CSEI-ATREE and BAF Workshop to Explore Ways to Improve Wastewater Treatment & Reuse
The event will be attended by researchers from EAWAG, the Swiss federal water research institute, BBMP and KSPCB officials, and other stakeholders involved in the field. Members of the public can attend virtually on Zoom.
The Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is co-organising a workshop called ‘Visions for Wastewater Reuse in Bengaluru & Beyond’ with the Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF) on September 7 at the ATREE campus in Jakkur.
In-person attendance is limited to only invited speakers. Those interested in the discussion, can participate virtually by registering here: bit.ly/EWG_wksp.
The workshop aims to bring together different actors involved in the field of wastewater management to discuss ways to improve treatment infrastructure and reuse rates. This is a critical step towards reducing the severity of floods and building climate-resilient cities.
The workshop discussions will be used to inform a project — ‘Prospects of Innovative Treated Wastewater Systems in Green Gated-Communities in Bangalore (Green Gates)’ which is being developed by CSEI-ATREE and EAWAG (the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, specifically the departments of Process Engineering (ENG), Environment Social Sciences (ESS) and Sanitation (Sandec)) based in Zurich, Switzerland.
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The half-day workshop is split into three sessions (the full schedule is below). The first introductory session will see Dr. Bernhard Truffer, Head of Department of Environmental Social Science, EAWAG; and Dr. Eberhard Morgenroth, Head of Process Engineering, EAWAG, talk about the Green Gates project and gaps in the current decentralised water treatment system. Dr. Rohini Balasubramaniam, Nodal Officer of the BBMP’s Climate Action Plan will also speak during this session.
Other speakers include Syed Khaja, senior environmental officer with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, and Dr. Ananth S. Kodavasal, Director of Ecotech Engineering Consultancy and a National Green Tribunal-appointed expert. Panel discussions will also be held involving representatives of key agencies such as the Confederation of Real Estate Associations of India (CREDAI), Transwater Logistics, Fluxgen, Tankerwala, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO India), the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Bangalore University and the International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW). The schedule below has the details of all participants.
The Green Gates Project
As Bengaluru reels from severe flooding in large parts of the city, one of the factors that contributes to this dire state of affairs is that large quantities of sewage and wastewater are discharged into stormwater drains and lakes, preventing these water bodies from acting as effective flood buffers. But Bengaluru’s water problems also swing to the other extreme with the threat of water scarcity and urban drought growing more severe every summer. Pollution of urban water bodies is another huge concern for increasingly populated cities.
Scaling up treatment and reuse of the huge quantum of wastewater generated in Bengaluru is one of the solutions that could address these multiple urban challenges. More than 2,500 on-site wastewater treatment systems have been installed in the city, yet, many of them do not reach the mandated effluent quality standards and only few of them incorporate on-site reuse of the treated wastewater. A unique opportunity thus currently exists in Bengaluru to implement treated wastewater reuse systems at scale, by identifying potential secondary markets, developing innovative business models to set up a market for treated wastewater in the city.
It is in this context that this multi-stakeholder workshop is being organised. EAWAG, in partnership with CSEI-ATREE, has identified green gated communities as a promising first entry market/niche, where experimentation with innovative wastewater systems could happen and from where successful system configurations could spread to further market segments inside and beyond Bengaluru.
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Here’s the full schedule:
