007, the town of Dedham has
inspected its entire sewer system multiple times as part of its annual program)
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
 COVER STORY
Advanced MBBR/IFAS Technology for Biological
Nutrient Removal and Upgradation of Existing
Activated Sludge Systems
The PPP models for wastewater treatment projects demand a much stricter and
robust performance of the plant in terms of treated water quality.
By Amit Christian
Figures 1-2: Media Filling and Fluidization at NINGAN Plant
OVER THE PAST few years,
wastewater treatment industry
has witnessed a rapid change
in the awareness towards tech-
nology selection for a waste-
water treatment project due
to drastic changes in the dis-
charge standards required to
be met by the treatment plant.
More and more stringent dis-
Figure 5
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
charge standards are being
implemented not only for pol-
lution abatement but also for
promoting reuse and recycle
of the treated effluent at much
higher level taking it to the
point of direct or indirect po-
table reuse. Furthermore, the
PPP models implemented for
various wastewater treatment
projects demand a much strict-
er and robust performance of
the plant in terms of treated
water quality achieved at the
point of discharge from the
wastewater treatment plant.
Under such circumstanc-
es, the wastewater treatment
projects are becoming more
and more technology driven
as not only the major cost but
also the performance, O&M
cost and final treated water
quality achievable for further
reuse and recycle at optimum
treatment economics are tech-
nology dependent.
MBBR and IFAS
Technologies: Emerging
Technologies on
Horizon
Among various fixed-film
based processes, Moving Bed
Bio Reactor (MBBR) and In-
tegrated Fixed Film Activated
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
Sludge (IFAS) technologies
have emerged as simple yet
robust, flexible and compact
solutions for wastewater treat-
ment. The technologies have
been successfully implement-
ed for BOD/COD removal and
nitrification-denitrification
and removal of toxic and per-
sistent pollutants under anaer-
obic as well as aerobic condi-
tions.
MBBR/IFAS Advantage: A Tru-
ly Hybrid System Bridging the
Gap Between Two Modes of
Biological Growth
In principle, the MBBR
and IFAS are a combination
of fixed-film and suspended
growth processes of biolog-
ical wastewater treatment.
Both systems utilize specially
designed carrier material for
the growth of biofilm which is
held in suspension within the
reactor using aeration and me-
chanical mixing energy.
The combination of sus-
pended growth and fixed film
technology offers many advan-
tages which include:
a) The growth of highly spe-
cialized biomass to achieve
desired treatment goals,
b) A continuous flow process
eliminating the backwash-
ing requirement unlike oth-
er fixed film processes,
c) Flow simplicity and flexibil-
ity as CAS systems,
d) Biological performance is
not dependent upon solids
separation as much of the
active biomass is retained
on the carrier material al-
lowing for applications of
various solids separation
technologies,
e) The versatility of the tech-
nologies allows for different
tank geometries, and
f ) Upgradation and expansion
of existing plant without
adding new basins to it.
Bio-carriers: Most Crucial
Elements for a Better MBBR/
IFAS Design
As the micro-organisms
growing on the biofilm at-
tached to carriers are respon-
sible for removal efficiency
and thus overall performance
of the reactor, carriers on
which bio-film grows are the
most crucial elements of the
MBBR/IFAS system. Histori-
cally various carrier materials
such as pulverized or granular
activated carbon, quartz sand,
expanded clay, lava slag, tex-
tile sheets, porous-non porous
plastics in the form of granules
or various packing of differ-
ent size and shapes have been
utilized extensively for fixed
film technologies. As the ap-
plication of MBBR technology
has gained momentum, much
of the focus has been on the
development of plastic based
carriers of different size and
geometries.
Plastic Carriers and Their Lim-
itations
At present a wide variety of
plastic carrier manufactured
from different plastic mate-
rials available in the market.
Depending upon their design
they offer a specific surface
area in the range of 200-1200
m2/m3, density close to water
(1.0 g/cm3), sp. Weight 80-140
kg/m3 with a void ratio of 70-
90%. However, due to their
November 2018 27
 COVER STORY
Figure 6
very poor adsorbent capacity,
adhesion of microorganisms
requires time and thus takes
3-4 weeks to colonize and of-
fers no adsorption of toxic
and inhibitory substances pro-
viding no protection against
them.
For desired treatment lev-
el a filling ratio of 30-60%
required for these carriers
increasing the reactor size.
Moreover, the specific weight
of these carriers is very high
requiring additional energy
for mixing and recirculation in
the reactor.
Poly Urethane (PU): An Ideal
28 November 2018
Carrier Material
Poly Urethane (PU) first in-
vented by Bayer AG in 1937
form a group of plastic whose
properties show more vari-
ability than those of other
groups. PU as carrier material
is favored due to following rea-
sons:
• Higher mechanical strength
with the flexibility of rubber
and toughness of metal
• Higher internal porosity
• Higher stability to hydrolysis
• Non-biodegradability and
resistant to solvent especial-
ly of poly-ether based PUs
• Their properties (density,
particle size, sedimentation
velocity) can be varied at will
• Ease of handling
LEVAPOR Carriers: First Syn-
thetically Modified PU Carrier
Levapor Bio Film Technol-
ogies and Bio Consulting is a
Germany based organization
started by Dr. Imre Pascik, pro-
vides innovative fixed-film-
based solutions for the treat-
ment of complex effluents.
After basic research activities,
Levapor carriers were designed
to meet the requirement of
ideal carriers for microbial
immobilization. The carriers
comprise porous, flexible and
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
durable foam cubes impreg-
nated with adsorbing, surface
active pigments with an ex-
tremely high surface. One cu-
bic meter of flexible PU foam
has a surface area of 2500 m2/
m3. Their impregnation with
15 to 50 kg highly adsorbing
activated carbon powder, with
surfaces of 1000 to 2000 m2
per 1 gram (!) weight, results
in extremely high adsorbing
surface and high porosity.
Advantages of Levapor Carri-
ers
Due to their mentioned
advantageous properties, LE-
VAPOR carriers enable a very
fast:
• Reversible adsorption of in-
hibitory, slowly degradable
pollutants
• Colonization of carrier sur-
face by more active, special,
biofilm-forming microor-
ganisms than simple carriers
resulting in
• Faster process start-up
• Higher removal efficiency
• Higher process stability
• Lower sludge yields and
• Better process economy
• Only 10-15% filling required
compared 40-60% require-
ment for conventional plas-
tic media
LEVAPOR MBBR/IFAS Pro-
cess
IFAS, Integrated Fixed Film
Activated Sludge (IFAS) also
known as CFAS (Combined
Fixed Film Activated Sludge)
process is a combination of
two fundamental biological
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
wastewater treatment tech-
nologies namely fixed film
growth and suspended growth
technology.
In the IFAS/CFAS process,
fixed film media/carriers are
added to the conventional ac-
tivated sludge system aeration
tank which allows growth of
biomass on it. The growth of
microorganisms on the at-
tached phase enables a signif-
icant increase in the biomass
in the aeration tank increasing
the SRT of the system without
an increase of recycled sludge
flow rate.
This hybrid configuration,
of suspended as well as at-
tached growth technologies,
combines distinct advantag-
es of both the technologies,
which are:
• Retention of higher biomass
in the system rendering
higher loading rates and im-
proved process stability,
• Smaller footprint, and
• Lower sludge production
compared to suspended
growth only system.
Improved Settling Characteris-
tics of Sludge
• Lower solids loading rate
to secondary clarifiers and
thus improving their perfor-
mance and operation, and
• Improved process recovery
from upsets.
Application Case Study:
20 MLD Ningan Plant,
China
Ningan is a city with
 COVER STORY
Inlet
wastewater
Return Activated Sludge Line
4,40,000 inhabitants located
ca. 20 km southwest of Mu-
danjiang in the Heilongjiang
province. The city is situated
in the colder climate region
of Northern China and expe-
rience hard winter with tem-
peratures as low as -24°C. Due
to new Chinese legislation of
Class -I, its Sewage Treatment
Plant required to meet strin-
gent treated municipal efflu-
ent criteria of BOD<10 ppm,
COD<50 ppm, NH4.N<5 ppm
and TN<15 ppm.
Due to an adverse effect of
temperature on Nitrification
kinetics, often it is very diffi-
cult to achieve even a low lev-
el of nitrification for a sewage
treatment project where the
liquid temperature plummets
to as low as 5-8°C during the
winter period. Because of this
Figure 7
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
Aeration tank with Levapor media
fact, conventional activated
sludge system based nitrifi-
cation reactor requires very
large volume and still there are
chances of washout of Nitrifi-
cation biomass due to its poor
flocculant properties.
Due to our past experience
with cold temperature Nitri-
fication for municipal waste-
water, a solution based on
Levapor Media based hybrid
activated sludge system was
selected for the project. The
plant required to treat 22,000
m3/day wastewater generated
meeting discharge limits as
per Chinese Class-I criteria.
The Aerobic Hybrid Reactor
comprised 4 X 800 m3 reac-
tors having the total volume of
3200 m3 corresponding to 3.5-
3.8 hours retention time at an
average flow rate of 22,000 m3/
Clarifier
Waste Sludge
day. The reactors were filled
with 400 m3 of Levapor media
at a filling ratio of 12.5%.
During the period of Octo-
ber-2010, the plant was start-
ed without any nitrification
sludge seeding. The plant
achieved stable COD reduc-
tion within a few days and af-
ter four weeks of start-up, the
plant also started Nitrification
even though there was no well
acclimatized nitrifying bio-
mass was added to the reactor.
Performance of the Plant
The plant is receiving mu-
nicipal wastewater having
COD range of 140-570 mg/lit
and TKN range of 18-55 mg/
lit. Despite such high variation
in the COD and TKN values
and also colder winter climate.
The plant is achieving remark-
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
Effluent
able COD reduction and Total
nitrogen removal with lowest
possible NH4.N values and TN
values due to simultaneous
nitrification and denitrifica-
tion suspected within the in-
ner pores of fine pore Levapor
MBBR/IFAS Media.
A typical year-long COD
trend is presented in Figure
3. The graph clearly indicates
a seasonal fluctuation in the
COD load which is typical
characteristics of any munic-
ipal wastewater treatment
plant.
Despite such a high varia-
tion in COD values and also
temperature fluctuations, the
plant is consistently achieving
COD<50 ppm in the outlet,
and satisfying the Chinese
Class-I treatment criteria re-
quirements for all the days of
its operation throughout the
year.
The remarkable feature of
the plant performance is that
despite temperature fluctua-
tions the COD outlet values
are fluctuating within much
narrower range and also meet-
ing the treatment goals of <50
ppm outlet COD throughout
the year (Figure 5).
Nitrification at Ningan Plant:
The Levapor Advantage
Due to the high sensitivi-
ty of the slowly growing and
non-settling, non-flocculating
nitrifying bacteria to changing
temperature, pH, salinity and
certain pollutants, the nitri-
fication represents the main
problem for the biological
nutrient removal process. The
immobilization of nitrifying
biomass and nitrification by
Levapor MBBR/IFAS Media
represents one of the best and
economic methods for a suc-
cessful a stable process. As ni-
trifying bacteria tend to build
biofilms, the Levapor MBBR/
IFAS Media provides ideal
habitat for the growth of active
nitrifying biofilms at much
faster rates compared to sus-
pended growth only systems
and conventional MBBR Me-
dia based on plastic materials.
Despite fluctuations in the
inlet nitrogen load, tempera-
ture and COD values, the
plant is consistently achieving
NH4.N outlet in the range of
5-7 ppm with TN<15 ppm at
all time meeting the discharge
criteria (Figure 6).
As observed with COD re-
duction trend, the Nitrogen re-
moval efficiencies are also re-
maining independent of load
fluctuations and temperature
which is quite contrary to con-
ventional suspended growth
reactors (Figure 7).
About the Author
Amit Christian is a gradu-
ate in Mechanical Engineering
with a MS degree in Environ-
mental Pollution Control from
Middlesex University, Lon-
don, UK. He has more than
fourteen years of experience
in the field of water and waste-
water treatment. His areas of
specialization are biological
process designs for wastewa-
ter treatment based on CAS,
MBBR, and IFAS technologies,
plant operation and mainte-
nance, trouble shooting and
process control. Presently, he
is involved in promoting fixed
film based process solutions
using high performance acti-
vated carbon impregnated PU
media for MBBR/IFAS appli-
cation.
November 2018 29
 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

FEATURED PROJECT
130 MLD Sewage Water Treatment Plant Reuse EPC
in Koradi
This project is first in India to use recycled water from a wastewater treatment
plant to generate electricity. Endress+Hauser supplied the entire measurement
technology, nearly 100 instruments for level, flow, pressure, and temperature
measurement as well as liquid analysis.
By Endress+Hauser India

Wastewater as a part of the Indian state of Ma- even the monsoons do little growing demand for clean wa- city is now working on a large-
Resource harashtra, lacks water, despite to ensure the residents are ter caused by the construction scale project together with Ma-
Nagpur, an industrial city being located on the Nag Riv- adequately supplied. The sit- of new thermal power plants. hagenco, a government-owned
of 2.4 million in the eastern er. The river is polluted, and uation is compounded by a To address this demand, the energy company, to create a

30 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

We are the only provider in the

country that offers a complete
instrumentation portfolio in
combination with extensive
expertise in the area of water and
wastewater. The treated water will
cool three, 660-megawatt thermal
power plant units, thus saving 47
million cubic meters of fresh water
per year.
- Sunil Bhor, Sr. Director - Environmental
Industry, Endress+Hauser India
supplied the products to Orbit economical source of water
Infra. supply for the power plant.
• In future, power generation
Reason from STP sludge is also en-
Considering the water scar- visaged to make the power
city in the Vidharbha Region requirement of STP self-sus-
new, five-hectare water treat- water from the Nag each day Endress+Hauser supplied and huge water demand for tainable.
ment plant that will draw 130 and treat it for use as cooling the entire measurement tech- upcoming power plants, MA-
million liters of contaminated water. nology, nearly 100 instru- HAGENCO decided to go for Why Endress+Hauser
ments for level, flow, pressure, an alternate unconventional India
Feasibility of the Project and temperature measure- source. Endress+Hauser is the only
• U SAID conducted a feasibility study for reuse of treated ment as well as liquid analysis. one vendor which has a com-
sewage from Nagpur city for its use in a Thermal Power Sta- Benefits plete range of products for
tion. Project Details • S aving of fresh water to the water and wastewater in India.
• MAHAGENCO found the proposal feasible and economical. 130 MLD Sewage Water extent of 47 mm3 per an- The company also provides af-
• Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had already submit- Treatment Plant Reuse EPC num. ter-sales services for the prod-
ted a proposal of 110 MLD STP under JnNURM. project is for 3x660 MW Kora- • New STP of 130 MLD will uct and solutions. To back this
• MoU signed between NMC and MAHAGENCO for “Con- di TPS, in Koradi. improve ecology and envi- range of solutions, the compa-
struction and Operating Agreement of Treatment and The project was won by SMS ronment of surrounding wa- ny also has a strong know-how
Transmission Facilities for Reclaimed Water Usage”. Infra, and orbit was sub-con- ter bodies. and expertise in the water and
tractor for this project and we • There will be a reliable and wastewater industry.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 31

 COVER STORY
Circular Economy in Water - An Initiative of Government of
Tamil Nadu
If the industrial demand is less than treated water, excess water will be utilized for
agriculture and groundwater recharge. With this initiative, water loop will be closed.
By K. Ashok Natarajan
Figure 1: Source: Kirchherr, et al., 2017
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
offers a new way of looking at
the relationships between mar-
kets, customers and natural
resources, promoting sustain-
able and resource-efficient pol-
icies and practices. A business
model that enables the econo-
my to grow, while minimizing
the number of virgin resources
that are extracted.
Figure 2
32 November 2018
Water Potential and
Demand
In the state of Tamil Nadu,
the water potential in the year
2011 is 47,680 MCM as against
the demand of 49,773 MCM
with a shortage of 2093 MCM
as shown in Figure 2.
The projected demand in
the year 2020 and 2048 will
be 52,891 MCM and 55,919
MCM respectively as shown in
Figure 3.
Figure 3
In order to reduce the gap
between demand and sup-
ply, water should be used ju-
diciously and efficiently by
employing water-efficient
equipment in domestic and
agricultural sectors and water
should be reused in Industrial
sectors.
Tamil Nadu State Profile
Tamil Nadu is the most
urbanized state in India and
about 48.45% of the popu-
lation lives in urban towns.
There are 12 municipal cor-
porations, 124 municipalities
and 528 town panchayats in
Tamil Nadu. The urban pop-
ulation as per 2011 census
is 349.50 lakhs. The sewage
generated is about 2800 MLD.
At present, there are sewage
treatment plants in 24 towns
with an installed capacity of
1160.20 MLD. In 30 towns,
sewage treatment plants with a
capacity of 418.58 MLD are un-
der construction. In 13 towns,
sewage treatment plants with a
capacity of 241.41 MLD are in
pipeline.
Tamil Nadu is also a most
industrialized State in India.
Most of the industries are tak-
ing either groundwater or sur-
face/ subsurface water, thereby
creating stress on domestic
water supply.
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
The Initiative of
Government of Tamil
Nadu
Considering the present sce-
nario of demand and supply,
Government of Tamil Nadu
initiated to prepare a “Feasi-
bility Report for setting up of
Wastewater Reuse grid and
preparation of Policy Frame-
work for the state of Tamil
Nadu” through Tamil Nadu
Urban Infrastructure Financial
Services Limited (TNUIFSL).
TNUIFSL had entrusted the
work to Tamil Nadu Water In-
vestment Company Limited
(TWIC).
The Scope of the Work
The scope of the study com-
prises the following major
components:
• To prepare “Feasibility Re-
port for Setting-up of Waste-
water Reuse Grid and Prepa-
ration of Policy Framework
for the State of Tamil Nadu”.
• Assess the demand for in-
dustrial water at a dispersed
level (at the level of districts).
• Assessment of demand fore-
casts for future water-reuse
with assumptions.
• Review of the provision
made by the TWAD Board
CMWSS Board in all CWSS
towards industrial demand.
• Assess the potential waste-
water output in the districts.
• Assess the availability of
treated municipal wastewa-
ter.
• Assess the water consump-
tion by industries across dif-
ferent sources.
• Identify regions under wa-
ter-stress and potential wa-
ter-stressed regions.
• Mapping of all STPs (loca-
tion of the project site cov-
ering village, Taluka/ Tehsil,
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
District, and State shall be
mapped in a district or grid
wise maps in open source
GIS formats with all salient
attributes).
• Identify the tentative loca-

tions and capacities of new
wastewater treatment plants
to generate re-use water that
can be supplied for industri-
al use.
• At other locations, TTRO

