Where does all of Bengaluru's poop go?

Karnataka (http://www.thenewsminute.com/inner-page/Karnataka)
Nayantara N. (/author-articles/Nayantara-N.)| Monday, July 6, 2015 - 20:27

Whileyousatcomfortably(ornotdependingonwhatyouatethepreviousnight)inyourcosybathroom,waitingfor
youranalsphinctermusclestoworkitsmagicandpushoutthesmellyundigestedcontentsfromyourbody,haveyouever
wonderedwhathappenstoyourpoopafteritgoesdownyourcommode?
Betyoudidnt!
SohereiswhathappenstoyourpoopinBengaluru.
Wherethetrailbegins

Whileyousatcomfortably(ornotdependingonwhatyouatethepreviousnight)in
your cosy bathroom, waiting for your anal sphincter muscles to work its magic and
push out the smelly undigested contents from your body, have you ever wondered
whathappenstoyourpoopafteritgoesdownyourcommode?
Betyoudidnt!
SohereiswhathappenstoyourpoopinBengaluru.
Wherethetrailbegins
After the whirling water sucks out all the solid content in the toilet bowl (there is
muchmorethanpoopthatpeopleflushdownthetoilet),themixturepassesthrough
thedrainpipesorthelateralsystem,intothesubmainsthatarelaidjustbeneath
theroads.
Agroupofsubmainsfromdifferentareascollectivelyemptytheircontentsintothe
outfallsewers. These outfall sewers are connected to Sewage Treatment Plants
(STP)thatoperateinvariouspartsofthecity.

Bengaluruspooptrailhastwobranches:
ThecorecityareawhichcomprisesoftheoldBengaluruthatwasundertheambitof
the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) until 200607. Lets call this Old
Bengaluru.
ThesevenCityMunicipalCouncils(CMC),oneTownMunicipalCouncil(TMC),and
110 villages located on the periphery of the BMP that were merged into a larger
municipal body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in 200607. This
comprises areas like Bommanahalli, Kengeri, Mahadevapura, Byatrayanapura, K R
Puram,KRPura,Yelhanka,etc.WewillcallthisNewBengaluru.

WheredoesthepoopofoldBengalurugo?
For everyone living in the Indiranagar, Ulsoor, Rajajinagar, Malleshwaram, and
Nagarbavi areas there is reason for relief. The sewage lines in these areas the
Under Ground Drainage were laid some decades ago. All your poop traverses
through several kilometres in the city and finally ends up in the STP. Sewage
TreatmentPlants,incaseyouforgot.
WhathappensinsideanSTP?
Once the sewage gets to a treatment plant, first plastics and other solid materials
(razor blades, condoms, empty files of tablets, food packets etc) are separated from
therestoftherawsewage(comprisingtoiletandkitchensink/basincontents).The
rest of the raw sewage is sent for removal of sand and other particles. After de
nitrification,faecalmatterisbrokendown.

Aerationprocess
Thissemisolidmixture,calledsludge,eventuallydriesupandisthensoldasmanure
tofarmers.

Left:SludgepitRight:DriedSludge
The water, which emerges crystal clear, fit for any nondrinking purpose, is let out
intothecitysvalleyssuchastheVrishabhavativalleynearKengeri,Koramangala
and Challaghatta valleys (popularly referred to as K&C Valley), and ultimately joins
the river. For instance, the Mylasandra STP releases water into the Vrishabhavati
riverwhichflowsintoTamilNadu.OtherriversflowintotheCauvery.

