DRDO technology to save 4 lakh litres of water a day on 400-acre CRPF campus in Coimbatore

DRDO’s anaerobic bio-digestion tank technology used in the new sewage treatment plant commissioned at CRPF CTC in Coimbatore.

A sewage treatment technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will help the Central Training College of the Central Reserve Police Force (CTC-CRPF) spread over 400 acres at Kurudampalayam near Coimbatore to save around four lakh litres of water a day.

DRDO’s anaerobic bio-digestion (ABD) tank technology used in the new sewage treatment plant (STP) that was commissioned on Friday will treat the entire sewage and faecal matter generated by 400 families and 1,000 trainees on the campus and convert them into odour-less water that can be used for all purposes other than drinking.

Though the STP set up at a cost of ₹2.16 crore has an installed capacity to treat four lakh litres of water a day, it was receiving around three lakh litres of sewage a day at present. The project is a joint venture of DRDO, CRPF, Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Coimbatore-based MaK India Ltd.

According to officials, the MAK-DRDO ABD patented technology is the first of its kind in the country and it does not require power for digesting the content in sewage water.

“The first STP established in the college in 2012 started malfunctioning within a couple of years. We approached the CPWD for a better facility and it proposed DRDO’s ABD tank technology. It does not generate foul odour. We are now able to irrigate the entire campus area using the treated water generated by the plant,” said Ajay Bharatan, Inspector General and Principal of the CTC, after commissioning the project.

Manickam Athappa Gounder, chairman and managing director of MaK India Ltd., said 90 % of the pollution was caused by sewage water.

“The ABD tank technology solves this problem. More than 6,000 units of a smaller version of the ABD tank have been set up for houses and other establishments. The plant consumes minimal power that is required to operate a motor to pump the treated water,” he said.