plants to cater to the needs
of treating the water from
wastewater grid will be locat-
ed. The study shall identify
such suitable locations.
• Identify the tentative routing
of reuse water grids across
the state of Tamil Nadu.
• Block Costing to determine
the viability of the system -
Based on the locations of the
proposed treatment facilities
of ULB, under construction,
existing wastewater treat-
ment plants and as well as
the new treatment facilities
identified under this study
keeping in view the quan-
tum of reuse water required
at various locations, broad
mapping of the system com-
ponents with block costs and
viability shall be arrived at.
Including pipeline align-
ments.
• Pricing mechanism for reuse
of wastewater.
• Cost-benefit analysis with a
comparison on the amount
of investment needed
for each grid against the
increase in water reuse
achieved, allowing the gov-
ernment to prioritize the op-
tions are the most efficient to
maximize water reuse.
• In areas where there is no in-
dustrial demand, duly study
the feasibility of agricultural
use and water recharge.
 COVER STORY
Figure 4: Wastewater Recycling Process
• A
 ssessment of the econom-
ic and financial feasibility
of the proposed grids on a
standalone basis, which im-
plies: (i) identification and
quantification of project
benefits, namely the positive
externalities from wastewa-
Figure 5
ter reuse grid wise; (ii) cal-
culation of the project’s Eco-
nomic Rate of Return (ERR)
grid-wise.
• Suggest proposals grid wise
Figure 6
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
of possible strategies and
final choice of implementa-
tion (EPC, DBO, DBOT, DB-
FOT, O&M, etc.) and project
implementation including a
tentative time planning.
• 
Prepare a framework on
“Water Reuse” for Commis-
sionerate of Municipal Ad-
ministration (CMA), TN and
CMWSS Board.
• Land identification at suit-
able locations for additional
treatment facilities.
• Survey of Industrial Units:
Comprehensive manage-
ment of wastewater is neces-
sary to achieve sustainabili-
ty. This highlights the need to
create the right framework.
A multi-pronged approach
to be used to elicit responses
from the units. The approach
consists of written commu-
nication for responses fol-
lowed by physical visits with
a structured questionnaire.
Data to be collated finally
in an electronic format and
should cover all the districts
in Tamil Nadu. The industri-
al survey will comprise:
o SIPCOT and SEZ Units:
2,400 Units (All Units)
o Other Large Units: 1,850
Units
o MSME: 7,500 Units
o Total: 11,750 Units
• Prepare an action
plan for implementation, insti-
tutional mechanism, prioritiz-
ing & phasing, policy interven-
tions etc.,
• Stakeholder Consultation
and Dissemination: The
consultant should conduct
one consultation meeting
per grid with various stake-
holders to elicit the views
of industries, government
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
departments, agencies etc.,
and prepare dissemination
report at his own cost. The
stakeholder consultation
strategy report by identify-
ing different stakeholders to
be prepared prior to consul-
tations after the draft report.
Consultants shall also orga-
nize one single day work-
shop/ consultative meeting
in Chennai with various
stakeholders after the Draft
Report stage.
Based on the study, more
STPs will be constructed,
Sewage will be recycled and
Wastewater Reuse grids will
be formed as shown in Figure
4, 5, and 6.
GRID - Consist of Pumping
Main, Feeder Main and Branch
Main
If the industrial demand is
less than the treated water, the
excess water will be utilized
for agriculture and groundwa-
ter recharge. With this initia-
tive, water loop will be closed.
Economic and Financial
Benefits of Wastewater
Recycling and Reuse
Recycled water can provide
an additional and valuable
source of water. This resource
also presents opportunities to
recover nutrients and energy
from wastewater. The recovery
of phosphorus and potassium
is particularly attractive be-
cause India imports most of its
phosphorus and all of its potas-
sium needs to meet demand.
Use of recycled wastewater
for irrigation can help to cir-
cumvent groundwater pump-
ing and hence reduce energy
requirements for irrigation.
Reduction in the use of energy
also reduces GHGs, which are
typically produced during the
production and combustion
of fuel and energy. There are
also opportunities to tap into
carbon credits as an additional
revenue stream as and when
the carbon market becomes
viable and subject to demand
and supply constraints. Fig-
ure 7 illustrates the financial
and economic cost-benefit
concepts related to recycling
and reuse of wastewater. It is
apparent that while the finan-
cial costs of wastewater recy-
cling and reuse may outweigh
the pure financial returns, it
makes immense economic
sense to mainstream this prac-
tice owing to the considerable
environmental, social and
health benefits generated. The
various financial and econom-
ic benefits of wastewater recy-
cling are given in Figure 7.
• Recycled Wastewater: An ad-
ditional, reliable and cost-ef-
fective source of water.
• Wastewater Recycling: Off-
setting the need for addition-
al sources of water.
• Recycled Wastewater: An af-
fordable and assured source
of water for industries.
• Wastewater recycling to meet
agricultural water demand.
• Sale of Recycled Water: A
source of revenue for Urban
Local Bodies (ULBs)
• Valuing the nutrients present
in wastewater.
• Economic value of the nutri-
ent load in wastewater.
• Reduction in fertilizer use on
account of wastewater irriga-
tion.
• Increase in overall farm in-
come due to wastewater irri-
gation.
• Reduction in groundwater
pumping due to wastewater
irrigation.
• Reduction in energy require-
ments due to reduced water
pumping for irrigation.
• Greenhouse gas mitiga-
tion from the use of treated
wastewater for irrigation.
About the Author
K. Ashok Natarajan is the
CEO of Tamil Nadu Water
Investment Company Ltd
(TWIC).
November 2018 33
 COVER STORY
Gas Hydrate Based Industrial Wastewater Treatment
The treatment of industrial wastewater containing a variety of dissolved solids and
miscible liquids with existing technologies is expensive requiring huge infrastructure.
By Amit Katyal
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWA-
TER IS a potent pollutant and
industrial wastewater treat-
ment is an active subject of
research with a few existing
technologies. The treatment of
industrial wastewater contain-
ing a variety of dissolved sol-
ids and miscible liquids with
existing technologies is expen-
sive requiring huge infrastruc-
ture with multiple steps for
separating various pollutants
present. There exists a need
for an industrial wastewater
treatment technology which is
simple to implement requiring
low capital and operating cost.
A new wastewater treatment
technology for producing rela-
tively pure water out of highly
polluting industrial waste-
water containing a variety of
dissolved solids and miscible
liquids has been developed.
The technology uses the gas
hydrate concept to produce
relatively pure water out of
highly polluting industrial
wastewater. Gas hydrates are
ice-like inclusion compounds
formed at above ice forming
temperatures at elevated pres-
sures by the interaction of low
molecular weight hydrocarbon
gases like methane, ethane,
propane and butane, inert
gases like argon and xenon,
inorganic gases like carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, ni-
trogen, oxygen, and hydrogen
sulfide and freons with water.
In a gas hydrate molecule, a
molecule of hydrate formers
sits in a cavity formed by the
water molecule. Gas hydrate
based water treatment is sim-
ilar to freeze-thaw water treat-
ment where water is frozen,
separated from concentrated
wastewater and melted to give
pure water. However, freeze-
thaw water treatment is not
techno-economically feasible
as the freezing temperatures
34 November 2018
required for highly polluted
water are very low because of
freezing point depression and
controlling of ice formation
and separation of ice and con-
centrated wastewater is very
difficult. As gas hydrates can
be formed at temperatures
much higher than ice forming
temperatures of highly pollut-
ed water and as formation of
gas hydrates can be controlled
easily by stopping the input of
hydrate formers and separa-
tion of gas hydrates and con-
centrated wastewater is easier
compared to freeze-thaw water
treatment so gas hydrate based
water treatment presents a
techno-economic method for
wastewater treatment.
The gas hydrate based water
treatment, in general, includes
the following steps:
• Formation of gas hydrates
• Separation of gas hydrates
from concentrated water
• Washing of gas hydrates to
remove surface impurities
• Dissociation of gas hy-
drates to give pure water
Existing gas hydrate based
water treatment technologies
use separate pressure vessels
for separate steps of gas hy-
drate based water treatment
and different methods for
transporting gas hydrates from
one pressure vessel to the oth-
er. However, the developed gas
hydrate based water treatment
technology carries out all the
steps of gas hydrate based
water treatment in the same
pressure vessel thus saving
on additional pressure vessels
and methods of transportation
of gas hydrates among mul-
tiple pressure vessels. A sep-
arate pressure vessel is used
for storage of hydrate former.
Formation of gas hydrates out
of gaseous hydrate former re-
sults in a 160 times decrease
in volume. A huge amount
of gaseous hydrate former is
required for the formation of
a substantial quantity of gas
hydrates, so it is proposed to
store the hydrate former in
the storage vessel in the liq-
uid phase. However, as the
formation of gas hydrates out
of gaseous hydrate former is
much easier and faster than
the formation of gas hydrates
out of liquid hydrate former
so hydrate former is trans-
ferred from the storage vessel
to the water treatment vessel
in gaseous form. Microbub-
bles of hydrate formers are
generated using a microbub-
ble generator and put in the
highly polluted water present
in the water treatment vessel.
The storage vessel and water
treatment vessel are connect-
ed to each other through their
respective vapor spaces by a
connecting pipe. Microbubble
generator is connected to the
vapor space of water treatment
vessel from where it sucks the
hydrate former by generating
low pressure within itself. Low
pressure is generated inside
the microbubble generator by
using ventury principle or oth-
er means. In a ventury based
microbubble generator, a mi-
crobubble generator pump
is used to take concentrated
wastewater from the bottom
of water treatment vessel and
pump it through a ventury
nozzle back into the middle
portion of water treatment
vessel. A low pressure is creat-
ed in the ventury nozzle which
is connected to the vapor space
of water treatment vessel be-
cause of which hydrate former
is sucked into the ventury noz-
zle to form bubbles. However,
the flow of water through the
ventury nozzle shears the bub-
bles formed resulting in the
formation of microbubbles
which are injected into the wa-
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
ter treatment vessel along with
concentrated wastewater. As
microbubble generator is opti-
mized to operate near a partic-
ular operating pressure so con-
stant pressure is maintained in
the water treatment vessel and
connected storage vessel by
maintaining a constant tem-
perature in the storage vessel.
Suitable hydrate formation
temperature is maintained
in the water treatment vessel
which results in an instanta-
neous conversion of microbub-
bles of hydrate former into gas
hydrates. Microbubble genera-
tor is stopped after a suitable
amount of gas hydrates are
formed in the water treatment
vessel and concentrated waste-
water is removed from the
bottom of the water treatment
vessel. The temperature of the
storage vessel is maintained
at a constant value during hy-
drate formation and removal
of concentrated wastewater
resulting in constant pressure
in both the vessels avoiding
dissociation of gas hydrates
during removal of concentrat-
ed wastewater.
Gas hydrates recede to the
lower portion of water treat-
ment vessel where these are
washed to remove surface
impurities using low salinity
water sprayed through nozzles
present in the lower portion of
the water treatment vessel. Hy-
drate wash water is removed
from the bottom of the water
treatment vessel and hydrate
washing is continued till sa-
linity of hydrate wash water
becomes sufficiently low. The
temperature of the storage ves-
sel is maintained at the same
constant value during hydrate
washing to maintain the same
constant pressure in both the
vessels avoiding any dissoci-
ation of gas hydrates during
hydrate washing.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
After this, the temperature
of the water treatment vessel is
raised above the hydrate disso-
ciation temperature of gas hy-
drates resulting in dissociation
of gas hydrates to give pure
water and hydrate former. Hy-
drate former gets transferred
to the storage vessel through
the connecting pipe where the
same constant temperature is
maintained which results in
the conversion of hydrate for-
mer into the liquid phase. Rel-
atively pure water is removed
from the bottom of the water
treatment vessel and next
batch of highly polluted water
is pumped into the water treat-
ment tank. The same water
treatment cycle is repeated to
treat batches of highly pollut-
ed water again and again and
produce more and more rela-
tively pure water.
Gas Hydrate Based Water Treatment
System
The configuration of the sys-
tem is shown in Figure 1.
Various hydrate formers
were analyzed for their suit-
ability for the developed gas
hydrate based water treatment
technology and ethane was
found to be the most suitable
hydrate former due to its low
cost, ready availability, suit-
able handling properties, and
high hydrate formation tem-
perature and low hydrate for-
mation pressure compared to
 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Ethane Hydrate Equilibrium Pressure Vs. Salinity

other hydrate formers. the storage tank for condensa- in hydrate formation mode systems.
The hydrate equilibrium tion of hydrate former. In order and water treatment vessel of The steady-state modelling
pressure for ethane hydrates to facilitate easy temperature the other gas hydrate based and simulation of the thermal-
vs. salinity of NaCl brine for control of vessels and to de- water treatment system in hy- ly coupled system for treat-
different temperature values is crease the capital and operat- drate dissociation mode using ment of near eutectic NaCl
shown in Figure 2. ing cost of temperature control a heat pump type system. This brine using MS Excel and VBA
It is observed after analysis system, thermal integration results in the vessels releasing has been performed and the
of the developed gas hydrate of two developed gas hydrate heat to be on the cooling side operating energy consumption
based water treatment system based water treatment systems of the heat pump while vessels of the system is anticipated to
that the temperature of the operating out of phase with absorbing heat to be on the be around 0.05 KWH/ liter of
storage vessel always remains each other using a heat pump heating side of the heat pump. treated water for treatment of
below the temperature of the is proposed. In the proposed The configuration of the heat near eutectic NaCl brine. A US
water treatment vessel. It is thermally coupled system, the pump is interchanged after patent has been granted to the
also observed that when heat water treatment vessel of one hydrate formation mode in technology and an Indian pat-
is released during hydrate for- of the gas hydrate based water one of the gas hydrate based ent is pending.
mation in the water treatment treatment system in hydrate water treatment system and About the Author
hydrate dissociation mode in Amit Katyal is an inde-
The companies, interested in licensing this technology, the other gas hydrate based pendent inventor/ researcher
are being sought. Amit Katyal, inventor of the technology, water treatment system is over. based in New Delhi, India
can be contacted through this publication for more infor- This results in the same heat with a Bachelors in Chemical
mation and licensing related queries. pump being used for two gas Engineering (B.Tech.) from
hydrate based water treatment the prestigious Indian Insti- izontal Distillation Column
systems and effective and effi- tute of Technology, Delhi (IIT, Technology, patent pending
vessel, lesser amount of heat is formation mode and storage cient transfer of heat from one Delhi) and a total experience Simultaneous Evaporation
absorbed in the storage vessel vessel of the other gas hydrate gas hydrate based water treat- of around 25 years in hydro- and Condensation Technolo-
for evaporation of hydrate for- based water treatment system ment system to the other using carbons and water treatment gy, and numerous oil and gas
mer and when heat is absorbed in hydrate dissociation mode a refrigeration fluid decreasing sector. Apart from Gas Hy- software, having application
during hydrate dissociation in are heat integrated with the both capital and operating cost drate Based Water Treatment in design and operations of
water treatment vessel, lesser storage vessel of gas hydrate of the thermally coupled gas Technology, he has also de- downstream, midstream, and
amount of heat is released in based water treatment system hydrate based water treatment veloped the US patented Hor- upstream oil & gas systems.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 35

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Reverse Osmosis and Ion Exchange - Unique Process

Steps to Minimize the Liquid Discharge
In this article, two MLD (Minimal Liquid Discharge) processes, which were
implemented in existing industrial plants in India, are presented and explained.
By LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd.

ing on the type of contami- Chemical Industry concentrate is treated via an

THE APPLICATION OF wa-
ter treatment technologies
to achieve the Minimal Liq-
uid Discharge (MLD) or Zero
Liquid Discharge (ZLD) is
increasingly under consider-
ation in today’s water-stressed
world.
MLD and ZLD are processes
that minimize or eliminate the
discharge of water or liquids
from a plant process.
The reasons to implement
these processes can be:
• Regulatory
• Cost saving from water recy-
cling, and reduction of water
discharge costs
• Environmental - Increase
sustainability of industrial
sites in water-stressed re-
gions
There are two treatment op-
tions for process water: inter-
nal recycling, and end-of-pipe
treatment.
The internal recycling is
conducted inside the plant
processes, and implemented
by analyzing the water com-
position and the water quan-
tity to make a so-called “pinch
point” analysis.
In this analysis, the water
quality and water quantity are
determined for a specific pro-
duction step, and a decision is
made as to whether it is possi-
ble to use the wastewater from
a certain production step as
the water supply for a separate
production step.
If usage is not possible, an
interception technology may
be used to get the water qual-
ity to the level suitable so that
it can be reused. A typical tech-
nology for this is membrane
technology.
Depending on the type of
contaminants, it can be Micro-
filtration (MF) to remove bac-
terial substances, Ultrafiltra-
tion (UF) to remove particulate
and high molecular weight
organics, Nanofiltration (NF)
to remove divalent salts and
organics, or Reverse Osmosis
(RO) to remove salts and small
organic compounds.
Another technology that can
be used is ion exchange treat-
ment (IX). This technology
should be applied if a selective
separation is preferred, e.g., to
remove specifically some ionic
contaminants from the process
water or to recover valuable
ionic or non-ionic substances
selectively.
This separation can be
achieved using a special IX
product called scavenger, se-
lective resin or absorber resin.
When interception technol-
ogy is not possible, the client
should consider an end-of-
pipe treatment solution. In this
case, the plant wastewater is
collected and treated depend-
nants by either mechanical,
biological, or filtration steps
to produce a water quality that
can be reused in an upstream
plant process.
In MLD/ZLD processes, it
is common that both inter-
ception and end-of-pipe treat-
ment options can be applied
for overall water management.
Which treatment process
is adopted usually depends
on the size of the plant, and
whether the treatment process
is added to an existing plant.
If an MLD/ZLD process imple-
mented to an existing plant,
in most cases an end-of-pipe
treatment is preferred since
less new piping, and less inter-
ference with the existing pro-
cess is required.
In the following industrial
examples, two MLD (Minimal
Liquid Discharge) processes,
which were implemented in
existing plants in India, are
presented.
These examples represent
two different industries: the
textile and the chemicals in-
dustry.
Industry
Application
Location
Product
Volume
Production capacity
Water type
Installation
Table 1: At a Glance
This zero liquid discharge
wastewater treatment plant is
located inside the water treat-
ment facility section of a major
specialty chemicals producer.
The wastewater plant pro-
cesses treated sewage water via
UF (Ultrafiltration) pre-treat-
ment, cartridge filtration, and
RO membrane desalination.
The desalinated water is
further treated by degasifica-
tion, and ion exchange mixed
bed columns installed with
Lewatit® MonoPlusS108H and
MonoPlusM800 to prepare
boiler feed water.
The RO installation is a two-
stage system with a capacity of
38 m3/h. The feed water to the
RO has a TDS in the range of
600-1,300 mg/l. The permeate
has a TDS below 20 mg/l, and
after mix bed application, a fi-
nal boiler feed water quality of
< 0.1mg/l TDS and 0.02 mg/l
silica.
The concentrate is further
treated by high-pressure RO.
The permeate of this concen-
trate RO is reused in the pro-
cess, and, finally, the brine
Chemical Industry
Wastewater Treatment
India
Lewabrane® RO B400 HR and Lewatit® MonoPlusS108 +Mono-
Plus M800
48 pieces Lewabrane® and 2,000l M+ S108 + 4,000l M+ M800
38 m3/hr
High Salinity and Organic Loaded Wastewater
November 2013
evaporation step to achieve
the zero liquid discharge op-
eration.
Membrane Performance
The water treatment instal-
lation was originally designed
around “ultralow energy” sea-
water RO elements.
However, after three years,
these elements were replaced
with Lewabrane® RO B400
HR elements since a perfor-
mance projection (prepared
with the LewaPlus® design
software) showed that the re-
quired permeate quality could
be achieved with standard test
pressure BW elements operat-
ing at an even lower feed pres-
sure.
After start-up, the predicted
performance advantages of
the Lewabrane® BWRO mem-
branes were confirmed during
routine daily operation.
The RO feed pressure with
Lewabrane® RO B400 HR
was throughout three years
below 9.5bar (with the pre-
vious SWRO elements feed
pressures were on average 12

36 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Industry Textile Industry

Digital Planning and Design of try. LewaPlus is a freely available, compre-
Water Treatment Plants hensive tool for the planning of water treat- Application Wastewater Treatment
ment systems with reverse osmosis and ion
Water treatment is becoming increasingly exchange resins. The design software allows Location India
complex due to demands for higher quality both methods to be implemented and com-
of water, such as for example those for boil- bined within the same program. This makes it Product Lewabrane® RO S400 HR and Le-
er-feed water in power plants. possible to quickly and accurately design the watit® CNP-80 WS
Ion exchangers and reverse osmosis full desalination system.
amongst other things are being used as stan- Precisely Calculated Proposals Volume 1 54 Pieces Lewabrane® and 7,500
dard technologies in water treatment plants. LewaPlus is providing support in the de- lLewatit® CNP-80 WS
For the planning of such systems, LANXESS sign of five different water treatment process-
is offering the LewaPlus design software on a es. For designing a plant, the software only Production 85 m3/hr
free-of-charge basis. needs a water analysis, the water source, the Capacity
Integrated Competence for Ion Exchange water quantity, and the temperature. This us-
and Reverse Osmosis er-friendly tool then uses this data to calculate Water Type High Salinity and Organic Loaded
LANXESS offers a broad range of prod- recommendations for LANXESS products to Wastewater
ucts and extensive experience in both ion be used in the corresponding quantity and
exchange and reverse osmosis for the wa- with process-specific details. Furthermore, Installation August 2016
ter-treatment industry. In addition to that, the operating and investment costs can be calcu- Table 3: At a Glance
specialty chemicals company also provides lated for reverse osmosis plants.
the LewaPlus planning tool for industrial wa- The software is being continually upgraded. ber of organics in the wastewa- of reduced COD content from
ter treatment. It is now employed by users in over 100 coun- ter. the scavenger resin treatment
The design software is unique in the indus- tries and is available in ten languages. This step is followed by step to reduce the potential of
quartz filtration. The process biogrowth.
bar). The RO system salt re- a 34mil feed spacer (recom- is an important employer, the water is then passed through
jection was approx. 98.6% (as mended for wastewater appli- Indian government strongly an ion exchange treatment Conclusion
compared to the 97.3% rejec- cation), which has resulted in supports projects with MLD stage consisting of a scavenger The above industrial exam-
tion achieved with the SWRO a reduced cleaning frequency. processes. resin to remove the organic ples show that the reduction of
elements). The aim of this MLD process substances, followed by a high wastewater, even in challenging
The new Lewabrane® ele- Textile Industry was to reuse the process water TDS water softening. Since so- process industries, is possible
ments also provided an in- The second industrial exam- and recovery of the salt to: dium sulfate is added during using the right tools.
creased silica rejection (from ple is an innovative process in • Save feed water costs the process, calcium must be Ion exchange and reverse os-
94% to 96.6%) resulting in the textile industry. The dying • Realize cost savings by the removed to avoid the precipi- mosis is a smart and efficient
an increase of the cycle time process requires high concen- recovery of the process salt tation of calcium sulfate. combination to treat wastewater
between regenerations for the trations of salt to fix the dyes • Produce less waste After the ion exchange se- with a high organics load and
mixed bed ion exchange sys- onto the cellulose textile. The key technologies to quence, the water is passed high salinity.
tem. At the end of the process, achieve a water quality, which through a reverse osmosis sys- Even with wastewater as feed
After three years in opera- the wastewater stream consists could be reused in the process, tem to remove salts and other solution a final water quality,
tion (with monthly cleaning), of a high concentration of salts were the application of a scav- remaining organics. that can be used for boiler feed
the RO system rejection level and organics. Discharging the enger resin, a softening resin The RO system operates at a water, can be achieved by the
is still in the order of 97.5%. untreated wastewater would process, and a reverse osmosis recovery rate of 80%. The RO combination of an RO system
Recently, the first stage Lew- not only be harmful to the process. brine reject is further treated followed by polishing ion ex-
abrane® RO elements were environment, but it may also In this process, the waste- by NF (Nanofiltration) mem- change mix bed.
replaced with a Fouling Re- impact existing drinking water water is first treated with a branes to recover the sulfate, The use of scavenger resin as a
sistant Type (Lewabrane® sources. biological treatment (tertiary while the sodium chloride, pre-treatment before RO should
RO B400 FR) incorporating Since the textile industry treatment) to reduce the num- which passes through the NF be considered, to remove organ-
membrane, is concentrated by ics from the wastewater that can
Parameters Treated After After After RO a multiple effect evaporator. pass through an ultrafiltration
Effluent After Scavenger Resin Softening Membrane Unit The sodium chloride salts are process and lead to potential
Tertiary Resin finally dried in a solar pan (as biofouling in the RO process.
Treatment solid waste). Finally, for MLD/ZLD pro-
The concentrated sulfate cesses, it must be noted that it
pH 7.5 6.7 5.5-6.5 6.3 from the NF process step is re- is often challenging to achieve
used in the process. standards, but innovative com-
TSS (mg/l) 16 3-4 NIL NIL The efficiency of the dif- binations of existing technolo-
ferent treatment steps can be gies make it possible to reach the
Hardness (mg/l) 150-200 150-200 <5 ppm NIL seen in Table 2. targeted goal.
The MLD treatment process
TDS (mg/l) 11,000 11,000 10,500 <100 is extremely efficient, and this LANXESS is a leading spe-
underlines the advantages of cialty chemicals company with
Color (Pt/Co) 500-600 <50 <50 NIL an ion exchange pre-treatment sales of EUR 9.7 billion in 2017
for an RO process. and about 19,200 employees in
COD (ppm) 150–200 30-35 30-35 NIL The lifetime of the RO el- 25 countries. The company is
ements in this process is 3-4 currently represented at 74 pro-
Table 2: Water Quality After Treatment Step years, with the added benefit duction sites worldwide.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 37

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Hurricane-Force Performance as New Screen Lives up

to Recommendations in Utah
Due to the increasing use and disposal of wet wipes, Ash Creek Special Service
District regularly struggled with mechanical breakdowns in their lagoon aeration
system.
By Lakeside Equipment Corporation

Lakeside’s Raptor Screen - Running Trouble Free in Hurricane, Utah

AT A UTAH FACILITY that
has seven wastewater treat-
ment lagoons treating 1.5
MGD and over 300 acres of
farmland, a new screen has
immediately improved aerator
reliability, with an added ben-
efit of significantly improved
system aesthetics.
Constructed in the early 80s,
the lagoons transitioned over
the course of the next 20 years
from facultative to aerobic la-
goons, with the installation
of surface-mounted aerators.
Due to the increasing use and
disposal of wet wipes (‘flush-
able’ or ‘non-flushable’), Ash
Creek Special Service District
regularly struggled with me-
chanical breakdowns in their
lagoon aeration system. An ac-
cumulation of wipes and rags
would become bound around
the aerator drive shafts, re-
ducing performance until the
motor became completely
bound, resulting in an over-
amp fault. A grinder installed
for the purpose of shredding
the rags proved ineffective be-
cause shredded rags and wipes
recombined in the lagoon
mixing areas and re-emerged
as chords and ropes of the re-
sidual debris. Frustrated per-
sonnel at Ash Creek Special
Service District (which serves
the towns of Hurricane, La
Verkin, and Toquerville), were
spending excessive amounts
of time on maintenance, while
aeration performance in the la-
goons was regularly impaired.
District staff began a pro-
cess of site visits to wastewater
plants in the area, requesting
feedback from system opera-
tors on their satisfaction with
screening performance at their
facility. Simultaneously, staff
began identifying key require-
ments for the screening sys-
tem that they would ultimately
like to see implemented at the
District’s facility.
These requirements includ-
ed a very high capture efficien-
cy, a full penetration cleaning
mechanism to eliminate the
possibility of screen blinding
and a single integral screen-
ing/ washer/ compactor unit.
“We quizzed local engineers
about perceived strengths of
various screen types that they
had seen implemented in facil-
ities like ours”, reflected Mike
Chandler, District Superinten-
dent.
“That information, coupled
with a strong endorsement
from a neighboring facility
pointed us in the direction of
the inclined basket screen, and
more specifically, Lakeside’s
Raptor Fine Screen”.
Reduced Disposal Costs
Benefits of this screen in-
clude increased removal ef-
ficiency and low headloss
- brought about by its cylindri-
cal screenings basket, angled
installation and screen bars
of varied heights. Inorganic
solids that can be harmful to
downstream equipment are
securely captured. The screen’s
rotating rake teeth fully pen-
etrate the cylindrical screen
bars, positively removing
debris and grease to prevent
blinding or plugging. Also
suitable for septage receiv-