Theprocessinasewagetreatmentplant

Dontbetoohappythough
Theprocessdescribedaboveiswhenthesystemfunctionsthewayitissupposedto.
Brokensewagepipelinesarecommonsightinthecity.Insuchcases,thesewagedoes
not go to the STP instead it overflows into Storm Water Drains (SWD) that
eventually flows untreated, into a valley, lake or stream. And thats one reason why
lakesaregettingkilled.AlsotheSTPsinBengalurudontworktofullcapacity,sothe
sewagethatcan'tbetreated,isletintowaterbodiesuntreated.
WhathappenstopoopfromNewBengaluruandthe110villages?
Some real bad shit happens here. Underground drains in this area are still UNDER
CONSTRUCTION.BWSSBExecutiveEngineerVCKumarsays,Wehavelaid2,300
km long network covering 93 per cent (of the CMC area), but it is not connected to
STPsyetastherearelacunaeinsomeportionsandinterminationpoints.Therefore
in some places it is flowing into the storm water drain, he says. Basically what he
meansisthattheUGDisthereinmostplaces,butnotconnectedtoSTPs.
(Termination points refer to the ends of major pipelines, and also to the last point
wheretheseweageissupposedtoreachtheSTP)
Sothepoopandrestofsewageisreleasedintowaterbodies.Untreated.

ImageCourtesy:BBMPRestructuringwebsite
The110villagesontheotherhand,havenoUGDlinesatall.Aproposaltobringthese
villageswithintheUGDsystemawaitstheassentofthecentralgovernment,Kumar
says.Thatmeansanyproperdisposalmethodisafarawaydream.
Whatexactlyhappenstountreatedsewagefromtheseareas?
The untreated sewage water enters the SWD. Gravity and Bengalurus geography,
meanthatthewaterandsewagefromSWDsflowsintolakesandvalleysandfinally
makesitwaytotheriverswhichyourdrinkingwatersupplyissourcedfrom.
Herearetwoexampleswherethishappens:
Example1:MahadevapuraandBommanahalliareaswereformerlyunderCMC.The
UGDsystemconstructionisstillunderway.SothepoopgeneratedfromtheplushIT
companiesandapartmentcomplexesgetsdischargedintoSWDsandeventuallyflows
intoBellandurlake.Thepoopwatermixeswithfreshwaterinthelakeandthenflows
downstreamintoVarthurlake.(VarthurandBellandurlakesareconnected.)Varthur
empties its fecal matter containing water into South Pennar River which, behold,
entersTamilNadu.

VarthurandBellandurlakeswereinnewsrecentlyforwaterfoamingontotheroads.
Example 2: Kengeri too was part of the CMC bordering Bengaluru until 2007. No
UGD yet. Sewage including faecal matter from this area is discharged into
Vrishabhavati valley, that enters the Byramangala lake, which flows into Arkavathi
River and which in turn, flows into Cauvery River. All of this, the Cauvery river
carriesintoTamilNadu.
Now you understand why the Tamil Nadu government recently approached the
Supreme Court urging it to direct the Karnataka government to stop discharging
untreatedsewageandindustrialeffluentsintoCauveryRiveranditstributaries.
Tamil Nadu does have tertiary treatment plants to treat the water and make it
potable,but,itsaysthattheuntreatedsewageandsludgeiskillingtheCauvery.
TestsinFebruary2014showedthatfaecalE.colibacteriaandothersubstancesinthe
Cauvery water were much higher than permissible standards. Read here.
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/TamilNadumovesSCtorestrain
KarnatakafromlettingsewageintoCauvery/articleshow/47554418.cms)
WheredoesBengalurusdrinkingwatercomefrom?
Onceknownforits1,000lakes(onceuponatime),theGardenCityofBengalurualso
derivesitspotablewaterfromCauvery.
TheCauveryRiveroriginatesatTalacauveryinBhagamandalainKodagudistrict.The
riverchartsitscoursethroughthetownsofKodagu,Kushalnagar,Mysorebeforethe
water is pumped to Bengaluru by BWSSB from a pump house in Thorekadanahalli
(TKHalli),locatedabout100kmfromthecity.
AllthesetownsdischargetheirsewagewaterintoCauvery.Therefore,wetoogetthe
samewaterthatTamilNaduwouldgetfromus.
An STP in TK Halli conducts tertiary treatment of water. Tertiary treatment is the
firststeptomakingwaterpotableafteritundergoessecondarytreatment.
Therealissue
A large amount of Bengalurus poop is let into water bodies, untreated. Ultimately,
ourdrinkingwaterismostlysafeauthoritiesclaim,butdogiveathoughttothewater
bodies that are getting killed in the process. And to stop their slow death, it is

importantthatthecityanditsgrowingpopulationgetproperundergrounddrainage.

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