BWSSB discovers the power of sewage
Pilot project expected to generate 1KW by mid - 2015.
Bangalore: The BWSSB is working on a project to generate electricity from sewage. In a pilot project, at Rs 220 crore, power will be generated using sewage in Koramangala-Challaghatta valley and will be used to run the sewage treatment plant at the same station.
In a first of its kind project, the BWSSB is planning to use sewage being collected in K&C Valley. “We expect the project to start generating 1 kilo watt power by mid 2015. The power will be used to a sewage treatment plant of 60 MLD capacity,” a BWSSB official said.
The project is being done with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is already funding some of BWSSB’s projects. The BWSSB is also working with a Singapore firm on building capacity in treating waste water for household use in the future.
Ideally, the sewage generated by a city should be comparable to the water supplied to it. In Bangalore, the sewage reaching the water bodies is less than 18 per cent. When asked whether and how the power generation unit will have enough sewage to operate, the official said: “Firstly, to generate 1.05 KW power that we aim to generate in the pilot project does not require too much sewage. Also, with Agara, Sarakki and other lakes which drain into K&C Valley, an adequate quantity of sewage should not be a problem.”