38 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

We quizzed local
engineers about
the perceived
strengths of
various screen
types that
they had seen
implemented in
facilities like ours.
That information,
coupled
with strong
endorsement
from a
neighboring
facility pointed
us in the
400 Goats Graze Freely in Pastures Between the Lagoons direction of
inclined basket
ing, sludge, scum and grease of engineers to design an influ- down hose bib. Ash Creek’s top of the screenings basket
trap applications, the screen’s ent receiving box and control operators then later installed and passes through a hinged screen, and
heavy-duty design provides structure that could be easily the (supplied) fully assembled cleaning comb. The debris is more specifically,
durability and long life in the provided by a local supplier of screen and worked closely removed from the collection Lakeside’s Raptor
most severe conditions. pre-cast concrete structures. alongside Lakeside during fi- trough by a central screw con-
Captured screenings are One month ahead of the ar- nal commissioning. veyor. Fine Screen.
compacted, dewatered and rival of the all-stainless steel When the upstream water The conveyed material trav- - Mike Chandler,
washed free of most organics Lakeside Raptor Screen, the level rises to a high-level set els up the inclined transport District
to approximately 40 percent team at Ash Creek installed point, the Raptor Screen’s rake tube where the material is
solids. Volume is reduced by the control structure and arm begins to rotate for remov- washed, compacted, and dewa- Superintendent,
50 percent and weight by 67 screening channel, also erect- al of the captured material. Af- tered prior to being discharged Utah
into a debris container.
Made in the USA, the Rap- recommendations we received
The Goats at Ash Creek Special used in eliminating the threat of mosquitoes. On
tor Screen’s hinged structur- from happy plant operators”.
Service District the banks of the seven-lagoon system, the goats
al support allows the unit to
It’s not every day that you see goats at a waste- are put to work eliminating all shoreline vegeta-
pivot out of the channel for Lakeside Equipment Cor-
water treatment plant, but at Ash Creek Spe- tion necessary for completion of the mosquito
life-cycle, saving Ash Creek around USD 20,000
inspection at floor level, whilst poration is an engineering
cial Service District, there are over 400 of them
in chemical costs annually.
its simple drive assembly also and manufacturing company
- and they certainly earn their keep.
Raised by the district’s farm manager, Kim
makes service easy and further concentrating on helping to
The ever-increasing awareness of the general
Spendlove, the goats graze freely in pastures
reduces maintenance costs. improve the quality of our wa-
public requires more careful stewardship of envi-
between the lagoons and on the 300-plus acres ter resources. Lakeside started
ronmental resources. Typically, careful attention
of farmland maintained by the District. Natural Trouble-Free in the Spring of 1928 to en-
to public health would require that in addition to
birthing in the pastures maintains numbers to “We made a minor adjust- gineer, develop, and provide
treating and disposing of wastewater that a treat-
175 nannies, with about 250 goats sold on the ment on the new screen’s con- water purification systems to
ment entity does not create any new nuisance in
market each February, bringing in close to USD trol floats”, continued Mike municipalities and companies
the process. A common challenge for wastewater
20,000 in additional income. Chandler, “and the Lakeside throughout North America.
professionals is eliminating the threat of second-
All effluent from the treatment lagoons is used Raptor has run totally trou- Today, it not only serves cus-
ary pathogen carriers, namely mosquitoes. In
to irrigate 300 acres of crops, which include al- ble-free. The amount of rags tomers in North America but
addition to effectively treating wastewater, the
falfa, oats, and triticale, which is another critical and debris it removes has sur- also helps global customers
staff at the District has made a conscious effort to
source of operating income for the district. prised us all here at Ash Creek. to purify their water supplies.
reduce the amount of insecticide and herbicide
The washed and compacted The early Lakesiders recog-
screenings are also very low on nized the value of providing
odor, which has been a bonus”. clean healthy drinking water
percent, thus reducing dispos- ing an electrical building and ter the rake arm makes a com- He concluded: “Overall, to the public as well as eco-
al costs. non-potable water air-gap tank plete revolution, material falls we can see what a tough and nomically treating water and
Together, Ash Creek’s per- for the screening washdown into a collection trough. For well-designed piece of equip- wastewater biologically and
sonnel worked with Lakeside’s nozzles – as well as installing complete cleaning, the rake ment this is from Lakeside, returning it safely to the envi-
Jim Aitkenhead and his team a screening structure wash- arm reverses direction at the who have clearly earned the ronment.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 39

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Grit King System Saves the Plant From a Near Disaster

Chehalis was building a new WWTP and required a grit removal system that was
simple to use with minimal moving parts.
By Hydro International

Chehalis Grit King® System During Installation

THE GRIT SYSTEM was not
the most important process
consideration when design-
Sand Filter Media Entering the Grit King®
ing an entirely new treatment
plant in Chehalis, Washington.
When a pump malfunction di-
rected sand from the effluent
filters to the plant drain (rath-
er than back to the filter beds)
the installed Grit King grit began for the Chehalis Region-
removal system not only kept al Water Reclamation Facili-
the plant running, it alerted ty, a completely new plant to
plant operators that there was be located on a new site, 200
a problem.
Chehalis straddles Inter-
state 5 at a point almost exact-
ly halfway between Portland
and Seattle. The city was orig-
inally called Saundersville in
honor of the donator of the Construction
land. The city is now named of the new [grit
after the Chehalis people, a na-
tive tribe of western Washing-
removal] system
ton State. The city of Chehalis was easy. It was
got its start in 1873 as a settle- delivered to the
ment around a warehouse next
to the railroad track. The first
site and the
wastewater treatment plant contractor bolted
was built in 1948. Following it in place within
several upgrades over the
years, the plant became un-
days.
able to keep up with projected - Patrick Wiltzus,
future flow rates and stringent Wastewater
Department of Ecology permit
requirements. In 2002, design Superintendent

40 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY
Chehalis Grit King® System
yards to the northeast.
A design-bid-build project,
the plant was constructed in
2007. The facility treats an av-
erage flow of 1.3 Mgal/d (57
L/s), with peak flows in excess
of 10 Mgal/d (438 L/s) three
to four times per year. When
the Chehalis River drops be-
The Grit King
system has
worked great
without any
problems. It has
been virtually
trouble free. Our
grit is cleaner
with fewer odors.
- Patrick Wiltzus,
Wastewater
Superintendent
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
low a certain level, up to 3.5
Mgal/d (153 L/s) is treated to
reclaimed water standards and
used to irrigate the city’s 250
acres (1 km2) poplar tree plan-
tation.
Flow is pumped to two par-
allel screens with ¼” (6 mm)
openings in the elevated head-
works. Flow is then directed
to two 11’ (3.4 m) diameter
free-standing Grit King units,
with shared influent and efflu-
ent boxes, designed to remove
95% of all grit 150 microns
(μm) and larger at a peak flow
of 13 Mgal/d (570 L/s) through
both units. Collected grit is
washed and discharged from
the bottom of the Grit King
units into a classifier for dewa-
tering. Grit and screenings are
disposed of at the landfill.
From the headwords, flow
is treated in one or more of
three Sequencing Batch Re-
actor (SBR) tanks, depending
on flow, each having a capac-
ity of 1.55 million gallons
(58.9 million liters). During
dry weather, the wastewater is
chemically treated with alum
prior to sand filtration and UV
disinfection and then pumped
to the city’s poplar tree plan-
tation. Sludge is dewatered
by a belt filter press then lime
The Objective
Chehalis was building a new
WWTP and required a grit re-
moval system that was simple
to use with minimal moving
parts.
The Solution
Hydro’s Grit King® grit re-
moval system not only pre-
vented grit from impacting the
plant, but it also protected the
plant from being overwhelmed
when a sand filter recirculation
pasteurized and heated to pro-
duce a class A biosolid which
is sold to local farmers.
According to Patrick Wilt-
zius, Wastewater Superin-
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
tendent “We were building a
brand new plant with all new
processes so the grit system
was the least of our worries,
it just needed to be simple to
use and have minimal moving
parts. The Grit King system
pump sent filter media back
into the headworks.
Plant Equipment
•T  wo (2) 11’ (3.4 m) Diame-
ter Free Standing Grit King®
Units
• One (1) Grit Classifier
Project Parameters
• 1 .3 Mgal/d (57 L/s) Average
Flow
• 13 Mgal/d (570 L/s) Peak
Flow
met this requirement. Con-
struction of the new system
was easy. It was delivered to
the site and the contractor
bolted it into place within a
couple of days.”
The Grit King is an advanced
hydrodynamic separator that
augments gravitational forc-
es to effectively separate grit
from the water. Internal flow
structuring components create
a long flow path for solids, aid-
ing settlement and maximiz-
ing grit capture in an all-hy-
draulic device. The Grit King
is available as a free-standing
or in-situ unit. The free-stand-
ing unit often requires no grit
pump making the classifier
screw the only mechanical
component on the grit system.
The new grit system typical-
ly filled their 1 cubic yard (0.7
m3) grit dumpster every week.
They knew something was
amiss in August 2012 when
the dumpster began filling up
within days. It quickly became
apparent that the material in
the dumpster was identical to
the high-grade silica sand used
in the sand filters. An inves-
tigation determined that the
discharge to one of the airlift
pumps designed to cycle the
sand back through the filters
was plugged. Rather than be-
ing directed into the sand fil-
ter, the sand ended up in the
plant drain system which is di-
rected back to the headwords.
The filter sand was captured
and removed by the Grit King
units, protecting the SBRs
downstream. Once the cause
of the problem was identified,
the fluidizing and discharging
of grit from the Grit King units
was performed more frequent-
ly to purge the system of the
increased load. The plant con-
tinued to successfully operate
during the entire event with no
equipment shutdowns.
“The Grit King system
worked great without any
problems”, said Patrick about
the event. Regarding normal
operation, he comments “Since
its installation, the system has
been excellent. It has been
virtually trouble free. Our grit
is cleaner with fewer odors.”
Each year one of the three
SBRs is cleaned. Patrick esti-
mates the amount of grit in the
bottom of one basin, measur-
ing 97 feet (30 m) on each side
- 9,409 ft2 (874 m2) is “maybe a
wheelbarrow full”.
November 2018 41
 COVER STORY
Generating Surplus Power from Wastewater Treatment
Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant produces more electricity and heat than it
consumes.
By Danfoss
130% Electricity Generation Results in 30% Annual Net Surplus, After Internal
Consumption.
Maximizing Energy
Surplus
Since 2010, Marselisborg
wastewater treatment plant
has transformed its focus be-
We have always specified Danfoss
VLT® frequency converters
specifically for the features we
need which only VLT® can offer. The
difference between 25 years ago
and today is that processes now run
right at their limit - but not beyond.
And to achieve that we cannot do
without the precision control we can
get from VLT®s.
- Flemming Husum, Plant Manager,
Marselisborg WWTP
42 November 2018
yond minimizing the energy
consumed, to maximizing net
energy surplus. Nowadays, the
facility has net production of
both electricity and heat, sup-
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
plying the district heating sys-
tem in Denmark’s second-larg-
est municipality, Aarhus. The
carbon footprint has been re-
duced by 35% accordingly.
Water and wastewater treat-
ment facilities are normally
the single largest electricity
consumer for a municipality.
Typically water and waste-
water treatment processes
account for 25-40% of the mu-
nicipal electricity consump-
tion. The high consumption is
related to the energy-intensive
processes but also its continu-
Biogas Power Generation: VLT® AQUA Drives Control Cooling Fans and Booster
ous operation cycle, 24/7 and
Plant.
365 days annually.
Over the years, the focus has Water and wastewater treat- consultants to improve the en-
been on developing new pro- ment processes are character- ergy balance for Marselisborg
cesses and control strategies ized by high load variation wastewater treatment plant.
to reduce energy consumed during the 24-hour cycle and
per liter of water processed. seasonally throughout the Key Steps in the
However, at the same time year. The use of frequency con- Strategy:
the increasing demands upon verters has therefore steady 1. 
Optimization of the nitro-
wastewater treatment quality, increased in order to control gen removal process using
for example in nutrient remov- blowers, pumps and other mo- online sensor control. The
al, in turn, increase the net en- torized equipment, to adapt to frequency converter adapts
ergy consumption. the changing demand. the level of aeration precise-
Since 2010 Aarhus Water ly to the need. This control
Energy Balance has worked intensively togeth- system reduces energy con-
Optimization er with water environment sumption and increases the
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

We use VLTs in every corner of the

plant. We are constantly seeking the
ideal operating point. Our goal is to
maximize liters of water processed
per kilowatt consumption. The
current measure is 0.32 kWh/m3
treated wastewater.
- Flemming Husum, Plant Manager,
Marselisborg WWTP

flexibility. Over 100 motors are surplus production of energy

controlled by VLT® frequency from its wastewater treatment
converters at Marselisborg. plants so high, that it can also
meet the energy requirement
Activated Sludge Nitrification & Denitrification: 16 VLT® Drives Rated 4 kW with PROFIBUS, RFI Filter, IP 66 Enclosure Energy Generation of the city’s potable water sup-
Rating and Climate Shield Control the Aeration Mixers. Vision ply. This will transform the
The vision for Aarhus City single largest electricity con-
amount of carbon left in the 3. Aerobic sludge age control tem. is to extend energy genera- sumer for the authority into an
system. as a function of temperature 4. Upgrade of Combined Heat tion even further, to achieve energy-neutral party.
2. Blower technology upgrade and load on the plant. Here and Power (CHP) process

Aarhus Water WWTPs

More than 300,000 people live in Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city. Aarhus Water serves
the population with both water supply and wastewater treatment. The wastewater treatment
plants receive a total of 35 million m3 of wastewater annually.
At the largest of these plants, Marselisborg, capacity is 200,000 PE (person equivalent units).
Here the wastewater treatment efficiency has been optimized using Danfoss VLT® frequency
converters ever since initial commissioning in 1990. Today, control using VLT®s is more relevant
than ever.
The long-term plan is to close several plants and upgrade the remaining three. The upgrade
will comprise the implementation of new technologies, for example, anaerobic digestion tech-
niques such as anammox processing, and increasing capacity to 500,000 PE.

to a high-speed turbo blow-
er. The upgrade achieves
further reduction of energy
consumption in the aeration
process.
frequency converter control
of the return sludge pumps
is the key to achieving ener-
gy reduction and increased
retained carbon in the sys-
for energy production, with
90% energy efficiency.
These changes together with
improvements including the
effective co-production of
electricity and heat based on
methane gas extracted from
the aerobic sludge digestion
process have created the im-
pressive results of:
• 130% electricity production
(30% excess electricity)
• Excess heat production of
about 2.5 GWh/year

VLT® in Every Corner

Frequency converters are
installed on almost all rotat-
ing equipment at Marselisborg
WWTP: blowers, pumps, mix-
ers and dewatering pumps.
The frequency converters al-
low the plant to adapt to load Discharge Pumping Station: A VLT® Rated 160 kW with IP 54 Enclosure Con-
variations, with maximum trols This Pump Weighing 1.25 Tonnes.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 43

 COVER STORY
Hunting for Microplastics
How woven solutions sustainably improve drinking water quality.
By Dominik Herper
Within the Project OEMP, Optimized Materials and Procedures for Removing Microplastics from the Water Cycle, GKD Developed the Optimized Dutch Weaves
ODW6 and ODW8, which are Unrivalled in Their Fineness.
THEY’RE EVERYWHERE.
In packaging, bottles, clothes,
electronic devices, cars, build-
ing materials, or even cosmet-
ics: plastics. Humans have
been using this class of ma-
terials for over 60 years and
we can no longer imagine life
without them. This is because
plastics, unlike other groups of
materials, have an extremely
broad array of material prop-
erties and can, therefore, be
used for a whole range of ap-
plications. This characteristic -
along with their generally low
cost and good workability - has
led to plastics being used to a
massive extent in more and
more areas in recent decades.
Whereas annual global plastic
production stood at just 2 mil-
lion tons in 1950, some 380
million tons of plastic were
44 November 2018
produced around the world in
2015.
This is not without conse-
quences. As a result of this
massive production and use,
a large proportion of the
products made from plastic,
or parts of them, have found
their way into global ecosys-
tems. Just as we find plastics
in virtually every application,
so is the plastic pollution they
cause omnipresent. This waste
is particularly damaging to
aquatic ecosystems. Plastics
have a relatively low density
(between 0.8 g/cm3 and 2.2 g/
cm3), which means that they
are carried away especially
easily with draining water. Ini-
tially, this water carries plastic
waste into surface waters such
as lakes or rivers, from where
it ultimately ends up in the
oceans. Estimates state that
around ten percent of annual
plastic production lands in
the world’s oceans. The plastic
parts accumulate there to form
giant islands of waste such
as the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch. So it’s hardly surprising
that plastic pollution consti-
tutes around 80 percent of the
total waste found in aquatic
systems. The problem of the
contamination and pollu-
tion of aquatic ecosystems by
plastic products such as bags,
bottles, packaging, etc. has
already been the object of dis-
cussion and research for some
time; avoidance and removal
strategies have been and con-
tinue to be developed.
A problem that has been
largely neglected up until now,
however, is the fact that not
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
just macroscopic plastic parts
such as bottles but also micro-
scopically small plastic parti-
cles are carried into waters in
the same way. These particles
are known as microplastics.
Microplastics include all plas-
tic particles that do not exceed
five millimeters in length at
their largest extent. A distinc-
tion is also made between
primary and secondary micro-
plastics. Primary microplastic
- usually used as an abrasive or
filling agent - is a component
of cosmetics, care products,
and cleaning products. Sec-
ondary microplastic compris-
es all plastic particles that arise
through biological, physical,
and/or chemical degradation.
Prominent examples include
synthetic fibers that detach
from textiles during washing
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
but also plastic that wears
from tires or shoes. Secondary
plastic forms the lion’s share
of contamination. The effects
of microplastic on biological
organisms are currently a hot
topic of discussion and still
need to be backed up scientif-
ically. Yet, it is known that ma-
rine animals mistake micro-
plastic particles for food and
ingest them. This can lead to
internal injuries and even ob-
struction of food intake. Fish
that we catch for food also take
in not inconsiderable amounts
of microplastic. A study shows
that microplastic (HDPE par-
ticles) is ingested by mussels
and stored in cells and tissue.
This resulted in histological
changes and inflammatory re-
actions. Microplastic particles
are also suspected of being
able to act as carrier substanc-
es for pathogenic bacteria.
Even though a large pro-
portion of the water polluted
with microplastic is treated
in sewage plants, the small-
est particles are able to pass
through the sewage plant and
make their way into surface
waters such as lakes and rivers.
This is precisely where GKD -
Gebr. Kufferath AG is tackling
the problem with the OEMP
project - Optimized Materials
and Procedures for Removing
Microplastics from the Water
Cycle. One aim of the project
is to develop suitable analy-
sis procedures for tracing and
characterizing various plastics
in treated wastewater. As the
name of the project suggests,
however, the main goal is to
develop new materials to re-
tain microplastic more reliably
and thus prevent it from con-
taminating the environment.
The OEMP project is funded
under the initiative “Materials
for a sustainable water man-
agement – MachWas” by the
Federal Ministry of Education
and Research in Germany. A
 COVER STORY
Initial Tests with ODW 6 Showed That the Volume of All Retained Particles is Around Double That of the Standard Mesh
ODW 20.
widely varied project consor-
tium has convened to tackle
the numerous challenges from
a broad array of specialist
areas in the project. GKD is
not just a technology partner
here but is also heading the
OEMP project. Together with
the Technical University of
Berlin, Invent Umwelt- und
Verfahrenstechnik GmbH,
the German Federal Environ-
ment Agency, Berlin Center
of Competence for Water, the
Federal Institute for Materials
Research and Testing, Meier-
Guss Limburg GmbH, Berliner
Wasserbetriebe, Funke Kunst-
stoffe GmbH, and Mecana
Umwelttechnik GmbH, pio-
neering studies and solutions
concerning microplastic are
being developed.
For GKD the focus of the
project is the treatment of
Filter Discs, which are Used to Filter the Water from Sewage Plant Run-Off, are
Fitted with Optimized Dutch Weaves from GKD.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
wastewater in the sewage
plant. Despite the already
high-tech and sophisticat-
ed treatment of wastewater,
the tiniest of plastic particles
are still able to pass through
sewage plants and flow into
rivers, lakes, and ultimately
oceans. To find out how much
microplastic can actually pass
through a sewage plant, a disc
filtration system constructed
by Invent Umwelt- und Ver-
fahrenstechnik was installed
at the most productive sewage
plant in Berlin, the Ruhleben
sewage plant, in December
2016. The filter discs are fitted
with optimized dutch weaves
from GKD. They are used to
filter the water from the sew-
age plant run-off, that is to say,
water that has already passed
through all cleaning stages in
the treatment plant.
Water filtration in sew-
age treatment plants poses a
particular challenge as high
wastewater flow rates need
to be dealt with in a sewage
plant. Yet to retain the finest
plastic particles, extremely
fine filter materials must be
used. High flow rates in com-
bination with small pore sizes
and good separation perfor-
mance are characteristic of
the optimized dutch weaves
from GKD. That’s why it was
decided during the project to
develop even finer variants of
this weave, with six and eight
micrometer apertures. The
result is the products ODW 6
and ODW 8. In the disc filtra-
tion system at the Ruhleben
sewage plant, these two new
developments are now under-
going side-by-side comparison
with ODW 20, an optimized
dutch weave with an aperture
of 20 micrometers, which is a
standard mesh in wastewater
filtration.
The sampling of the real
process poses a particular
challenge to all project part-
ners. Thanks to the good coop-
eration in the interdisciplinary
team, a number of unforeseen
problems were able to be suc-
cessfully eliminated. It became
apparent that methods for tak-
ing samples and evaluating
them for microplastic, in par-
ticular, were simply not avail-
able. As such, the OEMP team
is performing absolutely pio-
neering work not only in the
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
For GKD the focus of the project
is the treatment of wastewater
in the sewage plant. Despite the
already high-tech and sophisticated
treatment of wastewater, the tiniest
of plastic particles are still able to
pass through sewage plants and
flow into rivers, lakes, and ultimately
oceans.
area of material development
but also in the field of sam-
pling, analysis, and analytics.
The newly developed com-
parative measurements with
ODW 20 show that even this
standard mesh retains micro-
plastic particles of various
sizes.
In developing the analytics,
it was agreed that the samples
would be examined for three
common plastics: polypropyl-
ene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and
polyethylene (PE). Initial tests
with ODW 6 showed that the
volume of all retained parti-
cles is around double that of
ODW 20. However, it still re-
mains to be determined what
proportion of this retained ma-
terial is composed of plastics.
The findings made so far
show just how difficult the
subject of microplastic and
its scientific-technical evalua-
Microplastic is a Global Environmental Problem that GKD, Together with Many
Other Experts, Faces Within the Funded Project OEMP.
tion is. Yet they also show that
microplastic particles have
long been widespread in the
global ecosystem, particular-
ly in water. If the problem of
microplastic in water is to be
eliminated, it has already been
proven that current sewage
treatment technology is not
sufficient to do this. Although
modern sewage plants already
retain around 96 percent of
the microplastics carried into
them, a higher proportion
needs to be aimed for.
GKD - Gebr. Kufferath AG
is the world market leader in
metal, synthetic and spiral
mesh solutions. Its headquar-
ter is in Germany and five
other facilities are in the US,
South Africa, China, India, and
Chile - alongwith the branches
in France, Spain, Dubai and
worldwide representatives.
November 2018 45
 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Arlington County, VA Tertiary Wastewater

