The greenery in this Tardeo school strikes a contrast to the towering skyscrapers around it. But what goes unnoticed is the source of this greenery: waste water from the school.
Victoria Memorial School For The Visually Impaired helps the city save 5,000 litres of water every day, about 20 per cent of the school’s daily requirement, using the reed bed water treatment facility (see box), in which roots and soil purify the waste water.
It amounts to 1.5 lakh litres a month, enough to cater to 1,200 people’s requirement every day. The 6,000 litres of water that is flushed down the toilet is treated and conserved with the reed bed system, and then used to water the sprawling school gardens.
“We always had a water crisis, specially for watering our gardens. But this new system is taking care of the problem. We have a surplus,” said Mala Goainka, trustee of the school.
R.A. Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner said: “This system can help save a lot of water; even the BMC has this facility at the Worli treatment facility. It is organic, does not require power and is zero-maintenance.”
{{/usCountry}}R.A. Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner said: “This system can help save a lot of water; even the BMC has this facility at the Worli treatment facility. It is organic, does not require power and is zero-maintenance.”
{{/usCountry}}“The reed bed system employs natural principles for treating domestic sewage. Specially selected plants are made to combine their aeration strength with highly efficient microbial cultures. The treated water can be recycled or reused for low-end uses,” explained Rudolf D’Souza of Eureka Forbes, technical advisors for the project.