Troubleshooting: Odor Issues in Self made Greywater Harvesting System - Damoh, Madhya Pradesh
Submitted by iwp on October 15, 2009 - 02:23
I belong to a drought declared district, Damoh in Madhya Pradesh. In order to irrigate plants & water my lawn / garden I have built a water recycling system with the following specifications:
-It is an underground chamber having three sections/ partitions.
-The first section, size 2X3X4(LXBXH) contians sand and stone pebble(40m), and an inlet of used water from bathrooms.
-The second section of same size has coal n pebbles both.
-Third section of bigger volume is used to store recycled water.
-Water drained into the inlet section does not include water from kitchen and toilets.
The issue that I am facing is the emanation of an intense foul odor from the chamber. What could be the reason for the same? kindly suggest changes that can help remedy the situation ? If not, kindly provide direction as how to most efficiently implement my plan ?
Atuk Choudhary,
atulnbg@rediffmail.com
Comments
1. Foul smell from your grey water treatment system.
Dear Mr.Choudhary,
What exactly is the ' liquid' that has entered/flowed into your constructed chambers?Also, is it into the first chamber.Going strictly by what you have written,I suspect that the waste that has entered the chamber or chambers has turned septic.However in the abscence of an analysis(test report) of the waste water,it is difficult to say what it is categorically.
Have you covered the three chambers you have constructed? Does waste from the first chamber overflow(when full) to the second one and from there to the third?Where does the waste water from the kitchen go and also from the toilets (flush water)?
Going back to my experience and involvement in installation of grey water treatment,in a couple of cases,I too remember that treated grey water could not be called treated as it had a foul odour.After a lot of investigation,it was found that the problem was caused by the prescence of urine in the grey water which decomposed in the collection tank.It appears that children and sometimes the womenfolk did urinate when bathing and this caused the problem.
What exactly do you do with waste water from kitchen and toilet flush water?It would be useful if you could elaborate on the reason/purpose for building your grey water system and how you expect it to function.
S.S.Ranganathan
2. Dear Atuk Choudhary, I
Dear Atuk Choudhary,
I would suggest you to drain the tank completely and allow it to dry out fully.
I would not bother with the tank, even though you have done an impressive job in the design of it. I would use the water as directly and as fresh as possible. You will not get any smell that way.
With regards
Paul Calvert
Consultant
EcoSolutions
Trivandrum, Kerala
3. Outlet amount per day ?
Dear Atuk Choudhary,
We are providing solution for grey and grey, black and kitchen water. Therefore, we desire to know the outlet amount per day:
How many persons are there in the house ? Can we assume that your grey water is 100 litres per day per person? Then multiply with number of persons and tell me the figure. Do you use the processed water from your plant...and for what..??
We send you a PPT showing a DEWATS plant in a house in operation for 2 years.
Access here: DEWATS Plant
Awaiting for your reply.
With well wishes,
Er. Ajit Seshadri
Secretary and Head- Environment & Energy
The Vigyan Vijay Foundation
New Delhi-110 045
4. Dear Atuk Choudhary, Since
Dear Atuk Choudhary,
Since the entire treatment is anaerobic in nature smell will come. In order, to remove smell aeration or secondary treatment is required. Secondary treatment can be done through rootzone system were the plants will provide oxygen and there also help in reducing the smell. If there is a space constrain then you can go for additives, now adays lot of additives are available in market like EM solution and other additives in crystal form. The additives not only enhance the treatment process but also reduce the smell. You can also try additive produced from your kithen solid waste also. The kitchen under an anaerobic condition generates innoculam which contains lot of beneficial microorganisms which can be used in your grey water tank to reduce the smell.
Thanking you
With regards
R.K.Srinivasan
Deputy Coordinator
Centre for Science and Environment
New Delhi
5. Dear Mr. Choudhary, Having
Dear Mr. Choudhary,
Having spent a number of years living and working in Madhya Pradesh and working on the development and promotion of greywater reuse systems, it is wonderful to read about your experience of greywater reuse in the district of Damoh.
The reason for the foul smell relates to the design of the greywater reuse system. Please see my comments below:
(See attached file: P5060006.JPG) (See attached file: GANAGAR SYSTEM FINAL 2008. JPG)
5. Aeration - If the above minor modifications do not reduce the smell then add a final aeration step to the greywater reuse system to introduce oxygen into the treatment. This will further reduce the odour.
More details of the designs and www.neeri.res.in/pdf/greywater.pdf Contact Dr Pawan Labhsetwar in NEERI for further details.
Kind regards,
Dr. Samuel Godfrey
Water and Environmental Sanitation Specialist
Water and Environmental Sanitation United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Mozambique
6. Troubleshooting - Odour issues in self-made greywater harvesting
The number of occupants is not given and therefore the sizing of the treatment unit cannot be assessed. This is one factor. If it is of the right volume, it can work properly if it is converted into an up-flow filter wherein the grey water from the first chamber should go to the bottom of the second chamber and rise upwards. This chamber should be filled with blue metal (40 mm) for half the height.
In such a system, anaerobic bacteria will spontaneously be generated which will then consume the organics in the water. By adding one more chamber and filling this third chamber with 20mm blue metal and diverting the overflow from the second also to the bottom of the third chamber, we have found that it cleans up both sewage and kitchen outflow excellently with the effluent coming very close to that prescribed for discharge on un-irrigated soil by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
The up-flow filter concept has not been adequately popularized by sanitary engineers and even the authoritative book released by the Govt of India (Manual of sewerage and sewage treatment) devotes only two pages for it. The top should not be covered as it is an anaerobic process.
The statement “treated water could not be called treated because it emanated a foul odour’, which was ultimately traced to urine, cannot be accepted unless it is specified what that “treated water” is (treated by what means?). In the method I have outlined, all the organics are removed including urine and the treated water will have no odour.
Also note that Mr. Choudhary has stated that kitchen outflow and sewage do not enter his system.
Indukanth Ragade
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