Denitrification Best-in-Class Nutrient Removal
By SUEZ

maximizing methanol feed, Sievers TOC Analyzers have

Figure 1: Arlington, VA WPCP Process
flows into the Chesapeake Bay.
The Challenge By minimal, they aimed to get
Around 2010, Arlington as low as possible (Table 1).
County Water Pollution Con- Excess nutrients cause algae
trol Plant (WPCP) located in blooms and oxygen depletion
Arlington, VA just outside that subsequently create dead
Washington, DC set a target zones in rivers, streams, and
to achieve minimal nitrogen most importantly, the Bay.
and phosphorus discharge High nutrient discharges can
into the Potomac River which limit life and recreation value
Source 
Residential and Commercial
Waste (Including Fats, Oils, &
Greases)
Population Approx. 220,000
Capacity 40 MGD Permit
23 MGD Average Effluent
TN < 1.5-1.8 mg/L
Typical Effluent
TP < 0.1 mg/L
TOC < 5-7 mg/L
Table 1: Arlington, VA WPCP Plant Specifications
of the watershed.
The WPCP installed a ter-
tiary system to combine filtra-
tion and denitrification using
methanol as the carbon feed
for maximum nitrate-nitro-
gen (NO3-N) removal follow-
ing preliminary, primary, and
secondary treatment (Figure
1). The fixed film biological
denitrification system reduces
NO3-N to <1 mg/L by convert-
ing the remaining nitrogen
oxides to nitrogen gas and
ensures low suspended solids
and phosphorus. While the
plant permit is 3 mg/L total ni-
trogen (TN) from the Virginia
Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), they averaged
0.79 mg/L in 2012 and in De-
cember 2012 achieved 0.25
mg/L. These levels are amongst
the lowest in the entire Chesa-
peake Bay Watershed.
Achieving those low levels
of nutrient discharge required
thus pushing the plant close to
its Biological Oxygen Demand
(BOD) discharge limits. This
threatened to cause the bug
bed to transition from anoxic
to anaerobic, where sulfate
breakdown results in the for-
mation of hydrogen sulfide.
While the methanol feed
was paced by a NO3 analyzer,
the operators discovered an
urgent need for Total Organ-
ic Carbon (TOC) analysis to
watch for BOD breakthrough
and avoid discharge penalties.
Methanol addition is linear
with NO3 removal. However,
below 1 mg/L NO3, methanol
addition increases almost ex-
ponentially with diminishing
returns. The single carbon
compound makes the chem-
istry easier and reduces the
chance for BOD breakthrough.
Arlington ensures all safety
precautions for methanol use
are followed.
The Solution
A Sievers TOC Analyzer was
chosen based on the simple
technology, ease of use, reli-
ability, and robustness. In ad-
dition to serving as an alarm
for BOD
b r e a k -
through,
TOC indi-
cates the
o v e ra l l
health of the
bug bed and
signals to
operators if
something
needs to be
adjusted.
Today, two
Sievers TOC
Analyzers
are operated
in parallel
to provide reliable spike de-
tection and continuous data.
provided an accurate, reliable,
and successful indication of
BOD breakthrough and ter-
tiary denitrification perfor-
mance. TOC data helps pre-
vent discharge BOD fines and
helps control methanol costs.
Conclusion
The Arlington WPCP want-
ed to minimize effluent dis-
charge for nitrogen and phos-
phorus into Four Mile Run,
which flows into the Potomac
River and eventually the Ches-
apeake Bay. Reducing nutrient
loading protects the water-
shed’s water quality and raises
the standards for Arlington’s
treatment. This led the plant
to install a best in class tertia-
ry denitrification system using
methanol as the carbon source
to achieve phenomenally low
nitrogen in their plant effluent.
The treatment requires high-
er methanol loading to achieve
excellent nitrogen removal.
To avoid excess BOD in the
discharge and to assess the bi-
ological system, TOC analysis
was added to monitor carbon
in the plant effluent. Contin-
uous carbon data allows for
tight con-
trol of the
process to
meet low ni-
trate levels
without in-
creasing ef-
fluent BOD.
Overall,
the Arling-
ton WPCP
achieves
greater than
99% remov-
al of all con-
taminants
they face
from both
commercial and residential
waste.

46 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY
High-Performance Biofilm Carrier Used in Municipal
Wastewater Treatment
By Multi Umwelttechnologie AG
Mutag BioChip™ High-Performance Carrier Media for Biofilms - Uncolored, w/o Biofilm (White) and Colored, w/o
Biofilm (Orange)
IN THE RECENT past, a new
and very innovative biofilm
carrier named Mutag Bio-
Chip™, developed and pro-
duced by the German compa-
ny Multi Umwelttechnologie
AG, has increasingly and very
successfully got into the news
with regard to the biological
treatment of municipal/do-
mestic sewage.
In this field of application, the
chip-shaped high-performance
biofilm carrier is unsurpassed
especially when it comes to
nitrification. Attached to the
carrier media surface, which
accounts for more than 3,000
m2/m3 (914 ft2/ft3) and which
is provided in the form of a de-
tailed pore system, the highly
sensitive nitrifying bacteria
are optimally protected from
external mechanical influenc-
es. Despite the low diffusion
Sewage Treatment Plant “Oberes Surbtal”. The Biological Treatment Part of the
Plant Consists of Three Identical Treatment Trains.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
depth of substrate and oxygen,
the bacteria are optimally sup-
plied from both sides of the
thin carrier (thickness: approx.
1 mm).
In this article, it will be ex-
plained by taking the example
of the Swiss-based municipal
Sewage Treatment Plant (STP)
called “oberes Surbtal” how rel-
atively easy it is to significant-
ly enhance the nitrification
performance of existing STPs
by applying Mutag BioChip™
carriers.
Before the reconstruction
measure, the STP oberes
Surbtal had been operated
with activated sludge process
and was originally designed
for treating the sewage corre-
sponding to 16,000 Popula-
tion Equivalents (PE). In 2012
and 2013 the reconstruction
measure was performed in
multiple steps by the Swiss
company Techfina SA located
in Winterthur whereas the pro-
cess-technological designing
of the new Moving Bed Bio Re-
actor (MBBR) stage was effect-
ed in close cooperation with
the technology provider Multi
Umwelttechnologie AG.
After the reconstruction, the
STP is now treating the sew-
age accounting for 20,750 PE
and is designed for automatic
permanent operation with a
hybrid process (combination
of activated sludge and MBBR
process).
The scope of the plant recon-
struction was the supply of the
complete electro-mechanical
equipment for the biological
wastewater treatment (hybrid
process), of the return sludge
pumps as well as the blower
station by the company Tech-
fina SA.
The biological treatment
stage of the STP consists of
three identical trains where-
as each train comprises three
treatment zones.
Within the scope of the
reconstruction measure, the
respective nitrification zone
of each treatment train was
equipped with Mutag Bio-
Chip™ high-performance bio-
film carriers.
Each single nitrification
stage has an active reaction
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
tank volume of 200 m3 and
is filled with 27 m3 Mutag
BioChip™ carriers. Hence,
the carrier media fill fraction
accounts for 13.5% of the ac-
tive reactor volume which is
available for the nitrification
process.
As mentioned above, the
plant had originally been oper-
ated with activated sludge pro-
cess which is characterized by
the pollutant-degrading bacte-
ria being present in the form
of activated sludge flocs which
freely move in the wastewater.
After the plant reconstruction,
the nitrifying bacteria attached
themselves to the Mutag Bio-
Chip™ carrier media.
The previous activated
sludge reactors are now being
operated with the hybrid pro-
cess (also called IFAS - a com-
bination of MBBR and activat-
ed sludge process) whereas the
biofilm carriers are retained by
a system of carrier media re-
tention screens installed in the
respective nitrification reactor.
Accompanied by the pol-
lutant load which increased
according to the upgrade
target of the plant, the corre-
spondingly increased oxygen
requirement had to be con-
sidered. Consequently, the
existing blower station was
equipped with more powerful
blowers.
The aeration systems which
had been available in the
reaction tanks earlier were
completely replaced with
high-performance plate-type
membrane diffusers.
Within the scope of the up-
grading measure of the STP
oberes Surbtal, 81 m3 of Mutag
BioChip™ carriers in total were
filled into the previous acti-
vated sludge tanks at similar
percentages and the treatment
concept was hence changed
from activated sludge process
into a hybrid process (IFAS).
In this connection, the treat-
ment capacity was increased
from 16,000 PE to 20,750 PE
in terms of the BOD5 load
whereas the design of the ni-
trification part of the plant is
based on the ammonium ni-
trogen load (NH4-N load) of
118 kg to be removed per day.
After the finalization of the
plant upgrade, all wastewater
discharge requirements have
been safely and reliably com-
plied with within the scope of
the performance test.
Additionally, it must be
mentioned that the Mutag Bio-
Chip™ carrier is also in opera-
tion in the municipal sewage
treatment plant of the city of
Erkelenz (Germany) in clear
water nitrification since 2010.
Another five municipal sew-
age treatment plants are suc-
cessfully being operated with
Mutag BioChip™ in Vietnam
and Bangladesh since 2012.
Moreover, another municipal
sewage treatment plant near
Leipzig (Germany) having
a treatment capacity of 900
PE was equipped with the
high-performance biofilm car-
rier in 2014.
At present, further munic-
ipal sewage treatment plant
projects are about to being im-
plemented and in the future,
the Mutag BioChip™ will show
its high efficiency also in these
projects.
As outlined above, the
treatment capacity of existing
wastewater treatment plants
is possible to be significantly
enhanced simply by adding
Mutag BioChip™ carriers.
With regard to this, also
containerized wastewater
treatment plants, which are
complete units from the con-
ceptual point of view, can
reach significantly higher
treatment efficiency by using
the high-performance biofilm
carriers.
November 2018 47
 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Compact Technology Halves the Heavy Costs of

Transporting Sodden Wast
The compact and portable automatic liquid-to-solid waste separator that removes
more than 50 percent of the water from wastewater sludge to provide a 50 percent
reduction in transportation costs.
By CST Wastewater Solutions

TONS OF SODDEN, sticky,
unhealthy and potentially
environmentally hazardous
wastewater by-product from
small-to-medium enterprises
are expensively transported
every day in Australasia to
costly processing and disposal
facilities.
These wet cakes of by-prod-
uct from farms, food proces-
sors, kitchens, manufactur-
ers and primary producers
can cost upwards of $A150
($NZ160+) a ton to move by
specialized transport from the
places where effluent is pro-
duced, to centers where com-
pacting, drying and disposal
can take place in controlled
environments.
“Often this sodden waste
has to be carried away by
road, because many small to
medium-scale producers can’t
afford to install expensive
processing, compacting and
drying plants at their own
facilities,” says Australasian
wastewater authority Michael
Bambridge.
“So, these producers use
up money, time and fuel they
often can’t afford hauling sod-
den cake to facilities where it
can be treated and disposed of
in a way that doesn’t threaten
groundwaters,” says Mr. Bam-
bridge, Managing Director of
CST Wastewater Solutions,
who has more than 40 years’
experience in treating waste-
water throughout Australia
and New Zealand, including in
environmentally sensitive and
World Heritage listed sites.
One of CST Wastewater
Solutions’ latest innova-
tions to address the needs of
small-to-medium business’
disposal issues is a compact
and portable automatic liq-
uid-to-solid waste separator
Fixed or Portable Skid-Mounted KDS Separators (left) Produce Much Cleaner, Drier and More Easily Transported Sludge Cake (right).
that removes more than 50
percent of the water from
wastewater sludge to provide a
50 percent reduction in trans-
portation costs.
The KDS separator uses less
than a kW of electricity to op-
erate, far less than a centrifuge,
and uses no water during op-
eration unlike a belt press or
a screw press. For a relatively
low investment cost, it offers
a high-performance alterna-
tive to sludge drying beds and
geobags, for example, says Mr.
Bambridge.
Used for thickening of dis-
solved air flotation sludge
- a very common application
throughout wastewater oper-
ations - it achieves solids cap-
ture of 97 percent thickened
sludge at a dryness of 17 per-
cent. Waste activated sludge
dryness levels are typically 15-
25 percent.
The clog-free automatic
technology is suitable for com-
pact dewatering applications
including:
• Abattoir, feedlots, and dairy
farm wastewater and sludge.
Cattle manure cake dryness
of 25-35 percent is typically
achieved.
• Pig farm raw manure and
sludge, with cake dryness of
20-30 percent.
• Barrel polishing water, wa-
ter-based paint wastewater,
grease trap waste, dyeing
wastewater, waste oil, and
plastic recycling.
• Seafood processing
• Food processing waste, in-
cluding snackfoods, kitchen
and restaurant waste, raw
wastewater (primary screen-
ing) and sludge.
• Sewage treatment, includ-
ing raw wastewater (prima-
ry screening) and sludge to
landfill.
The compact KDS multi-
disc roller separator features
a unique self-cleaning dewa-
tering and conveying system
with oval plate separation and
transfer structure that prevents
clogging and permits auto-
matic continuous operation
that handles oily and fibrous
material with ease. The ad-
vantage of such a system for
small-to-medium operators is
low maintenance so they don’t
require a high level skilled
operator in places where they
might be difficult or expensive
to obtain, says Mr. Bambridge.
Designed for efficiency, sus-
tainability and conservation of
resources in small-to-medium
applications, the energy-effi-
cient KDS separator consumes
as little as 0.06kW hr of elec-
tricity, says Mike Bambridge.
The simple-to-maintain sep-
arator offers a high throughput
within a small body, with the
smallest model being just un-
der 350 mm wide and weigh-
ing 50 kg.
The compact rotational
oval plate structure achieves
high transportation and sep-
aration efficiencies, while the
simplicity of the machine’s
overall structure offers low
maintenance, achieving cost
and OH&S benefits through
less handling being required
to clear hazardous materials.

48 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 COVER STORY VALUE OF WASTEWATER

Microvi MNE™ Process Demonstrates Total Nitrogen Removal

at Oro Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant
By WesTech

Aerobic Reactor Min. Max. In A Nutshell

Volume 2200 Gallons
HRT 1 Hour 4 Hours
Biocatalyst Aerovi for NH4 Removal
Air Supply File Bubble
Water Depth 5 ft.
Anoxic Reactor Min. Max.
Volume 875 Gallons
HRT 0.4 Hour 1.7 Hours
Biocatalyst Denitrovi for NOx Removal
Water Depth 4.5 ft.
Water Depth 5 ft.
The Problem ually, with more relaxed inter-
In the coming decade, the im standards.
quantity of nitrogen dis-
charged into the San Francisco Analysis of Alternatives
Bay will become highly regu- The District is seeking an eco-
lated. These regulations will nomical and technically at-
likely result in a significant tractive solution by exploring
capital investment. In antici- several approaches to accom-
pation of the new limits, the modate interim nitrogen limits
Oro Loma Sanitary District is of 15 mg/L. Preferred options
proactively looking at possible maximize the use of existing
changes to its existing treat- assets and minimize the resul-
ment process. The District is tant impact on ancillary pro-
considering innovative tech- cesses, such as biosolids treat-
nologies to meet projected ef- ment and disposal. One option
fluent limits, possibly as low as being considered augments
< 6 mg/L total nitrogen (TN). and converts existing activat-
However, it is anticipated that ed sludge reactors from a con-
limits will be introduced grad- ventional, carbonaceous only,
• Location: San Lorenzo,
California
• Owner: Oro Loma Sani-
tary District
• Agent: MISCOwater
to a Modified Ludzack-Etting-
er (MLE). Though this configu-
ration achieves interim goal of
partial nitrogen removal, it has
a relatively high capital and
operating cost. Also, the con-
version requires an addition-
al activated sludge (AS) train,
incorporating anoxic zones,
internal recycles and changing
from surface to fine bubble dif-
fused aeration. While the MLE
configuration achieves full ni-
trification, this option has de-
nitrification limitations dictat-
ed by influent characteristics
that can restrict the achievable
total nitrogen standard.
Finding a Solution
Microvi MNE™ is an innova-
tive solution with a low whole-
life cost that would meet both
interim and future nitrogen
limits. The MNE technology
is a next-generation biological
treatment process, making use
of uniquely engineered envi-
ronments that house selected
species of microorganisms to
undertake treatment require-
ments. The MNE bioreactors
have significantly higher or-
ganism density in comparison
to conventional biological sys-
tems. This eliminates a need
for expensive solids recycling
and complex control systems.
The process reduces biosolids
generation to virtually zero.
The MNE process is highly
applicable for Oro Loma, as it
has the potential to integrate
with existing processes or use
redundant tankage as a stand-
alone process. Microvi MNE
has the potential to provide a
robust and resilient, low total
expenditure (TOTEX) solution
that meets the needs of Oro
Loma and other utilities that
are facing similar challenges.
The Results
The WesTech pilot was in-
stalled in April 2018, initially
to demonstrate tertiary total
nitrogen removal. The pilot is
receiving secondary effluent
water having ammonia con-
centrations as high as 50 mg/L.
The water is fed first into an
aerobic basin, where ammonia
is converted to nitrate. This
initial nitrification step has
achieved removal to less than
Microvi MNE Bioreactors
1 mg/L NH4-N in less than
two hours of retention time.
The water is then fed into an
anoxic basin, where nitrate
is converted to nitrogen gas.
Effluent nitrate levels of <1
mg/L NO3-N are consistently
achieved. The overall process
has shown the consistent re-
moval of total nitrogen to less
than 3 mg/L, and as low as 1
mg/L throughout the course of
the pilot study. Further, no bio-
logical solids have been shown
to be generated in the first
stage (aerobic reactor), as in-
dicated by the analysis of TSS
in the influent and effluent of
this basin. Some indigenous
growth has been observed in
the second stage (anoxic reac-
tor), likely due to the addition
of supplemental carbon. Mea-
sures are being taken to fur-
ther optimize the process and
reduce growth in the basin.

