STP: KSPCB Norms Puts Apartment
Communities in Dilemma
Problem: KSPCB is sending notices to High Rise Apartment Complexes to disconnect their
Sewage discharge to BWSSB sewage lines or face punitive action.
Impact:
1. Install STP with 100% water Recycling (a near Impossible and costly Solution)
2. KSPCB will disconnect water, sewage and electricity to the apartment and also levy
penalty
3. Polluting the environment is an offense. Association Committee/Residents can be
arrested
Parties Involved:
1. KSPCB (Karnataka State Pollution Control Board): Imposes laws/Regulations for
Pollution control on Apartments/Residential Communities to adhere to.
2. BWSSB : Is paid to connect sewage disposal lines to BWSSB sewage lines
3. Apartment Residents & Association: Runs/Maintains the apartment and ensures STP
(Sewage Treatment Plant) works efficiently to treat the waste water before reuse and
disposal.
Below is the analysis of the situation by Dr.Ananth, a leading expert on Sewage Treatment.
BACKGROUND
The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has been imposing for several years now a
condition in the consent granted to High Rise Residential Apartment Complexes (commercial
complexes and industrial units as well, for that matter) that treated Domestic Sewage form
the Sewage Treatment Plants of these complexes be fully utilized within the premises/
campus itself and that not a single drop of water may be discharged out of the premises.
This is in contravention to the provisions of the Environment Protection Act and Rules,
which permit disposal of treated water of a specified quality into inland surface waters such
as rivers, lakes, nallahs etc.( 20/30 standards i.e. 20 mg/L BOD and 30 mg/L TSS in treated
domestic sewage)
The above “Zero Discharge” condition notwithstanding, the KSPCB also imposes more
stringent conditions on quality of treated water from the STP’s: more stringent than even the
20/30 standards prescribed by the Act and Rules as stated above. For quick reference and
comparison the two standards are juxtaposed in the table below:
NEW
Parameter /
standards
pH
PREVIOUS
STDS
URBAN
REUSE STDS
6.5-8.5
6.0 -9.0
BOD
< 20
< 10
TSS
< 30
Not specified
O&G
<10
Not specified
Turbidity
Not specified
< 2 NTU
E. Coli
Not specified
NIL
Res. Cl
Not specified
> 1 PPM
REMARKS
Akin to
TSS
All Units except pH and NTU in mg/L
Therefore, with such stringent quality standards, it is not readily understood, why the KSPCB
should impose the Zero Discharge condition for High Rise Apt. complexes: There are very
valid technical and practical reasons to withdraw this impossible condition:
TECHNICALLY AND PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REUSE 100 %
WATER
The various reuse options available for treated water reuse in High rise residential apartment
complexes are:
a. Toilets flushing
b. Irrigation Use on gardens and lawns
c. Car wash
There are no other additional feasible reuse options for treated water from STP (except
Recharging Rainwater percolation pits – which I will address at the end of this note)
A look at the numbers involved in a typical water balance for a 250 unit Apartment complex
will be illuminating:
WATER AND WASTEWATER






Number of Apartments
: 250
Number of Souls
: 1000 – 1200
Per Capita Water Consumption : 150 L
Total Water consumption : 180 KLD
Approx. Wastewater generation: 160 KLD
Approx. Number of Cars
: 250
ALL POSSIBLE TREATED WATER USES


Toilets flushing @ 40 LPCD : 48 KLD
Irrigation on green area
: 60 KLD (For approx. 2 Acres lawns and green area)


Car wash @ 30 L per car : 8 KLD
TOTAL REUSE : 116 KLD
Therefore there will be approx. 44 KLD of treated water which perforce has to be disposed
off, amounting to approx. 25-30 % of treated water generated from the STP.
Our experience from operating STP’s in over 15 High rise complexes with number of units
varying from 150 to 1200 Flats, indicate that the approximate percentage of treated water
required to be disposed off varies between 25 to 40 %.
TREATED WATER IS GOOD FOR LAKES REJUVENATION
If the KSPCB should permit disposal of excess treated water meeting the quality standards as
prescribed, the treated water will find its way into water bodies in and around Bangalore such
as lakes and “Keres”, which are presently dry, thereby restoring these water bodies. When
water bodies are thus restored, they may be leased out for recreational purposes, the lessee
being mandated to maintain these bodies free of unwanted vegetative growth. This will also
ensure that dry lake and tank beds are not usurped by the land grab mafia of this city.
After all, even the Env. Protection Act, permits disposal of treated water of even lesser
quality to be disposed off into lakes and rivers!
KSPCB MUST PERMIT USE OF TREATED WATER FOR GROUND
WATER RECHARGE
The KPSB at present does not permit treated water to be reused for ground water recharge
through percolation pits, fearing contamination of ground water. This is a totally misguided
notion, neither supported nor validated by facts and data.
I am attaching herewith ANNEXURE 1, where the USEPA (United States Environment
Protection Agency) after due reconsideration of ground realities and practical aspects, revised
the disposal criteria of treated water in Underground injection wells. This Final Ruling by the
USEPA permits disposal of treated water of quality 25 mg/L BOD and 30 mg/L TSS to be
injected into wells even though they may be connected to Underground Sources of Drinking
Water (USDW). It is very illuminating to read the entire proceedings in respect of this new
Rule, promulgated by USEPA after due deliberations, appraisal of various other technical
alternatives, cost considerations, and due consultations with the affected parties and general
public. KSPCB will do well to follow such a procedure, before imposing conditions which
are technically untenable and indeed practically impossible to meet.
CONCLUSION
It is our belief that after careful consideration of scientific and technical facts, and with due
regard to practical ground realities, the condition of “Zero Discharge” imposed by the
KSPCB needs to be relaxed to prevent unnecessary harassment of law abiding citizens by
unscrupulous elements in the neighborhood of the residential complexes and even beyond.
This situation is very grim and unless associations unite and do something about it, chances
of getting out of this are very narrow.
Also read here the analysis of a committee member on how this impacts his community.
Useful Links & Documents


Karnataka State Pollution Control Board
Environment Protection act




Show cause notice by KPSB
Env. Protection Rules, Schedule VI page 1
Env. Protection Rules, Schedule VI page 2
Env. Protection Rules, Schedule VI page 3
Thanks to Dr. Ananth for contributing article to commonfloor.com Dr. Ananth S.
Kodavasal is Director of Ecotech Engineering Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, Whitefield,
Bangalore.
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Tags: KSPCB, KSPCB Norms Puts Apartment Communities in Dilemma, Pollution Board,
Sewage Pollution, Sewage treatment plant, STP system, wastewater treatment
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