After cleanliness drive, Pune varsity now looks to set up 1.2 MLD sewage water treatment plant

The announcement comes after the SPPU launched a cleanliness fortnight this week to combat dengue on campus

The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) will set up a sewage treatment plant, the foundation stone for which will be laid in the next 2-3 days. The plant will be used to treat waste water generated within the campus.

According to Prafulla Pawar, registrar, SPPU, the project is likely to be operational by October 31, 2020. (Sanket Wankhade/HT PHOTO)

The announcement comes after the SPPU launched a cleanliness fortnight this week to combat dengue on campus.

The plant will have an estimated capacity to treat 12 lakh litres per day (MLD) of waste water and will use the moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technology to process and recycle waste water. The treated water will be used to water the gardens inside the campus.

According to Prafulla Pawar, registrar, SPPU, the project is likely to be operational by October 31, 2020. “We are ambitious of seeing this project ready in six months so that recycled water can be used in the upcoming summers. We have received a grant of Rs 1.88 crore under Rastriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyaan (RUSA) for the project.”

The treated water will be stored in a tank.

The university gets about 5 lakh litres of water for gardening purposes, but the administration needs at least 10 lakh litres of water for it. “Currently, we are using ground water and the services of a water tanker for the gardens and with the project, we will save ground water and increase the water table levels too. Besides this, recycling water will also give us a by-product -fertilisers - which can be used for the gardens,” added Pawar.