Influent Flow NH4-N NO3 TSS Temperature

Min. 6 gpm 15 mg/L 0.2-0.4 mg/L 8 mg/L 15°C

Max. 35 gpm 50 mg/L 2 mg/L 18 mg/L 28°C

Effluent NH4-N Total Nitrogen TSS

Target <1 mg/L <3 mg/L No Net Increase

Avg. Results <0.5 mg/L TBD Target Achieved Oro Loma Tour Participants

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 49

 COVER STORY
Changing Scenario of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in India
By Suhas Ruikar
THE RECYCLING/ REUSE of
wastewater has gained a lot of
momentum in the recent past,
mainly due to the following:
• Ever-increasing water de-
mand.
• Limited natural resources
and erratic monsoon rainfall.
• Cost-effective way to get wa-
ter for some applications as
mentioned above.
• Restrictions of wastewater
disposal and costs involved.
• Pollution control norms and
awareness of pollution con-
trol in general.
• Confidence gained from re-
cent successful projects of
getting a better quality of
treated water from sewage
treatment plants.
Two main categories of
wastewater treatment are:
Industrial Wastewater Treat-
ment, and
Sewage Treatment. Let’s
look at the sewage treatment
in this article.
Growing population and
urbanization has called for the
need for an effective sewage
treatment. The rate of imple-
mentation of such systems,
at present, is very low. Only
some bigger cities or towns
have facilities for treating sew-
age effectively. These are not
adequate for the size of the
cities or the population. As per
a study, roughly about 30 to
40% of city sewage is treated.
On the all India basis, a very
small percentage of sewage is
actually treated. In many parts
of the country, the untreated
sewage is connected to rivers,
polluting them, and disturbing
50 November 2018
the ecological balance.
The scope of a typical sew-
age treatment plant for a city
covers the collection of sewage
in a well, followed by primary
and secondary treatment, and
finally releasing the treated
water to rivers/ ponds. The
Sewage Treatment Plants
(STPs) which were/are being
installed (including the on-
going projects) are capital-in-
tense and in addition to the
initial capital costs, there are
other costs like operating or
running costs and the costs
involved in maintaining these
plants.
Furthermore, the desired
results are not achieved in
many cases, as the outgoing
treated water is not being
used effectively for any ap-
plication, hence the control
over the outgoing treated
water is almost non-existent.
Projects are currently being
funded through various Cen-
tral Government and State
Government schemes, while
some projects are supported
by foreign banks or by foreign
funding agencies on soft loans
funding basis.
The good news is that this
trend (of installing sewage
treatment plants) is changing
slowly and a few projects can
be seen having a new way of
working. This is likely to con-
tinue and expected to go on a
bigger scale in the near future.
The STPs are expected to gen-
erate revenues to take care of
initial costs and operational/
maintenance costs. There are
various other benefits associ-
ated with the changing struc-
ture. Some of the broad points
are discussed below.
Conventional STPs
The basic thinking behind
putting up a new STP was to
control pollution (damage
to the river’s ecology). These
schemes normally cover the
collection and transportation
of sewage and treatment to
remove solid particles, and
impurities. This treated water
is then being released to the
rivers or ponds or Nallas, etc.
The incoming sewage has been
considered a liability, as a lot
of money is required to treat it.
To avoid direct disposing of
sewage/ wastewater to rivers
or ponds has been the basic
purpose of installing STPs.
The possible commercial
gains coming out of the whole
process were given low or no
weightage. It was considered a
secondary objective.
Generally, the cost structure
in case of such projects has
been:
• Initially, projects cost de-
pending on MLD sewage to
be treated (capital cost)
• Daily running cost (opera-
tional cost)
• Maintenance cost
Since the treated water is
mostly being left to the exist-
ing rivers, ponds, etc., quality
of this water was/is not prime
focus area and in many cases,
there was/is no strict quality
control over the released wa-
ter. Hence, in spite of invest-
ing higher capital costs, the
desired results to the extent
required are not been achieved
in many cases.
Changing Scenario
In a few recent STP projects
being laid down in different
parts of the country, the fol-
lowing important issues have
been considered:
• Treating incoming sewage as
an asset/ opportunity to gen-
erate revenue
• Making the project self-stand-
ing/ commercial viable/ as a
revenue-generating unit
• Public-Private Participation
in the project to the extent
possible.
• Integration of secondary
and tertiary treatment plants
with RO plants in STPs.
There are various modules
for investment/ funding the
projects in this structure. It is
VALUE OF WASTEWATER
a vast subject and depending
on the suitability and by con-
sidering various other aspects/
parameters, a correct invest-
ment model is selected for in-
stalling an STP.
Generally, the cost structure,
in case of such projects, is:
• Initially, the project cost, de-
pending on MLD sewage to
be treated (capital cost), is by
the contractor fully or partly
(and partly by Government
or municipal bodies).
• Daily running cost (opera-
tional cost), by the contrac-
tor running the plant (in
some cases, partly by mu-
nicipal bodies/ Government
schemes).
• Maintenance cost is by the
contractor running the plant.
Revenue Generation/
Payback to Contractors/
Investors
• R evenue is generated by sell-
ing the treated water for in-
dustrial purpose or for pow-
er generation.
• Generating electricity by us-
ing the gas generated in the
process and then running
the plant on this generated
electricity to reduce the op-
erational costs and selling
the excess electricity, if avail-
able.
• By selling manure.
Role of the Government
• T o make the pollution con-
trol norms stringent and
monitor them regularly.
• Make PPP model to the ex-
tent possible for the new
projects and convert the
older projects by adding sec-
ondary/ tertiary treatment
plants (depending on the
requirement), to recycle the
treated water and reuse the
water.
• To make suitable rules/ reg-
ulations so that for certain
applications only good qual-
ity treated water should be
allowed to be used (like cool-
ing water for thermal power
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
plants/ industrial use/ flush-
ing water for toilets/ public
gardens, etc.). In fact, it is un-
derstood that there is a rule
to use the treated wastewater
for cooling water application
for thermal power plants in
case the plant is in the vicini-
ty of 50 KMs from STPs.
Benefits of Using the
Above Model
• C ost Reduction and Quali-
ty of the Plant: As the pay-
back/ repayment is by the
generation of revenue, the
contractor/ investor will be
very careful about the ini-
tial costs and quality of the
plant/ equipment used.
• Mobilizing the resources
will be much faster.
• Saving On Time Factor: In-
stallation and commission-
ing of the plant will be fast-
er, as the revenues will start
only after commissioning
the plant successfully.
• Quality of the Treated Wa-
ter: The outgoing water qual-
ity will be monitored almost
on a daily basis by the pur-
chaser/ user of this treated
water. Hence, there will be
control over the parameters
set for the treated water.
• Saving of Fresh Water: The
most significant part is the
savings of fresh water (in
MLD - as installed plant ca-
pacity), which otherwise
would be used from the exist-
ing reservoirs for these appli-
cations. Thus, the saved fresh
water can be used for other
important applications.
About the Author
Suhas Ruikar is working
in the field of Sales & Market-
ing of Pumps, and Automatic
Pumping Systems etc. for over
25 years, out of which he has
worked at Dubai for Building
& Construction segment for
about 7 years. He is working
as Director Marketing with a
reputed pump manufacturer
in India.
 WASTE MANAGEMENT
A Vision for Waste Management in India
By Anand Krishnamurthy
THE FIRST HALF of 2016
saw significant changes in
waste management rules, after
a gap of almost 16 years. Al-
most two years thereafter, the
market is currently abuzz with
KKR, one of the world’s largest
investment firms completing
the first PE buyout in India’s
environment sector. It is plan-
ning to invest in Ramky Enviro
Engineers Ltd, India’s leading
waste management company,
valuing Ramky at USD 925
million. These two interspaced
events are a signal of the grow-
ing seriousness about pollu-
tion and waste management
in India and for good reasons.
Envistats, a recently published
report by Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementa-
tion has shown a 72% jump in
the municipal solid waste gen-
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
eration against a 25% increase
in population across the top
10 cities of India in the last de-
cade. The quantum and com-
plexity of waste generation is
only set to increase significant-
ly with higher urbanization
and affluence.
The waste management
rules covering hazardous
waste, e-waste, construction
& demolition waste, plastic
waste, bio-medical waste, and
municipal solid waste are
quite detailed outlining the
responsibility of waste gen-
erators, waste handlers, recy-
clers and administrators. It is
intriguing, however, to note
that there is no overarching
policy on waste management
for India. The responsibility
of formulating waste manage-
ment policies has been left to
the State Governments under
the Solid Waste Management
Rules 2016.
A policy and shared vi-
sion for waste management
is a sine qua non when con-
fronting one of the biggest
challenges facing the nation.
Countries operating in a fed-
eral structure like Brazil have
outlined a National Policy for
Waste that encompasses crit-
ical aspects like the “need for
a systemic vision to consider
environmental, social, cultur-
al, economic, technological
and public health variables”.
The fifteen principles outlined
in the Policy discuss in a sys-
temic manner the need to re-
duce, recycle and derive value
from waste. Another case in
point is South Korea that has
legislated ‘The Promotion Law
for Achieving a Resource Cir-
culation Society’. One of the
stated objectives of this law is
to ‘Construct a Resource Circu-
lation Society’ as opposed to
the earlier ‘Create clean living
conditions’. Australia is in the
process of updating its 2011
policy for waste management
to prepare better for a sus-
tainable future; some of the
underlying principles include
the focus on waste minimiza-
tion, resource recovery, and
reduction in per-capita waste
generation.
A vision for waste manage-
ment is urgently needed for
the Government and Private
sector to work collectively to-
wards a pollution controlled
and sustainable future. A few
underlying principles for such
a vision, that could be further
emulated by the States, are
outlined as follows:
Moving Towards
Zero Waste
Moving towards a ze-
ro-waste society can start with
‘sub-systems’ turning zero
waste or net positive for the
environment. Many organiza-
tions have turned water posi-
tive and generate more ener-
gy than they consume. Large
public events and conferences
can be planned as zero-waste
or net-positive events. The up-
coming Ardha Kumbh in Alla-
habad is being planned to be
plastic-free. It is a good start,
but there is a far bigger poten-
tial if the scope is enhanced
to beyond just plastic and is
aligned with a broader and
powerful vision. For example,
all the human waste generat-
ed over the course of the Mela
can be treated in decentralized
sewage treatment plants to
produce clean water, biogas,
and fertilizer.
Improved Data
Collection and
Analytics
India’s statistics on waste
generation, recycling and re-
use are not in place. Improved
data is needed at local, district
and state levels to understand
the different sources of waste
generation, being a prerequi-
site for intelligent analytics. It
is also important to map out
the channels taken by different
waste elements or categories
in the recycling and reuse or
disposal process.
Focus on Waste
Minimization
Indians have thrived for
hundreds of years on frugali-
ty and harmony with nature,
to their advantage. These em-
bedded societal values need
to be communicated strongly
to minimize waste generation
wherever possible.
Focus on Technology
Retrofits
A useful and increasingly
popular concept in wastewater
treatment has been the upgra-
dation of existing sewage/
effluent treatment plants with
advanced technologies that re-
sult in a 2-3x capacity increase,
with higher standards of treat-
ment. Existing landfills and
waste treatment sites should
focus on upgrading technolo-
gy and ‘squeezing the lemon’
further to treat more waste in
the same or lesser land area.
Market Creation for
Recycled Goods
While discouraging con-
sumption of single-use ma-
terials is good, it is also im-
portant to actively encourage
the consumption of recycled
products. The Government can
play a strong enabling role in
improving the market for recy-
cled goods by at the very least
incentivizing procurement
from recycled sources.
Skill Development for
Waste Management
Waste recovery has till
recently been practiced in
back-alleys by unskilled peo-
ple working in extremely haz-
ardous conditions. From slums
of Dharavi to the shipyards of
Alang, the processes involved
are labor-intensive and primi-
tive, to extract maximum value
from the waste products. Giv-
en the increasing complexity
of waste, it is important to
create specialized technical
streams that impart a deep
knowledge of waste and value
extraction processes.
Waste management in an
opportunity to boost the econ-
omy to extract value, gener-
ate employment and create
a cleaner environment. A
National Waste Management
Policy with a powerful vision
and underlying principles can
lend clarity and provide stim-
ulus to the waste management
economy.
About the Author
Anand Krishnamurthy is
the co-founder and a Partner at
Envint. Envint is an advisory
and implementation services
firm that helps organizations
develop leadership in pollu-
tion management, resources
management, and cleantech.
November 2018 51
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE

Understanding Zero Liquid Discharge and the Key

Considerations to Choose the Right Solution
This article provides a brief primer on various typical ZLD configurations and focuses
on the factors that are critical to the successful design and operation of a ZLD
system.
By Daniel Bjorklund

Key Components of a True ZLD System are Evaporators for Brine Concentration and Crystallizers to Achieve Zero Liquid Discharge. (Photo Courtesy: Aquatech International)

ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE
is becoming more widely used
and increasingly important as
industries in multiple sectors
strive to address water scar-
city issues, comply with en-
vironmental regulations, and
address concerns about dis-
charging contaminated waste-
water into the environment.
Choosing the right system de-
pends on a number of consid-
erations, from understanding
what comprises ZLD process-
es to the characteristics of the
wastewater to be treated to the
experience of the supplier.
The power industry, as well
as oil & gas, chemical, petro-
chemicals, mining, and other
industries, generate large vol-
umes of wastewater that must
be managed. Commonly these
wastewaters are discharged
via a plant outfall to a surface

52 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
The chemical constituents of concern for a ZLD system typically
are as follows:
Sodium
Potassium
Calcium
Magnesium
Barium
Strontium
Silica
TDS/TSS
COD/TOC/BOD
pH
Table 1: Typical Chemical Constituents of Concern
water body, an evaporation
pond, or in some cases deep
well injected. However, there
are growing environmental
concerns regarding such dis-
charge practices, which has
resulted in the development of
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)
processes.
ZLD can be defined broad-
ly as a process for maximum
recovery of water from a
wastewater source that would
otherwise be discharged. This
water is beneficially reused
and the salts and other solids
contained in the wastewater
are produced and generally
disposed of in a landfill.
The drivers for ZLD in-
clude a growing concern by
the public about the impact
of such discharges on the en-
vironment, and in many areas
of the world, water is a scarce
resource. Such concern is re-
sulting in increased regulation
and limitation of wastewater
discharges. Even without the
regulatory push, many com-
panies in various industries
Brine Concentrator (Photo Courtesy: Aquatech International)
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
Chloride
Fluoride
Sulfate
Nitrate
Phosphate
Ammonia
Boron
Alkalinity
Oil & Grease
- Sometimes prior experience
are mandating initiatives for
reducing water discharge by
recycle and reuse, as well as
ZLD, to reduce their environ-
mental footprint and improve
sustainability.
Zero liquid discharge can
be achieved in various ways.
There is no “one size fits all”
solution, as the optimal sys-
tem design is site specific.
The wastewater composition,
various streams to be treated,
site-specific operating costs,
footprint availability and oth-
er factors are determining
factors for an optimal design.
This article provides a brief
primer on various typical ZLD
configurations and focuses on
the factors that are critical to
the successful design and op-
eration of a ZLD system.
The system objectives for a
ZLD system are to eliminate
a liquid wastewater discharge,
generate solids for landfill dis-
posal or reuse, and to recycle
a high-quality water that can
be beneficially reused. The
design objectives are to min-
imize the capital investment
and system operating cost,
while not significantly impact-
ing the manpower required for
operation. Further, the system
must be designed with oper-
ational flexibility to meet the
facility needs and be safe and
reliable.
Wastewater Chemistry
Careful consideration of
wastewater chemistry is need-
ed for the successful design
and operation of a ZLD system.
with similar water chemistry is
available to the ZLD designer.
Where experience is lacking,
proprietary water chemistry
modeling software can be ap-
plied to understand the solu-
bility limits of various species
as the water is concentrated to
a high TDS brine. Such soft-
ware is also useful for estimat-
ing the chemical consumption
of various chemicals that may
be used in the ZLD process for
conditioning and pH control.
If water is available, bench top
studies can also be useful to
validate chemistry modeling;
where water may not be avail-
able, synthetic analogues can
sometimes be used. A sound
water chemistry design basis
is the key to successful ZLD
design.
In a ZLD system, the waste-
water being processed is con-
centrated to solubility limits
of the dissolved salts. When
the solubility limits are ex-
ceeded, salts crystallize and
can then be harvested using
an appropriate means. Brine
chemistries in which monova-
lent cations such as sodium
are balanced with sulfate and
chloride, generally are limit-
ed to a maximum TDS of less
than 30% and a chloride con-
centration (an important fac-
tor in metallurgy selection) of
less than 170,000 ppm.
Divalent cations such as cal-
cium and magnesium are of
primary concern for the design
of a ZLD system. High calcium
and magnesium concentra-
tions can lead to concentra-
tion of highly soluble species
such as calcium chloride and
magnesium chloride. High
concentrations of these diva-
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
lent cations can significantly
contribute to the increase in
boiling point elevation. As
wastewater brines concen-
trate the boiling temperature
increases above that of pure
water due to a physical prop-
erty of the solution known as
boiling point elevation (BPE).
The design of an evaporator
requires accurate knowledge
of the boiling point elevation.
Further, high concentrations
of these divalent cations can
result in high concentrations
of chloride ions and lead to
costlier metallurgy.
Calcium is generally spar-
ingly soluble due to the pres-
ence of alkalinity and sulfate
cations and must be properly
considered to avoid scaling of
a pre-concentrating membrane
system, as well as brine con-
centration evaporators (Brine
Concentrator). Membrane
pre=concentrators generally
rely upon softening and an-
tiscalants to control scaling.
Brine concentrators are de-
signed with seeded slurry
scale control. By using seeded
slurry scale control brine con-
centrators scaling is retarded
by maintaining a proper con-
centration such that a high
ratio of crystal surface area is
maintained.
Generally, forced circulation
crystallizers receive the blow-
down from upstream pre-con-
centrating membrane systems
or brine concentrators. Crys-
tallizers are designed to man-
age precipitation of highly sol-
uble species such as sodium
chloride and sodium sulfate,
as well as sparingly soluble
salts such as calcium sulfate.
High concentrations of sodi-
Forced Circulation Crystallizer (Photo Courtesy: Aquatech International)
um relative to divalent cations
are beneficial in controlling
the chloride concentration.
Silica is present in varying
concentrations in natural wa-
ter sources. The solubility is
very limited at near neutral
pH; however, solubility is
greatly enhanced if the pH is
increased. If allowed to pre-
cipitate without control, silica
can scale pre-concentrating
membrane systems and the
heat transfer surface of evapo-
rators. Such scales are difficult
to remove by chemical clean-
ing and therefore need to be
avoided and considered in the
design of the system.
Ammonia when present
will volatilize in an evaporator
system and partition between
the distillate and atmospheric
vent. As the ammonia volatil-
izes the pH of the system may
decrease and caustic may be
needed to control the system
pH. If ammonia is present ad-
ditional controls on the vent
may be required depending on
the concentration of the vent
to avoid a health hazard, an air
permit violation or a nuisance
odor.
ZLD System Design
Evaporation systems gen-
erally are more capital and
operating cost intensive than
membrane systems, with crys-
tallizers being the costliest. For
that reason, and when possi-
ble, membrane systems can be
utilized to reduce the capital
and operating cost of the evap-
oration system.
Conventional membrane
systems can concentrate up
to 2 to 3% TDS, specially de-
signed high recovery systems
November 2018 53
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Aquatech Designed the HEVAP™ High-Efficiency Technology Evaporator with a Very Low Temperature Difference Between the Heating Medium and Boiling Brine
and with a High Recirculation Rate. The Result is Scale-Free Evaporator Operation and Lower Power Consumption. (Photo Courtesy: Aquatech International)
can concentrate to as high as
6% to 8% in some applica-
tions. Depending on the waste-
water composition, pre-con-
centrating using a membrane
system can dramatically re-
duce the sizing requirement
of the backend evaporations
system and thus the system
capital and operating cost. As
an example, if a wastewater
with a feed TDS concentration
of 5000 is concentrated using
a high recovery membrane
system, the duty requirement
of the evaporation system may
be reduced by 90 to 95%. Note
that to reach high recoveries
in a wastewater membrane
system, appropriate pre-treat-
ment such as softening and pH
adjustment is often required.
Vertical tube falling film
brine concentrators are gener-
ally used to concentrate lower
54 November 2018
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
brine solutions up to 12% to
as high as 25% total solids and
are used to minimize the de-
sign capacity of a downstream
forced circulation crystallizer.
Brine concentrators are spe-
cifically designed to manage
the scaling of sparingly sol-
uble divalent salts such as
calcium sulfate and calcium
carbonate, as well as silica
that is also commonly pres-
ent. Forced circulation crys-
tallizers are generally used to
concentrate brine blowdown
from upstream concentration
equipment, although small
wastewater flows are some-
times treated directly with a
forced circulation crystallizer.
Such applications generally
involve wastewater flows less
than 20 to 30 GPM. Crystal-
lizers are designed to manage
crystallization of all salts, spar-
ingly soluble as well as highly
soluble sodium salts such as
sodium chloride and sodium
sulfate, without excessive scal-
ing and cleaning frequencies.
This robustness comes at the
expense of higher specific en-
ergy consumption and higher
specific capital cost.
The solids generated by a
forced circulation crystallizer
are generally harvested and
dewatered by either an index-
ing belt filter or by centrifuge.
In such case, the solids are col-
lected and typically landfilled
in a conventional landfill as
long as the waste passes Tox-
icity Characteristic Leaching
Procedure (TCLP) testing.
However, in some applications
involving, ZLD equipment the
highly concentrated brine is
discharged to an evaporation
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
pond. Such a configuration
reduces the footprint of the
evaporation pond and the la-
bor and expense of operating
the dewatering equipment.
Checklist for Choosing
the Right ZLD System
and Supplier
Relevant Experience of the
ZLD Supplier
ZLD systems must be cus-
tom designed based on the
wastewater chemistry and
flow of wastewater to be treat-
ed. ZLD system design is the
intellectual property of the
system supplier and is gener-
ally not available from text-
books, journals or Wikipedia.
A successful implementation
of a ZLD system requires that
the supplier can demonstrate
relevant successful experience.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
Just as important in the supply
of the equipment is the sup-
port that the supplier provides
after the system is started up.
The ZLD supplier should have
a strong organization to pro-
vide such support and be able
to demonstrate the same.
Wastewater Chemistry Design
Basis
There are no “one size fits
all solutions”. It is critical to
establish a wastewater chem-
istry design basis that is repre-
sentative of the average condi-
tions, as well as the minimum
and more importantly the
maximum conditions. Care
should be taken to not be over-
ly heavy-handed in applying
a margin to design chemis-
tries as such practice may not
achieve the desired result. It is
better to estimate the expected
chemistry and discuss impli-
cations of deviations with the
ZLD system supplier.
Metallurgy
Metallurgy plays a signif-
icant role in the capital cost
of a ZLD system. Alloys that
provide corrosion resistance to
the highly concentrated brines
are required. There are options
available that allow for cost op-
timization without sacrificing
plant service life.
Conservative Design Margin
The ZLD system is the “end
of the pipe” in most plants;
anything that has washed into
a waste sump concentrates in
the ZLD system. Experience
shows that actual wastewater
chemistry will deviate from
the design chemistry.
Once properly designed op-
erating issues can be handled
by the plant operating team
working with a ZLD system
supplier that has demonstrat-
ed experience in operating
similar facilities.
About the Author
Daniel Bjorklund is Vice
President of Aquatech Interna-
tional, a global leader in water
purification technology for
industrial and infrastructure
markets with a focus on water
reuse, zero liquid discharge,
and desalination.
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Transforming Wastewater Recycling & Treatment Through
an Innovative Service Model
Turbaashu Bhattacharya, Business Head of Mumbai-based company Roserve Enviro
Pvt. Ltd. talks to Mayur Sharma about the concept and features of Roserve.
First, tell us about the
background of Roserve
Enviro.
Mr. Bhattacharya: Roserve
Enviro Pvt Ltd (A joint ven-
ture between Concord Enviro
Pvt Ltd and Danish Climate
Investment Fund - DCIF) was
set up in October 2016 to cater
to the fast-growing industri-
al wastewater recycling, and
treatment sector. Concord En-
viro is a leading manufacturer
and service provider of indus-
trial wastewater recycling and
desalination systems where-
as DCIF is a fund managed
by IFU, an investment fund
owned by the Government of
Denmark, with a mandate to
invest in the developing coun-
tries.
What is the concept of
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
“Roserve”?
Mr. Bhattacharya: The con-
cept originates from Reverse
Osmosis (RO) + Service = RO-
serve. Using the technology of
Reverse Osmosis, we recycle
wastewater for industries. Ro-
serve provides a blend of ad-
vanced technology and finan-
cial solutions delivering a ’Pay
as you Treat’ solution. This
unique FinTech Solution shifts
the responsibility of wastewa-
ter management to Roserve
including Investment, Opera-
tions & Compliance. Through
our wastewater recycle solu-
tions we have been successful
in reducing the consumption
of freshwater/ groundwater
for industries, and have also
enabled them to move towards
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD).
What are some of the
salient features of this
approach?
Mr. Bhattacharya: Roserve
is a truly a “solution-based ap-
proach”. In this approach, ab-
solute filtration, using mem-
branes for water recycle and
consequent zero liquid dis-
charge, provides the best op-
tions from a safe environment
impact perspective. The treat-
ment philosophy followed by
us is to recycle the wastewater
back to the process using the
lowest energy and keeping the
cost of recycled water to the
minimum possible. The cost of
recycled water is equal to the
cost of wastewater treatment &
recycle minus the cost of fresh
water replaced. With increas-
ing scarcity and cost of fresh
water, and reducing the cost of
treatment & recycle, the cost of
recycled water will be the low-
est in the long-term.
This approach also increas-
es compliance with both local
government and customer
requirements. The recycling
allows our client to meet more
than 80% of their total daily
water consumption, thereby,
reducing their intake of fresh
water significantly. It reduces
client’s dependence on fresh-
water/ groundwater, thereby,
reduces the pollution and
groundwater contamination
as well.
It gives the lowest operat-
ing and capital cost solutions
by deploying proven and sus-
tainable solutions for waste-
water reuse and Zero Liquid
Discharge (ZLD). There is
a complete outsourcing of
wastewater reuse and zero liq-
uid discharge responsibility.
It also has a phase-wise ap-
proach to adapt the solutions
and achieve zero liquid dis-
charge. And, most importantly,
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
the Roserve solution enables
all industries in achieving the
long-term Sustainability there-
by ensuring the reduction in
carbon footprint while at the
same time meeting environ-
mental regulations.
Which technologies are
involved in this model?
Mr. Bhattacharya: The tech-
nologies which we employ in
this model are Straight Tube
RO Systems, Plate Frame RO
Systems, Waste Heat Evapora-
tors using Membrane Distilla-
tion, MVR Systems, Conven-
tional Evaporators, Finishers
& Crystallizers, and the Brine
Recovery.
What are the benefits
of this unique model
for your industrial
customers?
Mr. Bhattacharya: I can
give you several benefits. First
of all, there is “Pure Service
Concept” as there is no upfront
capital investment or invest-
ment in non-core assets. The
upfront capital investment
for the customer is zero and it
conserves precious capital for
core business requirements.
Then there is the “Pay-Per-Use”
benefit, as the costs are guar-
anteed! The customer pays
only for what he gets - Capex
is converted into Opex.
Each solution is specifical-
ly designed, keeping in mind
the requirements of the cli-
ent. There is flexibility to start
with part effluent recycle and
achieve the ZLD over an agreed
target period. Customer buys
nothing, just defines the need
and scope. The service agree-
ment period can be designed
for >1 year to < 10 years.
The pay-per-use model
transfers the risk of technol-
ogy selection to the service
provider. As per the need of
the client, Roserve brings the
best-suited technologies, such
as RO/ MEE/ Dryers, etc. There
is zero asset risk as the residu-
al risk vests with the owner of
the asset. The recycle/ ZLD op-
erations handled by Roserve
team deployed at customer’s
premises helps the clients in
focusing on his principal busi-
ness needs. The contracts can
be “structured” to meet the cli-
ent’s current operational costs.
The rentals are lower due to re-
sidual value dependence - the
lease period is lesser than the
economic life of the asset.
As we manage the entire
life-cycle of asset taken on the
lease which includes insur-
ance, repair & maintenance,
the client only focuses on the
best utility of the asset, while
complete maintenance and
service upkeep is taken care of
by us. The client also has the
flexibility to purchase the as-
set, go in for another release of
the asset or return the asset to
the Roserve as per terms men-
tioned in the service agree-
ment. The O&M (Operations
and Maintenance) contracts
can be continued even after
the end of the contract period
if the customer decides to pur-
chase or renew the lease.
Anything else you
would like to share?
Mr. Bhattacharya: We be-
lieve that Roserve is very much
a business concept for the fu-
ture as we move ahead into
a service-oriented structure,
with a total “Pay Per Use” type
model. We are very confident
that such an option would find
traction at our customers’ end
for the solutions related to
the recycling of wastewater at
their manufacturing facilities
and plants.
November 2018 55
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE

Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Food &

Beverages Industries
Discussing some of the challenges faced and various approaches set to arrive at
providing best-in-class solutions at best-in-industry costs for wastewater treatment
and reuse facilities.
By Jahanvi Kulshreshtha and Umesh Sharma

Typical EPC Contract (Civil Works in Most Small Industrial Projects is Carried Out by a Separate BOB Model (Technology Integration Involves: Piping, Electrical, Instrumentation, and Erection &
Civil Contractor Who is Also Generally the Contractor for the Manufacturing Building and Other Commissioning of Bought-Outs. Civil Work in Most Small Industrial Projects is Carried Out by a
Civil Construction Works.) Separate Civil Contractor Who is Also Generally the Contractor for the Manufacturing Building and
Other Civil Construction Works.)

