Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
(ii)
Constituents of Wastewater
Typical constituents of wastewater are organic and inorganic
chemicals, bacteria and other microorganisms (some of which may be
pathogenic), fats, oils and grease, etc. The organics and inorganics may be in
suspended or dissolved form. Some of these components are nutrients that are
useful for plant growth, but cannot be used or harnessed in their present form,
mixed in wastewater.
In case of industrial effluents, and in cases of domestic sewage contaminated by
mixing of such effluents, there can be various other chemicals (often toxic), such
as pesticides, heavy metals, etc.
Today’s agricultural run-off emanating from farms where chemical fertilisers and
pesticides are extensively used, though not technically “wastewater”, have large
proportions of these chemicals adding to the toxic load in water.
Many of the chemicals in the above categories are found to disrupt endocrine
systems in humans (and therefore, obviously, in other life forms), and are now
categorised as “Endocrine Disrupters”. Many of the chemicals also do not readily
degrade over time and are categorized as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Another aspect that may become an area of concern in the years to come are
the plethora of pharmaceutical chemicals, the unused components of which get
excreted from our body, and obviously find their way to the wastewater stream.
(iii)
Wastewater in Urban Areas
In urban areas, wastewater is predominantly from domestic sewage.
However, industrial effluents do find their way into the sewage networks. This is
partly from small scale units that may be located within residential areas. But the
tendency of larger industrial units to dispose their partially treated or untreated
effluent into city’s sewage networks is not uncommon and cannot be overlooked.
“Septage” is septic tank sludge that is a combination of raw primary sludge and
anaerobically produced raw sludge. It has an offensive odour, appearance and
contains significant levels of grease, grit, hair, debris and pathogenic microorganisms.
As seen in Figure 1, the Census Data of 2011 shows that about 81%
Annexures
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