DOWNFLOW HANGING SPONGE STP

DOWNFLOW HANGING SPONGE ( DHS) TECHNOLOGY

Vs. CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (CTHD) TECHNOLOGY

Today, I happened to read an interesting Technical article, published by no less than Elsevier, written by personnel  from a couple of obscure Japanese Universities ( the credits in the Journal conveniently do not specify the positions of these worthies in these temples of higher learning).

Jairam Ramesh Our erudite Minister for Env. & Forests must surely read this piece, after his adverse comments on the quality of research in the IIT’s.

The learned article compares treatment performance on Municipal sewage, conducted over 300 days ( One full academic year, I presume) of the conventional Activated Sludge Process  ( ASP) against a combination of the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ( UASB), followed by, now hold your breath, the DHS ( Downflow Hanging Sponge ) unit, as an alternative technology for sewage Treatment.

The experiment conducted on a tiny pilot scale, over 300 days, leads the authors to emphatically conclude :

1. Because of the low capital cost of the system and operating costs ( virtually no energy requirement), the system is “ appropriate Technology” for developing and starving nations.

2. The article goes on to add that constructing a 1 MLD STP with ASP technology, or constructing 1 KM of sewers costs almost the same as  constructing 1 KM of Highway in developing countries. ( ???)

3. The performance of the UASB + DHS system is comparable to the ASP system over 300 days on a miniscule pilot scale the tests were carried out

4. And finally in conclusion, the authors proudly pronounce that the system can be a viable alternative for solving the sewage and sanitation problems of developing countries on the verge of starvation.

I like this Technical presentation and conclusion for the following reasons :

1. The Work emanates from a highly technologically advanced nation.
2. In the space of less than one academic working year, the authors have successfully demonstrated the pathetic inappropriateness of the ASP, which has been in use all over the world for over 5 decades now, and is the standard bearer of all treatment technologies.
3. One of the authors of this learned piece happens to be an Indian named Tendulkar ( He is a God after all, isn’t he ? May not be of Environmental Engineering, but what the heck ?)
4. I really appreciate the notion that low cost, low mtce. systems are most appropriate technology only for developing nations.
5. And, finally, it gives me great hope that such pioneering research will give us the impetus to explore other equally inscrutable, and as yet untested treatment methods such as the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Technology (CT-HD ). I believe that should be low tech enough for the underdeveloped nations on this Earth.

Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                                                                          May 28, 2011

FOOTNOTE :

Now it dawns on me where the High Tech companies like Zermatt and Zeon Inchange draw their brilliant inspiration from, to come up with their revolutionary technological innovations like FAB, SAFF, SBBR, FCUK, #@&% etc.

ASK