WE HAVE HAD a long asso-
ciation with a multinational
FMCG company, helping them
in managing the wastewater
generated from the various
processes and sewage gener-
ated through communal ac-
tivities in most of their man-
ufacturing plants. Through
this case study we will share
some of the challenges faced
and various approaches set
to arrive at providing best-in-
class solutions at best-in-in-
dustry costs for a wastewater
treatment and reuse facilities.
Most of the manufacturing fa-
cilities have a total wastewater
generation in the range of 75
to 125 m3/day (for a matter
of simplicity and uniformity
we are assuming a standard
wastewater treatment facility
of 100 m3/day.
After working with our in-
dustrial clients on numerous
water and wastewater infra-
structure projects, we have had
experienced three key lessons
that we aim to share with the
readers.
• Alternative project deliv-
ery mechanisms can help
service providers to deliver
higher quality services while
still optimizing on total proj-
ect costs.
• S imple proven technologies
and multiple stages of treat-
ment can still deliver very
good results at a lower capi-
tal and operational costs.
• There is no substitute for
good operations and mainte-
nance practices.
The following sections brief-
ly discuss our approach and
lessons we have garnered over
the last many years.
Innovative Project
Delivery Model - Best
of Best (BOB) Model
Most water infrastructure
projects are built by engineer-
ing companies by executing
EPC (Engineering Procure-
ment Construction) contracts.
In a typical EPC contract, the
following process is followed.
As you will notice, under
EPC contracts, the contractors
are responsible for the entire
design, execution, and com-
missioning of the required
infrastructure. Such contracts
are awarded after competitive
bidding based on conceptual
engineering for price discov-
ery and the “price to end-user
is a lump-sum fixed price”.
The key problem with most
EPC contracts is that they have
fixed scope, timelines, and
costs, which makes execution
in a real-life industrial project
very difficult as there is limit-
ed in-built flexibility for pric-
ing and vendor selection built
Item
System Basic Design
Technology
Detailed Engineering
Civil Works
Bought Outs
Plant Components Integration
Project Management
O&M Start-Up & Trial period
Table 1 Summarizes the Division of Scope of Work Between the Various Parties in Case Cost
EPC and BOB Implantation Models.
into the contracts. Many times plementation due to chang-
our clients faced the following ing requirements or site con-
challenges during project ex- ditions
ecution because of which the • Non-availability of materials
projects got delayed, went over from local vendors/suppliers
budget or worse the client nev- • Poor choice of vendor for
er got the final outcome that particular equipment due to
they had sought. cost cutting by EPC contrac-
• Change of scope during im- tor
EPC Model (Exclud- BOB Model
ing Civil Works)
Consultant Technology Provider
EPC Contractor Technology Provider
EPC Contractor Technology Provider
Civil Contractor (Nominat- Civil Contractor (Nominated
ed by Client) by Client)
EPC Contractor Client Using Material Specifica-
tions Provided by Technology
Provider
EPC Contractor Electro-Mechanical Contractor
for Integration Works (Nomi-
nated by Client)
Client/ Nominated Consul- Technology Provider
tant
EPC Contractor (or Client) Technology Provider is Respon-
sible for Start-Up & Trial Opera-
tion of Project Assets

56 November 2018 SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Parameter
Technology Selection
Flexibility in Value Engineering
Flexibility to Change Scope
Quality Control
Cost Control
No. of Purchase Orders
Alignment of Interests with That Contractor Provides Just
of the End-User
Table 2 Compares the Two Implementation Models.
After repeatedly facing is-
sues because of the above
factors, we had proposed out
client(s) with an innovative
project delivery approach that
not only empowered our cli-
ent’s project teams to fast-track
projects but also significant-
ly saved on the total project
costs. We called this new ap-
proach - the Best-of-best (BOB)
Figure 1: Block Schematic Diagram of Treatment Scheme
model. Under the BOB mod-
el, we were able to provide a
one-stop solution to our client
by providing complete engi-
neering, project management,
and operations supervision
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
EPC Model BOB Model
Control with End-Users Full Control with End-User
Average Very Good to Excellent
Poor Excellent as Work Executed on
BOQ Basis
Average Good to Excellent
Fixed Cost but Quality Variable Within Limits +/- 5%
Might Suffer but Quality Ensured
At Least 2 Many Orders Requiring Addi-
tional Efforts on Part of End-Us-
er
Consultant (i.e. Designer) is
Achievable Service Levels Ultimately Responsible for
at the Lowest Purchase Service Deliverables Without
Cost to Protect Margins Having Vested Interests in Low-
ering Quality/ Increasing Con-
tract Value
services which enabled us to ensured that the design given
hand-hold the client through- by us was executed exactly
out the project development, according to the marked spec-
execution, and commissioning ifications and thus the system
stages. This approach not gave guaranteed from a process per-
the client greater freedom to spective. Equipment guaran-
make decisions about capi- tee is provided by the supplier
tal specifications and which or integrator or civil contrac-
low-cost equipment suppliers tor (for structural). This also
to use but also enabled them means better savings as many
to execute the project at 20% of the small problems are
lower project cost than other avoided due to continuous su-
players in the same market pervision by the designer. This
spent. optimizes project cost, quality
Under the BOB model, as and long-term sustainability
the Technology Provider to the of the projects. The project
client, our role at each stage implantation process that was
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
Figure 2: Typical In-Sump Installation
of Basket Screen
followed under the BOB mod-
el is summarized in Figure 1.
Based on the above compar-
ison it is clear that the BOB
model is not only efficient but
also maximizes the capital
productivity of the end-user.
This model ensures that the
client gets the “Best of the
Best” for each and every proj-
ect component.
Keep it Simple Stupid
(KISS) Principle
Now moving onto the pro-
cess design element of the
wastewater treatment process,
we have learned that while
there are many new technolo-
gies such as high rate anaero-
bic reactors, UF, RO, etc., there
are many age-old processes
that can be arranged in a com-
Figure 3: Typical In-Sump Installation
of Hydraulic Mixers
pact structure with multiple
stages of treatment in a cost-ef-
fective manner to achieve the
desired wastewater treatment
and reuse objectives.
The treatment scheme we
have to work most effectively
for treating wastewater from
food industries comprises
primary treatment which in-
cludes fats, oils and grease
removal and physicochemical
treatment, secondary treat-
ment comprising multiple
staged biological treatment
which includes attached
growth high-rate anaerobic
treatment followed by 2-stag-
es of aerobic treatment and
finally tertiary treatment for
water reuse which include
chlorination, filtration using
multi-grade filters and Ultravi-
olet radiation (UV) system. We
shall discuss a few steps taken
at various stages of treatment
which helped to enhance the
treatment efficiency or save
cost or maximum utilization
of existing assets at some proj-
ect sites. The typical block dia-
gram of the treatment scheme
provided is shown in Figure 3.
Collection and Pre-
treatment
For screening, most of the
designers use manual bar
screens at the inlet to sewage
collection sumps and some
use expensive mechanized
bar screens. For small sized
treatment plants, we found
that basket screens proved to
be a cost-saving solution as
civil work for a channel re-
quired in bar screen is avoid-
ed and the mechanization is
relatively simpler. Learning
from previous projects where
operators were reluctant to
clean the screenings manually,
a mechanical drive was given
for the basket screens to run
on a guide rail which tilts the
basket as it reaches the top
of the sump. Thus, the basket
screens can be operated with
minimum handling required
from operators, who are able
to scrape down the screenings
into a trolley without any di-
rect contact.
For continuous mixing in
the wastewater in pumping
sumps and small tasks, a hy-
draulic mixer can be effective-
ly used. For small systems,
many times even the smallest
commercially available pump
is pumping greater than the
required flows, which causes
overloading and other opera-
tional issues. By using a sim-
ple design for high-pressure
hydraulic mixing we were
able to overcome two issues:
(1) Effectively control flows to
November 2018 57
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
biological units, and (2) Pro-
vide mixing in tanks where
settling of solids leads of op-
erational issues such as pump
blockage, etc. When pumped
water is directed back into the
sump through the hydraulic
mixer the jet from the mixer
induces turbulent fluid mo-
tion resulting in mixing of
contents in the tank/sump.
This simple equipment not
only saves considerable cap-
ital cost that is spent on me-
chanical mixers (by spending
a small amount on electricity
for the time for which pump
is running), but the energy
usage and control are further
optimized by the use of a so-
lenoid control valve.
Biological Treatment
• F or anaerobic treatment,
SMAR (Submerged Media
Anaerobic Reactor) was giv-
en which is an old but effec-
tive anaerobic process due
to its better biomass reten-
tion capability over the sus-
pended processes. A high
recirculation rate is kept to
ensure relatively lower or-
ganic loading rates to the
reactor and higher pollutant
removal efficiencies (~60
to 65%). Other advantages
of fixed film anaerobic pro-
cess for low quantity high
strength wastewater treat-
ment include: (1) Lower
sludge production rate, (2)
Higher resilience to shock
loads compared to suspend-
ed growth systems, (3) Elim-
inates the need to dose cost-
ly enzyme-based products
for retaining or increasing
microbial activity in the an-
aerobic reactors.
• Communal wastewater is
added prior to the aerobic
stages carried as a healthy
microbial culture with it
that enhances the efficien-
cy of the aerobic treatment
process. A continuous sup-
ply of microbes at this stage
further discards the need
for any enzyme or microbial
culture in case of any upset
or start-up or restarting of
the biological system.
• From experience, we know
that many small wastewater
treatment plants face oper-
58 November 2018
ational difficulties because
operators turn off sludge
recirculation during off-
peak or night hours in order
to save energy or save the
pumps. To overcome this
operational challenge, we
provide continuous recircu-
lation of activated sludge by
providing a slightly (~5% to
10%) larger aeration blower
which powers air-lift pumps
for continuous sludge re-
circulation which in turn
ensure a healthy biomass is
developed and retained in
the system. Air-lift pumps
have no moving parts re-
quire no or negligible incre-
mental power to operate as
the blowers which run any-
way for 24 hours to provide
air to the aeration system in
aeration tanks.
• Many wastewater treatment
plants fail to continuously
deliver high performance
due to process upsets ei-
ther because of changing
wastewater quality or oper-
ational mistakes. To reduce
upsets and also to increase
treatment efficiency we pro-
vide specially engineered
two-stage aerobic treatment
process that is optimized
to operate at high, yet ro-
bust, pollutant removal
rates created by providing
A Typical Wastewater Sample Picture from Various Stages of Treatment is Shown in Figure 4 and Table 3 Shows the Typical
COD Values at Various Treatment Stages:
Unit Name Industrial
Wastewater
COD (mg/l) 20,000 to
25,000
Figure 4: Treatment Stage-wise Water Quality
a well-designed mixture
of food to microorganism
(F/M) ratio, high oxygen
concentration (OC), as well
as high MLSS concentra-
tions. This arrangement al-
lows for > 90% removal in
the 1st treatment stage itself
under average loading con-
ditions. The second stage of
aerobic treatment is given
with a relatively lower F/M
ratio and moderate oxygen
concentration inducing
scavenging in the aeration
tank giving another >99%
reduction. This provides a
>99% of pollutant removal
efficiency.
Tertiary Treatment
It is an industry standard
practice to provide a Pressure
Sand Filter (PSF) and Activat-
ed Carbon Filter (ACF) for ter-
tiary treatment. In our opinion
giving a Multi-Media Filter
with layers of pebbles, sand
and activated carbon/coal is a
much better design as ACFs re-
quire frequent renewal of the
media (every 6 months or so)
which is costly and difficult to
maintain and thus they many
times the media is not replen-
ished and thereby provides no
treatment.
In summary, we would like
to highlight that when treat-
ment takes place in multiple
steps, there are various process
control points as well as barri-
ers that provide uninterrupted
high quality treated wastewa-
ter for reuse. Even in case of
shock loads, if any upstream
Post Primary Treat- Post-Anaerobic
ment Wastewater Treatment
15,000 to 17,500 7500 to 8000
unit is upset or out of service,
the downstream units can
take up a slightly higher load
at each step, hence it contin-
ues to treat wastewater to the
desired quality requirements
without incurring high-cost
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
for high cost filtration systems
such as UF/RO or having mul-
tiple parallel units.
Efficient Operations
is as Critical as a
Good Design, Never
Compromise on it!
For a particular F&B FMCG
company, we have designed
6 to 7 wastewater treatment
plants at different manufactur-
ing locations that utilize more
or less the same raw materials
and have similar manufac-
turing processes. This gave a
fantastic opportunity to ana-
lyze and compare how differ-
ent operational processes and
quality of operation impacted
the wastewater generation and
treatment processes. While
there were many insightful
comparisons, we are highlight-
ing the top 3 that we believe
are most revealing.
• 
Reduce Moving Parts: As
discussed above, by elimi-
nating the need for separate
pumps for activated sludge
recirculation, we were able
to reduce process failures as
well as mechanical mainte-
nance issues and by going
for simple basket screens
that have no moving parts
in water, we were able to
significantly reduce the cost
of the screening system.
Mixed-Wastewater (70/30
Dilution with Sewage)
1440
•W
 astewater treatment plants
that were provided with sim-
ple automation for pumps
operations with level switch-
es significantly improved
the quality of long-term sus-
tainable performance of the
treatment plants. This to us
clearly showed that having
operators manage treatment
processes on the field and
take daily operations deci-
sions is actually worse than
simple automated systems
that are designed to work on
well-defined control points.
We believe that many small
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
treatment plants in the de-
veloping world are poorly
operated because of low-
skill of operators and hence
it makes immense sense to
automate some of the sim-
ple processes which not only
improves the robustness of
the treatment process but
also helps in reducing O&M
costs due to lower manpower
requirements.
• 
Technology is critical for
operational excellence. We
used an application called
‘Orgzit’ that is easily acces-
sible through internet en-
abled laptops, PCs, as well
as mobile phones to collab-
orate with our field force
team of operators and su-
pervisors. Through this soft-
ware solution, we were able
to seamlessly share data in
real-time which enabled us
to provide timely guidance
to field staff on day to day
operational and preventive
maintenance issues.
About the Authors
Jahanvi Kulshreshtha is
a water/wastewater process
engineer for sustainable en-
gineering designs of water/
wastewater treatment proj-
ects. She has worked with
firms in consumer goods and
pharma industries for perfor-
Treated
Wastewater
50 to 60
mance improvements of their
water and wastewater treat-
ment projects which helped
these firms significantly re-
duce operational difficulties
and thereby O&M costs.
Umesh Sharma is a chem-
ical engineer with on-ground
project execution experience
with a keen eye for simplify-
ing day to day operations. He
has worked on projects in the
food and beverages industry
to deliver practical solutions
and also efficiently operate
wastewater treatment plants
in various parts of India.
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE

How Chemical Companies Can Evaporate and Completely

Recycle Their Wastewater in a Sustainable Way
Evaporating wastewater seems expensive and energy-intensive, but it doesn’t have
to be. “Companies can recoup their investment within three to five years if they
filter the condensate and reuse it as process water.” Bernard De Jonghe, an expert
in separation techniques for the chemical industry, talks about the sustainable
possibilities of evaporation technology, during the interaction with Mayur Sharma.
EVAPORATING WASTE-
WATER SEEMS expensive
and energy-intensive, but it
doesn’t have to be. Companies
do it because sometimes it’s
the only feasible, robust solu-
tion. “Solving the wastewater
problem using a perfectly di-
mensioned evaporator is one
thing,” says Bernard De Jong-
he, GEA expert in separation
techniques for the chemical
industry. “But companies can
recoup their investment with-
in three to five years if they re-
use the condensate as process
water.” MDF manufacturers
Spanolux and Unilin already
recycle 100% of their waste-
water thanks to GEA Belgium.
Q. Bernard, why is
wastewater evaporation
so expensive?
Bernard: “Evaporation is
a separation technique that
demands a substantial invest-
ment while at the same time
seemingly wastes a lot of en-
ergy. So it’s our job to properly
inform the customer about the
various possible techniques
so that we can be sure evapo-
ration is the right choice. With
larger customers who have the
requisite expertise in-house
and know that an evaporator
is what they need, it’s simply a
question of taking a quick look
at their decision process and
endorsing the outcome.
The investment is consid-
erable, but the equipment is
very robust and is built to last
a generation and more. The
energy consumption of evap-
oration can be optimized with
thermal or Mechanical Vapour
Recompression (MVR). You’d
be amazed how efficiently wa-
ter can be evaporated!
Another thing is that the
composition of wastewater is
variable - unlike that of milk
or sugar, for instance. No two
batches of wastewater are the
same. So it has to be thorough-
ly tested, as we need to be sure
we’re using the right physical
parameters to correctly dimen-
sion our equipment. Testing
is done in three stages: 1) in
the lab, 2) in a pilot plant and
3) during a continuous endur-
ance test for 3-6 weeks. Only
then can we give the customer
realistic and reliable informa-
tion about the solution, in-
cluding energy consumption
and purchase price.”
Q. But they can recoup
investment, can’t they?
Bernard: “Yes, that’s right.
The evaporation process pro-
duces condensed water, which
they would like to recycle in
the plant as process water. But
to do this, the water has to
meet the quality requirements
for process water. That calls
for techniques like membrane
treatment, stripping, distilla-
tion, etc. We have experience
with separation techniques in
the food industry - which has
to meet the most rigorous stan-
dards - and can use it to advise
companies in the chemical
industry. MDF manufacturers
such as Spanolux and Unilin
completely recycle their con-
densed water, for instance.
This kind of exercise inevi-
tably involves a financial anal-
ysis: what are the tax benefits?
How much can we save if we
have much less or no waste
to dispose of if we no lon-
ger need to pump water, etc.?
Those savings will be weighed
against the investment and
energy costs. Depending on
the industry, companies want
to be able to write off the in-
vestment within three to five
years.”
Q. Do you think the
need for recycling will
increase?
Bernard: “Absolutely. Wa-
ter is becoming a precious
resource. We as a society are
going to have to think about
how we deal with water. Com-
panies with drilling wells
sometimes pump up large
quantities of groundwater. But
more and more often they’re
being denied access to the wa-
ter table as a result of taxes lev-
ied by the government, which
wants to use the groundwater
as drinking water. We’re seeing
that not just in Belgium, but
throughout Western Europe.
Other sectors will follow, such
as the waste-processing, metal-
lurgical and textile industries,
Companies
that pump up
groundwater are
being denied
access to the
water table more
and more often
as a result of
taxes levied by
the government.
for example. Some companies
are resorting to diluting water,
but that’s just a temporary fix.”
Q. Finally, why should
I choose GEA for
wastewater evaporation
equipment?
Bernard:“I believe that GEA
is second to none when it
comes to product experience.
Our technical center in Karl-
sruhe, where 15 people con-
stantly run tests, is a crucible
of ideas and ensures that we’re
at the cutting edge of tech-
nology. What’s more, we can
quickly check all the details of
the project together with the
customer. And the customer
knows that GEA has the right
expertise in-house. Last but
not least, we’re well organized
and can successfully manage
major projects because we
have excellent resources in
Germany in the areas of pro-
cess technology, automation,
equipment manufacturing,
and structural steelwork.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 59

