Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has purchased two modern vehicles from Denmark that convert urban waste into fertiliser.
These vehicles are called Onsite Sludge Dewatering vehicles. KMC has spent Rs 9 crore on them and to set up a unit in Dhapa to operate.
There was a survey conducted before the vehicles were purchased. It was discovered that only 60 per cent of households have bathrooms connected to the city drains, while 40 per cent of buildings still have septic tanks.
Many old multistoried buildings, especially in Boroughs 6, 11 and 15, still have these septic tanks.
To date, there has been no provision to refine this waste collected from septic tanks. These vehicles will henceforth take care of this.
These vehicles will gather waste from septic tanks through pipes. It will be refined inside the tank in the vehicle, subsequently in different phases.
The older cars had pipes 80 feet long. These new vehicles will have 360 feet pipes which can collect waste from three septic tanks with a 7500 litres capacity.
The sludge will get thickened after applying the polymer dose. The water or liquid portion will get separated and will be mostly bacteria-free.
This liquid or water will be drained out into the city sewers. The remaining sludge will go to Dhapa.
Lime stabilisation units will be set up in Dhapa, where the sludge will be treated in various phases to create organic fertilisers.
These fertilisers are subsequently used to grow trees and crops here.
