Decentralised Wastewater Treatment at Omkareshwar: A Case Study

Abstract

Developing country like India is facing a severe problem of pollution of water bodies due to population explosion and subsequent urban, rural and agricultural growth. It has resulted in increase in domestic and industrial waste which is being discharged in water bodies without providing even primary treatment. River pollution has been one of the main issues in the environmental status of Narmada River due to villages and urban area along its bank. Tapping drains (Nallas) which carries sewage of towns near bank of rivers and treating wastewater carried by them by decentralised sewage treatment plant (DSTP) seems to be timely approach to prevent river pollution. Present study was conducted to find out the pollution situation of Narmada River at Omkareshwar town in dist. Khandwa of Madhya Pradesh state. The water test results of the river Narmada on the samples taken at upstream and downstream of joining of nallas of Omkareshwar town in the duration of 2017–2018 clearly indicate that the water quality of Narmada River is deteriorating. It has high concentration of water quality parameters which are higher than the standard permissible limits. To mitigate the problem of pollution of River Narmada, specifically decentralised wastewater treatment after tapping various nallas has been studied and different technologies adopted for treatment are analysed. The effluent of these treatment units has considerable reduction in the mentioned parameters. Latest technologies like Bio-Remediation with Recirculating Reactor (BRR) have been utilised in designing the DSTPs.