 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Advanced Wastewater Reuse Technology
By Lior Eshed
Pismo Beach Demonstration Facility
LIKE MANY OTHER places,
California has been severe-
ly impacted by drought. As
the state faces an ongoing
shortage of groundwater, ad-
vanced water reuse is proving
a sustainable alternative for a
clean, efficient and safe water
source. The reused water can
be used to recharge the deplet-
ing-aquifers and avoid seawa-
ter intrusion, help maintain
proper water levels in lakes,
supply water to the industrial
sector or even for direct use in
the potable conveyance sys-
tem.
The key to reaching this
level of high-quality water is
the implementation of cut-
ting-edge treatment technol-
ogy with tight control of the
treatment process.
Case Study
In an effort to demonstrate
the feasibility of a treatment
process of this kind, the City
of Pismo Beach and the South
San Luis Obispo County San-
60 November 2018
itation District, together with
their member agencies - the
Cities of Grover Beach, Ar-
royo Grande and the Oceano
Community Services District
(OCSD) - in California have
initiated Central Coast Blue,
an indirect potable reuse proj-
ect. The aim of this project is
to prove the reliability of the
process and the feasibility
of turning wastewater into
high-quality fresh water that
will be recharged into the
groundwater basin.
Historically, the three cities
and Oceano have obtained
surface water from Lopez Lake
- a reservoir on Arroyo Grande
Creek formed by the Lopez
Dam - and groundwater from
the underlying Santa Maria
Groundwater Basin. Oceano
and Pismo Beach also receive
a portion of their water supply
from the California State Wa-
ter Project.
Severely affected by the re-
cent drought, Lopez Lake has
struggled to recover. As of
early June, according to the
County of San Luis Obispo
Public Works Department, the
water body was at 50 percent
capacity. Meanwhile, concerns
about the possibility of sea-
water intrusion into the San-
ta Maria Groundwater Basin
prompted Pismo Beach and
its neighbors to decrease their
use of groundwater.
In order to develop a
drought-proof, sustainable wa-
ter supply, Pismo Beach and
its Central Coast Blue partners
aim to reuse the wastewater
that they currently treat to sec-
ondary levels before discharg-
ing it to the Pacific Ocean. To
this end, Pismo Beach oper-
ates a 1.9 MGD wastewater
treatment facility that uses ox-
idation ditches, clarification,
and disinfection. On average,
the facility discharges about 1
MGD of treated effluent to the
ocean.
Recently Pismo Beach be-
gan operating the new Central
Coast Blue Advanced Water
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
Purification Demonstration
Facility at the site of its ex-
isting wastewater treatment
plant. With a treatment capaci-
ty of 45,000 Gal/d, the demon-
stration facility treats effluent
from the Pismo Beach Waste-
water Treatment Plant and
subjects the wastewater to ad-
ditional advanced treatment
processes designed to achieve
a finished product that is of
drinking water quality. Al-
though the goal of the Central
Coast Blue project is ultimate-
ly to inject the purified water
into the groundwater basin for
later extraction and potable
reuse, there will not be any in-
jection during the pilot phase.
Instead, the purified water
from the demonstration facil-
ity is returned to the Pismo
Beach Wastewater Treatment
Plant.
The full-scale advanced
treatment facility is currently
in the design phase, with facil-
ity completion still a few years
out, anticipated in 2020.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
Central Coast Blue has col-
laborated with IDE Technol-
ogies, which is providing the
technology for this facility.
This includes a three-stage
treatment composed of Mi-
crofiltration (MF), which re-
moves suspended solids and
pathogens such as bacteria
and protozoa; followed by
Reverse-Osmosis (RO) that
removes dissolved salts and
sub-micronic constituents
such as viruses; and finally Ul-
traviolet/Advanced Oxidation
(UV/AOP), which degrades
Figure 1: DOHS Process
any residual organic contam-
inants (Figure 1).
The first phase of the
demonstration implements
IDE’s ECO-Reuse process. This
process offers several advan-
tages over the standard reuse
 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Figure 2: IDE’s ECO-Reuse Water Reuse Process
process (termed FAT- Fully
Advanced Treatment):
A) No Chloramine Injection
Normally Chloramine is
dosed to the feed water to
control the formation of bio-
fouling on the membranes.
However, when Chloramine
Figure 3: Specific Flux of the RO
comes into contact with or-
ganic matter in the water, sev-
eral byproducts are formed,
including NDMA (a suspected
human carcinogen, currently
limited to 10 ng/l according to
discharge regulation), as well
as other chlorination-byprod-
ucts such as Trihalomethanes
and Haloacetic acids. In ad-
dition, Chloramine increases
the risk of membrane oxida-
tion, shortens the life expec-
tancy of the membranes and
adds complexity and cost to
the process. In the ECO reuse
process, no Chloramine is
Figure 4: Normalized Differential Pressure of the RO
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
used. Instead, RO membranes
are kept clean by the preven-
tive maintenance approach -
periodic cleaning of the mem-
branes using a proprietary
process termed DOHS (Direct
Osmosis High Salinity). This
process includes a short in-
jection of the concentrated
saline solution that reverses
the flow direction in the RO
membrane, thus backwashing
the membrane surface.
The injection of a short
pulse of concentrated sa-
line solution that takes place
during DOHS causes:
o The backwash of membrane
surface by forward osmosis
o A rapid increase in cross-
flow velocity (shear force)
o Bacteria dehydration due to
osmotic shock
Another method used to
keep the membranes clean is
the periodic flushing of the
Figure 5: Amount of CEC’s Found in
the Secondary Effluent (SE) and in
the RO Permeate
membranes with permeate
water, which prevents the for-
mation of scaling. Both these
processes maintain the mem-
branes clean, thus saving en-
ergy, extending membrane life
expectancy and requiring less
frequent chemical cleanings
(CIP) of the membranes.
Figure 6: MF Specific Flux
B) Lower CAPEX and OPEX
Cost in the UV/AOP Process
Following RO desalination,
the water flows to its final
treatment unit - the Ultra-
violet/ Advanced oxidation
process (UV/AOP), in which
high UV irradiation and in-
jection of an oxidant initiate
the formation of short-liv-
ing free radicals that rapidly
attack and degrade organic
contaminants. The efficiency
of this process is dependent
on the transparency of the
water (UVT value). Presence
of Chloramine in the perme-
ate water (most of the Chlo-
ramine passes through RO
membranes) reduces the UVT
value. In fact, the Chloramine
acts as a “radical scavenger”,
causes part of the free radi-
cals formed to react fist with
the Chloramine, therefore
reduces the efficiency of the
process. All this results in a
WASTEWATER RECYCLE & REUSE
higher energy demand and
larger facility requirement.
Avoiding the use of Chlora-
mine may, therefore, reduce
the OPEX and CAPEX de-
mand by 30-40%.
The second phase of the
demonstration (which is cur-
rently running) is the conven-
tional Fully Advanced Treat-
ment (FAT) process, which
will serve as a reference for the
Eco-reuse process.
The RO recovery is 75-80%;
each phase will run for about
3 months.
Operational Results
• Specific Flux: The specific
flux stabilized at about 0.12-
0.13 gfd/psi in the first stage
and 0.09-0.1 gfd/psi in the
second stage (Figure 3). The
specific flux of the 1st stage
is about 25% higher than a
parallel reuse facility in Or-
ange County (which is 0.09-
0.1gfd/psi).
• D
 ifferential Pressure: The
differential pressure is an in-
dication of the fouling and
scaling on the membranes.
During the demonstration
time, a moderate increase
of about 10% has been ob-
served, indicating that pre-
ventive maintenance is ef-
fective (Figure 4). The dP in
Orange County is 50% high-
er (in the first stage) and
about 10% lower during the
second stage.
• U
 VT: As no chloramine was
dosed, the UVT reached
100%, thus allowing sav-
ings on the UV/AOP system
OPEX and CAPEX of 30-
40% (in a full-scale installa-
tion).
• R
 ejection of Organic Con-
taminants by RO: Out of
30 tested Contaminants of
Emerging Concern (CECs),
25 were found in the sec-
ondary effluent. Only one
(Sucralose, 28 ng/l) was
found in the RO permeate.
Sucralose concentration
showed a 3-log removal in
the RO. The RO showed bet-
ter than expected results,
rejecting 94% of the nitrate
and 99.9% of organic con-
taminants.
• MF Performance: remained
stable throughout the
demonstration time, with
the flux of 33 gfd and specif-
ic flux of 4-5 gfd/psi. Chem-
ical maintenance cleanings
used only hypochlorite
(every 48 h). Daily pressure
decay tests proved that the
membrane kept its integrity
throughout the demonstra-
tion time.
Conclusion
Drought and climate chang-
es push for new water sources,
and water reuse is a valuable
approach in this effort. The
recently-opened demonstra-
tion facility in Pismo beach
CA yields good results and
increases confidence in this
process while proving that a
more environmentally-friend-
ly approach is feasible by min-
imizing the use of chemicals
and ensuring effective perfor-
mance of the future full-scale
facility. The Demonstration
Facility is open for tours and
provides the community with
an opportunity for a first-hand
observation on how the pro-
cess works.
About the Author
Lior Eshed is the Water Re-
use Technologist and Product
Manager at IDE Technologies.
November 2018 61
 INTERVIEW
Saving Our Water Bodies...
Puneet Srivastava is the Manager - Policy at WaterAid India. Mayur Sharma
interacted with him about community’s role in increasing groundwater levels.
The recent Niti Aayog’s
Composite Water
Management Index
(CWMI) report describes
‘600 million Indians
face high to extreme
water stress and about
two lakh people die
every year due to
inadequate access
to safe water’. How
grim is the situation of
water scarcity in India?
Is it truly alarming?
Mr. Srivastava: As stated in
Niti Aayog’s Composite Water
Management Index (CWMI),
the situation with regards to
water scarcity in India is grim.
The rate of groundwater de-
pletion in India is among the
highest in the world. This has
led to a massive fall in water
tables over a period of time.
Overall, this situation is truly
alarming and needs immedi-
ate attention of both the citi-
zens as well as the government
for initiating urgent action on
policy and water governance.
Moreover, we believe that
there are a number of addition-
al indicators that should be con-
sidered for inclusion in CWMI
so that we are able to make
more informed and apt deci-
sions. Some of the indicators
are data related to water quality,
62 November 2018
local governance and its access
to data, water use efficiency,
and water demand as per the
crops, drinking water supply
rates, quality of water supply,
water-borne diseases, environ-
mental impact and so on.
What are the immediate
measures that need
to be undertaken to
prevent India from
reaching the “Day
Zero” situation?
Mr. Srivastava: People play
a central role in taking up ur-
gent measures to stop Indian
cities from reaching day zero
situation. Rainwater harvest-
ing needs to be practiced and
monitored continuously at
both individual as well as insti-
tutional level to reduce water
extraction and also recharge
groundwater. More and more
thrust on water saving tech-
nologies in farming should be
adopted as agriculture is the
biggest consumer of ground-
water in India. Industries in
their backyards, as well as the
civil society network, should
help communities to adopt
water conservation measures
at the local level thus making
them water sufficient. Overall,
improved water management
practices - awareness around it
not just at the household level
but at a society, community
level is needed.
Reducing fresh water use
for activities such as garden-
ing, using the bucket and not
pipes for washing cars and so
on. These may be small but im-
portant steps in the direction
of avoiding day zero situation
in most cities and towns in In-
dia.
Also, the government
should take necessary steps
to ensure that our reservoirs
have enough water to store for
year round and also ensure
that water storage capacity in
different parts of the country
is expanded to fulfill the rising
demands of cities and towns
in India.
How do you see the
role of decentralized
water governance in
mitigating the water
crisis as projected
in the Composite
Water Management
Index report?
Mr. Srivastava: Decentral-
ized water governance with
the support of an equally ro-
bust policy and regulatory
framework is a critical step to
mitigate the water crisis as the
evidence suggests from differ-
ent parts of the country.
Many of the gaps suggested
in CWMI report results from -
weak participatory water user
groups in the irrigation sector,
non-adoption of water saving
techniques in irrigation sector
at the farmers level, no interest
and investments in rainwater
harvesting by people, lack of
awareness regarding the qual-
ity of water.
Thus, providing people with
information to raise awareness
about the ongoing water scar-
city situation in the country
is important to make citizens
accountable and also support
them in finding solutions that
COMMUNITY WATER
can be implemented at an in-
dividual level as well as insti-
tutional level thus accounting
for people’s wisdom in the gov-
ernance of water.
Realizing this, WaterAid In-
dia has started the initiative
of conducting Jal Choupal at
different levels of water gov-
ernance (Village, Gram Pan-
chayat, Block, District, State,
and National) to trigger de-
mocratization of water and
ensuring rapid action on water
security through structured
discussions at community
platforms on issues related to
integrated water management.
Jal Choupal is playing the role
of informing citizens of their
role in securing water and live-
lihoods.
What is water
recharging and why
is it important?
Mr. Srivastava: Ground-
water recharge may include
recharge as a natural part of
the hydrologic cycle and hu-
man-induced recharge, either
directly through spreading
water in basins or through
injection wells, or as a conse-
quence of human activities
such as irrigation and waste
disposal. Artificial recharge
with excess surface water or
reclaimed wastewater is in-
creasing gradually making it
a part of the hydrologic cycle.
Natural recharge to the wa-
ter table can be diffused or
localized. Diffuse recharge is
the widespread movement of
water from the land surface to
the water table as a result of
precipitation over large areas
infiltrating and percolating
through the unsaturated zone.
Localized recharge refers to
the movement of water from
surface water bodies to the
groundwater system and is
less uniform in space com-
pared to diffuse recharge. Most
groundwater systems receive
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
both diffuse and localized re-
charge. As the aridity of region
increases, the possibility of
diffused recharge decreases. It
may be noted that most water
from rainfall that infiltrates in
the ground does not contrib-
ute to groundwater recharge.
Such water is stored in the soil
zone and finally comes back
to the atmosphere by evapo-
ration and plant transpiration.
Water recharging is import-
ant to maintain water levels
beneath the surface of the
earth.
Do we have laws in
existence for mandating
water conservation/
water recharge? If yes,
are they effective? If
no, what is it that we
require immediately?
Mr. Srivastava: We do have
existing laws in many states
for mandating water conser-
vation and water recharge.
Except for the industries, these
laws are too dispersed and
loosely understood by water
sector stakeholders in munic-
ipal and irrigation supplies.
Many of them are in the shape
of guidelines and policy notes/
directives/ government orders
and so on than in the shape
of laws that can bring serious-
ness to its implementation.
What we need now is to have
one umbrella framework for
the water sector in India at fed-
eral level and umbrella state
laws for each of the states that
defines key policy objectives
and stakeholder responsibili-
ty in water sector governance
and also helps in prioritizing
water conservation and water
recharge at industries, irriga-
tion, municipal and rural areas
level. We also need to acknowl-
edge the resources required
for eco-system services man-
agement between rural and
urban communities to ensure
that people in rural areas are
 INTERVIEW
Photo Credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
properly incentivized for pro-
tection of catchments of water
bodies whose water is used by
municipalities in towns.
Do you think that
community has a major
role to play in water
recharging? How?
Mr. Srivastava: The commu-
nities have major role to play
in water recharging by invest-
ing in low cost artificial water
recharging structures at house-
hold level and advocating for
it in each of the commercial
and institutional buildings
within our villages, cities and
towns. Rain Water Harvesting
for both storage of water and
using it for ground water re-
charge needs to be undertaken
by each citizen religiously us-
ing the roof area or other area
available at their household
level. To trigger this aware-
ness, WaterAid India started
a campaign on installation of
roof top Rain Water Harvest-
ing Tanks and recharge pits
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
in six Gram Panchayats of
Kanpur and Fatehpur in Uttar
Pradesh last year.
Which states/cities/
districts are doing
well in terms of
decentralized water
governance?
Mr. Srivastava: The states
that are doing well in decen-
tralized water governance are
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Tube well irrigation is
the biggest cause of our
depleting water tables
but we cannot deny our
farmers access to water
for irrigating crops.
Agriculture sector being
the largest groundwater
user, what alternatives
do you recommend for
bringing down the rate
at which groundwater is
extracted in irrigation.
Mr. Srivastava: Ground wa-
ter regulation, its enforcement
and pricing in agriculture, in-
dustrial and domestic water
supply sector remains the key
agenda for water sector re-
forms. We should first adopt
a regulation where the ground
water abstraction is measured
for different purposes and
some taxation (based on envi-
ronmental principals of more
you use more you pay) should
be levied by the government
for the same. This will ensure
the integration of policy of
treating ground water as com-
mon property resource and
delink it with property rights
in India. The second step in
this direction can be enabling
policies that enforce indus-
tries, municipal water sup-
pliers, farmers to return or
recharge the same amount of
water they draw for their use
by investing in low cost and
monitorable artificial recharge
structures. The third step in
this direction is to incentivize
the farmers that adopt low wa-
COMMUNITY WATER
ter guzzling techniques such
as drip or sprinkler irrigation
and use solar water pumps
that save ground water.
Suggest a few measures
that can be taken
at the household
level to ensure
water recharging.
Mr. Srivastava: It should
be made mandatory for each
household in rural and urban
areas with having roof area
of more than 50 Sq. meters to
construct a roof top rain wa-
ter harvesting system in their
premises for harvesting rain
water and recharging the same
locally whatever is surplus after
augmenting household storage.
Can you quote a few
examples of best
practices in both rural
and urban settings
on community led
water recharging
measures to save
existing water bodies?
Mr. Srivastava: There are
many best practices for both
rural and urban settings on
community led water recharg-
ing measures in India. The
work done by Anna Hazare
in Ralegaon Siddhi, Rajender
Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh
in Alwar district of Rajas-
than, the ancient wisdom of
water conservation of Tanka
System in Rajasthan, the in-
genuity of revival of ponds
by Anupam Mishra, and res-
toration of ponds and tanks
in Bundelkhand area of Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
and in Tamil Nadu are few
shining examples.
The revival of Sasur Khade-
ri River in Fatehpur district of
Uttar Pradesh, protecting lakes
from encroachment in Ban-
galore, rain water harvesting
at city wide scale in Chennai
are few examples of impact at
scale on community led and
government supported initia-
tives for recharging of existing
water bodies.
November 2018 63
 COLUMN
The Water-Energy-Food Nexus
By Robert C. Brears
WITH RISING DEMAND for
water, energy, and food, lead-
ing cities and water utilities
have created synergies be-
tween the water-energy-food
nexus sectors while reduc-
ing trade-offs in the devel-
opment of a green economy.
Water-Efficient
Urban Farms
Kansas City is cultivating a
locally sustainable food sys-
tem to ensure local food access
for all, especially the needy,
and ensure food is integrated
into the civic life of the com-
munity. A key aspect of the
city’s sustainable food system
is that it is democratic where
people take ownership of the
local food system, as a whole
and in their own lives, the
environmental and personal
health and well-being of local
residents are prioritized, and
that the food system is resil-
ient and adaptable.
To ensure the local food sys-
64 November 2018
tem is resilient, the KC Grow:
Water Access Program has
been established to help Kan-
sas City community groups
and farmers access water for
their gardens and farms. In-
creased water access makes it
easier to grow more food in
the city, increasing the amount
of nutritious food available in
the community. The program,
with a budget of USD 100,000,
sponsored by the City of Kan-
sas City, and administered by
Kansas City Community Gar-
dens, assists community gar-
dens and farms in Kansas City.
Urban gardeners and farm-
ers turning vacant lots and
lawns into productive growing
space can apply for funding
from the program to assess
the amount of water required
to sustain the garden or farm,
evaluate water access options,
connect the farm to local re-
sources that best meet the gar-
den or farm’s water needs, and
provide small grants to help
implement recommended wa-
ter access strategies.
Before small grants can be
provided to implement rec-
ommended water access strat-
egies, a water audit will be
conducted to analyze the gar-
den’s or farm’s water use, plot
size, and the area’s average
annual rainfall. The completed
audit will recommend ways
to increase water access and
affordability for the garden or
farm. It will also provide soil
improvement and conserva-
tion recommendations, best
mulching practices, and water
budget estimates. Once the
audit has been completed, KC
Grow Small Grants can then
be disbursed to applicants to
implement their water audit
recommendations including
installing rainwater and storm-
water catchments systems, wa-
ter pumping systems, and drip
irrigation systems.
Energy Crops and
Food Waste Powering
a Water Utility
The UK’s water utility
Severn Trent is aiming to gen-
erate 50% of its own energy by
2020, up from 38% today. To
reach this goal, the utility has
developed one of the largest
energy crop plants in the UK
as well as opened its second
food waste plant.
To reach its goal, Severn
Trent has developed a new
crop digestion plant near Not-
tingham. At the plant, crop
materials are fed into anaero-
bic digesters. Inside, bacteria
are added and the mixture
is kept at 42°C. As the crops
break down, methane is re-
leased for use in gas engines,
from which the heat is used to
keep the digesters or adjacent
sewage works at their efficient
temperatures and make elec-
tricity which can be used on-
site or exported to the national
grid. A combination of maize,
wheat, rye, and energy beet is
used in the digesters, with the
energy beet being a special
hybrid form of sugar beet that
produces a large amount of gas
in digesters. Crops for use are
also grown on Severn Trent
land adjacent to the plant. In
the past, contaminated mate-
rials were added to the land,
making it unsuitable for food
production for 900 years.
To further meet the re-
newable energy goal, Severn
Trent’s second food waste
plant at Stourbridge recent-
ly opened. The plant accepts
food waste from a variety of
sources including food and
drinks manufacturers, food
processing companies, hospi-
tality and food service outlets,
local authorities, schools, su-
permarkets, and retail stores.
With a capacity of 48,500 tons
of both packaged and unpack-
aged food waste, the plant
generates energy output of
2.4 MW, the equivalent to the
amount of electricity required
to power over 4,000 homes
for a year.
Wastewater is not
Waste: DC Water’s
Bloom
DC Water has created Blue
Drop, a non-profit organiza-
tion, to market products and
services as well as provide
ratepayer relief from tariff in-
creases due to rising operating
expenses, capital investments,
and declining water consump-
tion. A key program of Blue
Drop is Bloom, which is DC
Water’s brand name for its EPA
certified Exceptional Quality
biosolids product. After water
is used in homes and business-
es in the District of Columbia,
and portions of adjacent coun-
ties in Virginia and Maryland,
it is sent to DC Water’s Blue
Plains Advanced Wastewater
Treatment Plant: A resource
recovery facility. On average,
Blue Plains treats nearly 300
million gallons of wastewater
and can treat over 1 billion gal-
lons a day at peak flow.
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
URBAN WATER
Rather than viewing waste-
water as just waste, solid ma-
terials are separated from the
liquid and sent to DC Water’s
new state-of-the-art thermal
hydrolysis process and an-
aerobic digesters. This equip-
ment adds heat, pressure and
helpful bacteria to the solids
to remove harmful pathogens
and reduce odor. The output
is Bloom, a biosolids product
that can be used in any area,
from large farms to backyard
gardens and lawns. Current-
ly, Fresh Bloom is on sale for
USD 3.50 per cubic meter. The
product has been dewatered
and contains around 30% sol-
ids and can be used to increase
crop growth or even used on
sporting fields.
The benefit of Bloom is that
it helps capture carbon and
prevents it from being released
into the atmosphere. Biosol-
ids application also recycles
nutrients like phosphorous
and nitrogen back into the
soil instead of releasing them
into the Potomac River and
the Chesapeake Bay. Finally,
to offset the costs to ratepay-
ers in providing water-related
services, Bloom provides an
additional revenue stream en-
abling DC Water to mitigate
the impacts of rising tariffs on
its customers.
Conclusions
From the mini-cases, wa-
ter-efficient urban farms can
contribute to inner-city food
security, the water utility of the
future will be carbon-neutral,
generate renewable energy
from multiple sources, and be
at times a net exporter of that
renewable energy, and water
utilities can offer a variety of
products including biosolids
to provide rate relief.
Robert Brears is the au-
thor of Urban Water Security,
Founder of Mitidaption, and
Our Future Water.”
@Mitidaption
 COLUMN
Ground Level Reflections from High-Level
Panel Initiatives
By Amy Syvrud, IWC for the Australian Water Partnership (AWP)
AS AN INITIATIVE to sup-
port the now-concluded
High-Level Panel on Water
(HLPW), ‘WaterGuide’ policy
dialogues were held with four
countries to share Australian
expertise and experience in
water scarcity and drought
management, discussing the
most significant challenges
faced in each country. I per-
sonally participated in the
Mexico-Australia WaterGuide
Dialogue. A recurring chal-
lenge identified in Mexico
and in the other participating
countries was the question of
how to effectively allocate and
manage water for the environ-
ment, providing useful context
for an additional contribution
to the work of the HLPW - A
Guide to Managing Water for
the Environment.
The report WaterGuide: Set-
ting a path to improved water
management and use under
scarcity was authored by Aith-
er and published by the Austra-
lian Water Partnership (AWP)
in March 2017, with an updat-
ed version released in March
2018. WaterGuide represents
an Australian contribution
to the work of the High-Level
Panel on Water (HLPW), a pan-
el of 11 heads of state that was
convened to accelerate prog-
ress toward achieving SDG 6.
It is a six-element organizing
framework for improving wa-
ter management and use in
response to scarcity, informed
by the Australian water man-
agement experience.
Aither, AWP, the Australian
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (DFAT), and other
AWP partners including AR-
COWA, Global Change Advi-
sory, and HARC, have been
working with national govern-
ments facing challenges relat-
ing to water scarcity to apply
WaterGuide through facilitat-
ed dialogue with Australian
water policy and management
experts. Since its initial publi-
cation, WaterGuide has been
used to structure policy dia-
logues in Jordan, Senegal, and
Mexico (all HLPW members)
and in Iran.
As a native southern Califor-
nian with research experience
in the Colorado River Basin
and Delta with The Nature
Conservancy (and a deep ap-
preciation for Mexican food
and the language), I was able
to participate in the inaugural
Mexico-Australia WaterGuide
dialogue, which focused on
the experience of water scarci-
ty in Baja California.
The WaterGuide dialogue
in Mexico was held with rep-
resentatives from the Baja
California State Water Com-
mission (CEABC), the Nation-
al Association of Water and
Sanitation Utilities of Mexico
(ANEAS), and the National
Water Commission of Mexico
(CONAGUA), among others,
in Tijuana and Mexico City.
Over the course of a week
of activities, Australian and
Mexican partners shared their
experiences in water scarcity
and drought management,
discussing the most signif-
icant challenges that they
face now and into the future.
The dialogue focused on the
drought-stricken region of
Baja California and concen-
trated on assessing Baja Cal-
ifornia’s Hydrological Plan
(PHEBC) 2018-2035, against
the six elements of Water-
Guide. One challenge that
was raised repeatedly was
around ensuring water for the
environment—specifically in
regards to the Colorado River
Delta.
Mexico has come a long
way over the last century in
attempting to overcome this
challenge. From the 1930s to
the 1980s, no regular base or
pulse flows reached the Del-
ta in Mexico, resulting in the
decline of many species and
the collapse of fisheries, with
a subsequent decline in indig-
enous populations and further
social and economic costs.
Over the last two decades,
Mexico and the United States
have engaged in several coop-
erative policy efforts to restore
water for the environment in
the Delta. The first was a man-
aged pulse flow in 2014 from
a large-volume water release
from a US dam (Minute 319),
returning water to areas of
Mexico that had been without
it for 17 years. Then in 2017,
the two countries reached an
agreement on how they would
make voluntary cutbacks
during drought, committing
the US to financially support-
ing water efficiency projects in
Mexico in return for a one-time
water exchange, and requiring
both countries to provide wa-
ter and funding for habitat res-
toration and scientific work in
the Delta for the next decade
(Minute 323).
While Mexico and the US
have gradually aligned poli-
KNOWING OUR WATERS
cies for managing the Colo-
rado River, and have started
to move from conflict to co-
operation, this was only af-
ter decades of disagreement,
compromise, and negotiation.
Yet despite this cooperation,
further and continuous work
is required in order to achieve
desired outcomes, demanding
careful planning, dedicated ac-
tion, and commitment.
When discussing PHEBC
2018-2035 with Mexican
stakeholders, we found that
there was little mention of the
allocation of water for the en-
vironment and that this is not
a key objective of the plan. We
also found that there is still a
highly ingrained culture of
‘úsalo o pierdelo’ (‘use it or lose
it’). It was stated that the over-
all objective of the plan is to be
as efficient as possible, with ‘no
drop of freshwater going to the
ocean’. This raises questions
about the ongoing survival
of the Delta region. If there’s
no water going to the ocean,
then there’s no water going to
the Delta either - which is go-
ing to ultimately compromise
not only productive efficiency
but all other economic, social
and cultural values that are
dependent on a healthy water
system. So, while Baja Cali-
fornia has taken strides in the
right direction, they still have
a marathon ahead of them in
this regard.
Similar issues were ob-
served during our WaterGuide
dialogue in Iran while visiting
Lake Urmia, which has shrunk
considerably due to under-reg-
ulated abstraction in the basin.
Both Mexico and Iran have ex-
pressed a desire to learn from
Australia’s experience in water
management, and particular-
ly its experience in managing
water for the environment to
sustain system health and the
values that depend on it. Aus-
tralia’s experience in this area
has recently been captured in
a further contribution to the
HLPW - A Guide to Managing
Water for the Environment -
which I was also privileged
to be involved in developing
in partnership with the Com-
monwealth Environmental
Water Office. The guide re-
flects the six-element structure
of WaterGuide, transforming
and applying it in the context
of determining and sustain-
ing the health of surface and
groundwater systems. I hope
that the practical guidance of-
fered in this Guide may assist
our partners in Mexico and
Iran, and other decision mak-
ers around the world grappling
with the inherent complexity
of managing water for the en-
vironment.
With so much achieved
during the two years of the
HLPW, I’m excited and eager
to see what we can accomplish
through the next 10 years of
the UN International ‘Decade
of Water’ and subsequent ini-
tiatives - and I pledge to con-
tinue to contribute to this work
to the best of my ability in the
years to come.
Amy Syvrud is an interna-
tional water policy expert. The
Australian Water Partnership
(AWP) is an Australian Gov-
ernment development initia-
tive enhancing the sustainable
management of water across
the Indo-Pacific.
@WaterPartnersAU
November 2018 65
 POINT OF VIEW
Water in the Bank
By Warwick Lorenz
AUSTRALIA IS MOVING
into a serious drought which
in some parts of the country
is now in its fourth year. Aus-
tralia is a strong agricultural
producer with over 3 million
square miles of territory, in-
habited by on 24 million peo-
ple. 60% of that population
live in four cities and are large-
ly disconnected to the inland,
or as Australians call it, the
outback!
While Australia’s National
Farmer’s Federation claims
to be targeting to build ag-
ricultural production to 100
billion dollars within a rela-
tively short period, their plans
do not seem to involve either
government, industry or even
the farmers themselves in any
kind of major improvement
of the programme to drought-
proof the country.
Key advocates for that pro-
gramme are high profile Aus-
tralians like billionaire Twiggy
Forrest, a major player in the
international iron ore business
and a beef cattle farmer on a
large scale. Forrest is regard-
ed as being a bit of a dreamer
66 November 2018
even though he has built a 40
billion dollar iron ore empire.
“Everything I know starts with
a dream and the dream I want
to share with you is an Austra-
lia which does not fear lack of
water”, he told a conference in
Canberra.
Forrest plans to harvest
5,000 Gigaliters of water from
underground aquifers and riv-
ers to drought-proof existing
agricultural areas. The plan is
to open up thousands of hect-
ares of land for new agricultur-
al projects, something that is
sorely needed in Australia!
Andrew Forrest’s plan is
based on his childhood having
grown up on a cattle station in
the Pilbara in North West Aus-
tralia. “I grew up in the bush
and the pastoral station in the
Pilbara was in the north-west
isolated outback”, he said. “I
saw the agony and I felt the
pain it caused my parents,
such anguish as they bore per-
sonal witness to the ravaging
effects of the drought whilst
the vegetation around us wilt-
ed”, he added.
“It was not until I saw the
wildlife, the birds, the kanga-
roos, emus, goannas and even-
tually the sheep and cattle all
meet, by their thousands, their
dry and dusty and painful
death. It is those emotions that
I can never forget”.
I can relate to Forrest’s pain
as I have seen family members
suffer dry-land farming in the
east side of Australia where 2
good years can be followed by
4 or even 5 bad years with the
result of what should be beau-
tiful and productive farmland
turning into dust bowls.
I took my campaign to
drought-proof Australia to the
Deputy Prime Minister of the
country, Barnaby Joyce. Joyce
was not only Deputy Prime
Minister at the time (May
2017) but was also Minister for
Agriculture and Minister for
water. Under his leadership,
new dams were planned and
feasibility studies funded to
$60,000,000, 39 studies to ac-
cess the economic viability of
water infrastructure projects.
These include dams, pipelines,
and managed aquifer recharge
projects. The studies includ-
ed the feasibility of building
a number of new dams in
Queensland and increasing
the size of Lake Argyle in West
Australia by raising the spill-
way.
The government commit-
ted around $250,000,000 to
co-fund the construction of 5
infrastructure projects to se-
cure new and affordable water
for regional economic devel-
opment including new and
expanded agriculture. These
commitments included the
Rookwood Dam in New South
Wales, Dungowan Dam, and a
number of other key projects
valued at millions of dollars.
The tragedy is that in Aus-
tralia it seems that the Federal
Government can have the best
of intentions but without the
cooperation of State Govern-
ments, normally involved in
sharing funding of these big
projects 50%, they can’t get up.
An added problem is the
perceived issue of environ-
mental departments in State
governments being preoccu-
pied with staying in power,
and that means votes from the
major population centers, the
4 key capital cities in Australia.
The cost of this paralysis is
being reflected every day in
headlines as we move into an
even deeper drought situa-
tion. Headlines like “Drought
Affected Producers Need Sup-
port” tell us about well-mean-
ing government departments
spending millions of dollars to
compensate for the tragedy of
farmland being lost.
We read about capital works
investment programmes to
help build and revitalize re-
gions but don’t involve water!
We also read about pensions
being paid to farmers in the
form of “Farm Household Al-
lowances” for income support.
There is support relief from
the council or government
rates, education support for
children and even grand-
standing over securing 3-year
funding for mental health sup-
port services! Nobody wants
to seem to want to talk about
taking any long-term action
for the drought proofing of the
country.
Unfortunately, we have to
contrast this with massive
investments being undertak-
en in other areas. We see the
Three Gorges Dam in China
and the 20,000 other dams
built in China in recent years
as being a great example of
what can be done.
Ethiopia will continue the
construction of “Grand Ethi-
opian Renaissance Dam”
(GERD) on the River Nile
despite Egypt’s disapproval.
Meanwhile, Kenya is building
the Thwake Dam that will be
the largest single project in the
country and the region. It will
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
provide a total of 134 million
liters of water daily and be the
largest in East Africa.
1.3 million people from the
lower eastern region in Kenya
will benefit!
Meanwhile, the Australian
drought kicks in and it seems
nobody is prepared to really
think about the long-term fu-
ture.
We even have some politi-
cians who proudly claim credit
for bringing about Drought
Community Programmes to
stimulate drought ravaged
communities in rural Australia
worth up to 35 million dollars
but not a penny of it went in
drought prevention.
Meanwhile, projects like the
New South Wales Clarence
Copeton Dam Scheme (see
the map) project are ignored
in spite of the massive change
this would make to hundreds
of thousands of hectares of
currently unreliably produc-
tive land.
As one final shot on this
subject, it should be noted
that the Australian National
University in Canberra recent-
ly prepared a study in which
they identified 22,000 poten-
tial sites across Australia for
pumped hydro energy storage.
The maps showing locations of
potential store sites and a re-
port on the findings are read-
ily available. At this stage that
programme seems to be going
nowhere.
Australia is ready for a ma-
jor leap forward but somebody
has to think about more than
three years out (our federal
parliamentary term) and fund
the work to be done. To quote
Andrew Forrest, “Everything I
know starts with a dream”.
Water is life, water is wealth,
dams are banks!
About the Author
Warwick Lorenz is the
Managing Director of Austra-
lian Pump Industries.
 URBAN WATER
Small Water Enterprises: Providing Low-Cost Safe
Water Solution to Build Resilient Cities
By Poonam Sewak
THE NITI AAYOG Compos-
ite Water Management Index
states, “54 percent of India’s
groundwater wells are declin-
ing, and 21 major cities are ex-
pected to run out of groundwa-
ter as soon as 2020, affecting
almost 100 million people”.
While some claim the situ-
ation is not quite so serious,
such a strong statement from
the leading government poli-
cy think-tank cannot be taken
lightly as well; especially since
it highlights that India is fac-
ing the worst water crisis in its
history with millions of lives
and livelihoods under threat.
Cities face a growing range
of adversities and challenges
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
in the 21st century, from the
effects of increasing migrant
populations to climate change,
inadequate infrastructure, and
pandemics. The availability of
safe drinking water is promi-
nent among them. Resilience
is what enables cities to adapt
and transform in the face of
these challenges, helping them
to prepare for both the expect-
ed and the unexpected.
In April 2018, 100 Resilient
Cities (100RC), pioneered by
the Rockefeller Foundation
and the National Institute
of Urban Affairs (NIUA), an-
nounced a formal partnership
to expand collaborative resil-
ience-building efforts in India.
Safe drinking water supply is
prominent among the adver-
sities and challenges facing In-
dia, and the issue is expected
to worsen.
In India, nearly 17 percent
of the urban population (65
million people) live in slums
and more than 50 percent of
the 14 million urban poor fam-
ilies lack access to safe piped
water supply. This gap in sup-
ply is often met by Urban Lo-
cal Bodies (ULBs) through the
provision of community-level
standpipes or tankers. How-
ever, the quality of water from
these sources is usually poor,
and water supply is often avail-
able for only a few hours a day,
resulting in increased costs
from water-borne diseases and
a lack of access for the poor.
Hence, to achieve the objec-
tive of safe water for resilient
cities, Small Water Enterprises
(SWEs) need to be included in
India’s city planning; a more
conducive policy and en-
abling environment and reg-
ulatory framework is needed,
and the government and the
private sector need enhanced
collaboration and partner-
ships for the advancement of
SWEs.
Urban Small Water Enter-
prises (USWEs) can address
the unmet need to provide
high-quality treated water,
complementing the govern-
ment’s piped-water efforts.
These USWEs offer the dual
advantage of providing re-
liable, safe, and affordable
drinking water 24/7, as well as
generating livelihoods.
Additionally, Urban SWEs
require a lower investment
than an alternative supple-
mental water supply, and also
reduce incidences of water-
borne disease, generate live-
lihoods, and prevent reliance
on expensive plastic bottled
water, thereby addressing the
scourge of plastic pollution.
Including Small Water En-
terprises (SWEs) in urban
planning for the creation of
resilient cities expands the
options for government provi-
sion of safe water and can fa-
cilitate direct investments and
development in ways that will
support the Government of
India’s plan, and contribute to
urban growth and renewal. For
a capital investment of rough-
ly INR 4,000 crores (USD 592
million), about 15,000 USWEs
can provide 35 million people,
or roughly half of all urban
slum dwellers in India, with
sustainable access to afford-
able, safe drinking water.
However, there is still the
need to bring Urban SWEs
into the picture in a larger
format. For local governments
to progress to implement-
ing USWEs, there is a need
to accelerate local action by
addressing supply gaps, stan-
dardizing approaches, mobi-
lizing financing, and forming
key stakeholder coalitions.
This includes empowering
ULBs and setting up perfor-
mance standards that can
provide the basis for the ULBs
and other regulatory bodies to
measure and monitor USWEs.
Digital tools can support effi-
cient, systematic monitoring
and evaluation efforts.
Making cities safe from
disaster is everybody’s busi-
ness. The mayors, urban local
bodies, and other government
entities are the key players, re-
sponsible for delivering essen-
tial services to their citizens
(water, shelter, health, educa-
tion, transportation, etc.) and
for lessening the risk to cities
and making them resilient
against the effects of climate
change, burgeoning popula-
tions, and safety issues.
However, in addition to na-
tional and local governments,
all institutions and citizens
- including associations; in-
ternational, regional, and civil
society organizations; donors;
the private sector; academia;
and professional associations
- have a role to play in reduc-
ing the risks that cities face.
It will be through a collective
effort by all of these key stake-
holders that we will build re-
silient cities.
About the Author
Poonam Sewak is Vice
President - Knowledge and
Partnerships at Safe Water
Network.
November 2018 67
 THE SECOND OPINION
Water, Life, and Health - Overcoming the
Challenge of Global Water Requirement
By Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari
LIFE IS NON-EXISTENT
without water. In fact, the
complete evolution process of
planet earth, all living species
- including Homo-sapiens - re-
volve around water. The devel-
opment of the world, since the
time immemorial, humanity
has developed with water be-
ing one the prime resource of
life.
Today, with the man enter-
ing the age of digitization and
advanced technology, industri-
alism has taken over and natu-
ral water resources are getting
consumed at ever-fast pace.
With an increase in pollution, a
number of water-borne diseas-
es and impurities are posing a
serious threat. The wastewater
management and wastewater
treatment have also posed a
great danger to humanity in
recent times. Government ma-
chinery across the globe are
leaving no stone unturned to
optimize their water resources
and wastewater management
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD
systems including the water
purification, mineralization
of water, consumption regu-
lation, healthcare policy im-
plementation, disease control
mechanisms, and water dis-
posal at prime focus in their
action plans.
As the Chairman of the
World Commission on Wa-
ter for the 21st Century has
marked, “More than one-half
of the world’s major rivers are
being seriously depleted and
polluted, degrading and poi-
soning the surrounding eco-
systems, thus threatening the
health and livelihood of peo-
ple who depend upon them
for irrigation, drinking and
industrial water” - healthcare
plans to prevent water-borne
diseases and wastewater treat-
ment is the first priority of the
economies today. The water
quality is depleting by each
coming day because of a lot
of reasons like the heavy met-
als and dyes that constitute
industrial waste, biodegrada-
tion, innumerable bacteria,
and lack of proper sewage
treatment. Not just this, a lot
of infections, bacteria, fungi,
and viruses are also adding to
the water resources, contami-
nating the same and creating
health hazards. Scientists and
innovators around the world
are churning the wheels of
their minds to come up with
sustainable wastewater treat-
ment and water purification
systems.
Drinking Water
Purification:
Quenching the Thirst
of Planet Earth
While water makes up about
71 percent of the earth’s sur-
face, only a tiny fraction of it
is drinkable. Not just drinking
water, fresh water is essential
for almost every other thing.
Consequently, many parts of
the world are suffering from
severe droughts recurrently. In
such a scenario, where drink-
ing water can even be a catalyst
to wars, wastewater treatment,
and wastewater management
are quintessential for the gov-
ernments and global develop-
mental organizations.
Even over 70% of the hu-
man body comprises water,
and that makes water an es-
sential life element. Changes
in the minerals and elements
in the drinking water can lead
to severe water-borne diseases
ranging from diarrhea to den-
gue and cholera. Healthcare is
a critical issue when it comes
to water management. Na-
tions today are working at ex-
tremities to fight water-borne
diseases and facilitate treated
mineral water to their citizens
for a healthy lifestyle. Water is
at the core of sustainable de-
velopment goals defined by
the UN, which aims to create
an ecosystem where every hu-
man gets safe mineral water
for drinking and sanitation
purposes.
In addition to the burning
issues of drinking water re-
sources, healthcare, and sani-
tation, wastewater treatment is
also a focus area for economies
across the world. As quoted
in the 2017 UN World Water
Development Report, Waste-
water: The Untapped Resource
- “Over 80% of the world’s
wastewater - and over 95% in
some least developed coun-
tries - is released to the envi-
ronment without treatment.”
The need of the hour is to find
a better wastewater manage-
ment system that will not just
improve the water quality but
also help in pollutant removal,
through the effluent treatment
and help world walk towards
better future.
Wastewater
Management: Recycling
of Wastewater
The ‘Agenda: 2030’ of the
United Nations has defined
water as one of the Sustain-
able Development Goals and
promotes governments to es-
tablish wastewater treatment
plants at a large scale to im-
prove the water quality and
avail drinking water to people
facing severe water-related is-
sues. Water resources across
the globe are getting increas-
ingly polluted due to the lack
of strict regulations on indus-
tries for waste disposal. Indus-
tries and factories disposing of
industrial waste, heavy metals,
dye, organic matter, bacteria,
and toxic material into water
resources are further leading
to degradation. Getting rid of
the water-borne diseases and
availing mineral water is the
prime target of the policies
and plans activated currently
across the globe.
Effluent treatment of water
through wastewater treatment
plant will not just solve the is-
sue of drinking water but will
also facilitate resources with
better water quality to the
world. Water is the major es-
sential of life and water man-
agement will truly decide the
future of humanity - free from
diseases, safe, healthy, and sus-
tainable living.
About the Author
Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari is the
Chairman and Managing Di-
rector of VBRI innovation and
technology group headquar-
tered in Sweden. A non-res-
ident Indian technocrat and
entrepreneur, he is also the Di-
rector at Institute of Advanced
Materials - VBRI AB, Secretary
General - International Associ-
ation of Advanced Materials,
and Chairman & Managing
Director of AAA Innotech Pvt.
Ltd.
November 2018 68
 MARKET EVENTS

POST EVENT
IFAT India 2018
October 15-17, Mumbai, India
SWWW ANALYSIS: The latest edition of IFAT in Mumbai saw a strong surge in the
number of participants - with 242 exhibitors (from 184 in 2017) and 7,449 visitors
- clearly making it the No. 1 Water & Wastewater Expo in India for the second
consecutive year. Other event organizers now face an even stiffer competition
with IFAT launching its Delhi edition (apart from Mumbai) for 2019. SWWW
predicts a ‘tumultuous year’ ahead for all water exhibitions in India - with various
expo formats now vying for the market share. Watch out for this space, for latest
updates and reviews of water events with a fact-based analysis.

As we concluded last year end-user industries as vis-

THE FOCUS OF IFAT India
2018 was on water, sewage,
solid waste, and recycling.
The countries with the most
exhibitors included Germany,
USA, China, Korea and Swit-
zerland.
The Municipal Corporation
of Greater Mumbai (MCGM)
was co-host of this event for
the first time.
Rajeev Kuknur, Deputy
Municipal Commissioner of
MCGM said at the inaugural
session, “We are glad to be
co-hosting IFAT India 2018 as
it is one of the most effective
trade fairs in the industry for
environmental technologies.
This is one of the best ways to
choose the latest technologies
for our future needs.”
Claus Mertes, General
Manager, DME (German As-
sociation for Desalination)
expressed: “IFAT India was
an excellent opportunity to
get a deeper insight into the
current developments in the
desalination market of India.”
as well, the “Conference
and its Forums” is an area
where IFAT India needs
to improve further (better
and more space, with wide
variety of speakers, and
quality delegates).
Bhupinder Singh, CEO
of the organizer Messe
Muenchen India, said: “242
exhibitors unveiled their
latest solutions and techno-
logical developments for the
environmental technology
industry spread over 11,000
square meters of exhibition
space. This healthy growth
rate of 40% has showcased In-
dia’s potential with regards to
environmental technologies.”
This year, the “Buyer Seller
Forum” was introduced with
an aim to bring together tech-
nology providers and buyers.
The forum provided space for
individual business meetings
In a Nutshell:
• E xhibitors: 242
• Expo Area: 11,000 sqm
• Visitors: 7,449 (as per or-
ganizer)
• What Went Right: Pres-
ence of big water industry
majors as exhibitors, and
that the IFAT India organiz-
ers had arranged. It was well
organized and scheduled as
SWWW team noticed on all
3 days of the event. Pravin
Singh, Marketing Manager,
Andritz Technology Ltd was
enthusiastic about it: “The
Buyers Seller Forum is an ex-
ceptional platform to meet,
interact and understand the
potential customers. It creates
a win-win situation for buyers
and sellers.”
The new “Innovation Pavil-
ion” at the show (joint booth
for international environmen-
itors, International Pavil-
ions, Pre-event road shows,
Overall show quality
• What Could Improve: Mu-
nicipal participation, Con-
ference, Pre-event online
buzz
• Watch Out For: Delhi edi-
tion, Buyer-Seller Forum
tal projects) offered a platform
for international technology
transfer and for establishing
contacts to potential custom-
ers. We would reserve our
judgement on it till next year
- to see how many innovations
are launched and presented
there.
mayur@smartwww.in
The next editions of IFAT
India expo will be in
Mumbai from October 16-
18, 2019; and New Delhi
from December 5-7, 2019.

SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD November 2018 69

 MARKET
POST EVENT
Tokyo 2018 IWA World Water Congress &
Exhibition
September 15-21, Tokyo, Japan
The event closes with a renewed focus on interdisciplinary collaboration to address
global water challenges.
OUR WATER FUTURE is in
our hands. Under the theme
“Shaping Our Water Future”
the 2018 IWA World Water
Congress & Exhibition gath-
ered from 16 to 21 September
2018 the leading international
water professionals together in
Tokyo.
The IWA World Water Con-
gress & Exhibition had the
presence and attendance of
Their Imperial Highnesses,
Crown Prince and Crown Prin-
cess of Japan, and members
of the Japanese Government
and the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government, in the person of
Ms. Yuriko Koike, Governor
of Tokyo, who gave a keynote
speech on the city’s bold ac-
tions towards a sustainable
urban water cycle.
“Again, the IWA World Wa-
ter Congress & Exhibition
has proved the importance of
bringing the key stakeholders
and leaders of the industry to-
gether to discuss on the press-
70 November 2018
EVENTS
ing water problems our world recognizes Wong’s pioneer- company Black & Veatch, and
is facing”, stated Diane D’Ar- ing programme of work - the the Project Innovation Awards The Congress
ras, IWA President. urban water sensitive design with 18 winners in six catego- in Numbers
ries, including the Kiran and The event in Tokyo has dou-
Pallavi Patel Grand Innovation bled the numbers from the
Award, awarded to the team previous congress in Brisbane
behind Cranfield University’s two years ago and counted on
Nano Membrane Toilet. its last day 9815 participants
This 2018 edition of the IWA World from 98 countries.
Water Congress & Exhibition series, The Exhibition The congress programme in-
The exhibition brought to- cluded a total of 49 workshops,
was host to nearly 10,000 water leaders gether 252 global exhibitors, 88 technical sessions and 352
proving again, the exhibition papers presented, 633 posters,
from governments, utilities, academia, to be a valuable networking 27 poster sessions with 462
private companies, and international place in the congress, where presentations, 6 leadership
exhibitors and delegates ex- forums, 7 plenaries, 3 master
organizations. This makes it the most changed solutions and innova- lectures, and 19 training and
attended IWA Congress ever. tions to shape our water future.
The exhibition included
skill development sessions.
This sums up to more than 280
- Kala Vairavamoorthy, IWA Executive Director country pavilions with their hours of activities at the 2018
clustered approaches and edition of this event.
IWA Awards approach. solutions from e.g. Japan,
The IWA Awards were pre- At the Congress the fur- Denmark, Nordic area, Neth- The IWA World Water
sented to the top leading water ther IWA award categories erlands, Belgium, China, Aus- Congress & Exhibition
professionals and celebrated counted with Awards in the tralia, Chinese Taipei and an will return for its 12th edi-
innovation and leadership in sections Women and Water African Pavilion with contribu- tion to take place in Co-
the sector, with Professor Tony - Akissa Bahri, Young leader- tions from many African coun- penhagen, Denmark, from
Wong receiving the IWA Glob- ship - Jacob Kwasi Amengor, tries and the African Water As- 18 to 23 October 2020.
al Water Award. The award Professional development– sociation (Af WA).
SMART WATER & WASTE WORLD