Central Pollution Control Board

Common Effluent Treatment Plants

GOVT. INCENTIVES AND REGULATIONS

The concept of common effluent treatment plant in itself is in the phase of development. As regards conceptualization of project, construction, operation and achieving the required treatment efficiency the entire mechanism has to be viewed in totality. Moreover the CETP for all practical and techno-economic consideration is a viable treatment option for small scale industrial units, wherein the member units and CETP management share equal responsibilities for achieving desired efficacy.

The proposal from project proponents may be sent to the State Pollution Control Board and the State Govt. for their approval and State subsidy and to Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India for the Central Subsidy. The project proponent for CETP (company) may also obtain loan from any nationalised bank.

Criteria for Assistance

Ordinarily in an industrial estate or cluster of SSIs one CETP will be promoted. This may vary on case to case basis.

Central assistance will be available only for cluster of SSIs.

Projects for assistance will be prioritized on the basis of

Toxicity of pollutant
Pollution load treated
Number of units covered

The project should be self-financing for servicing of the loan and meeting operation & maintenance cost.

The project must formulate adequate institutional arrangement for the cost sharing, recovery of dues and management and ensure observance of prescribed standards. The scheme must have the technical recommendations of the State pollution control board.

Pattern of Assistance

Central assistance upto 25 percent of the total cost of the CETP would be provided as a grant to the common effluent treatment plants on the condition that the State Govt. gives a matching contribution. The remaining cost should be met by equity contribution by the industries & loans from financial institutions.

Central Assistance will be provided only for capital cost. No assistance will be provided for recurring cost. The assistance will be released in installments.

Central Assistance will generally be limited to 25% of the capital cost of the project , subject to other conditions such as matching grant of the State Govt. It may be of advantage to combine some components of CETP with the municipal system. On such scheme the municipalities have also to contribute their share of cost.

Procedure

The company will obtain loan from the IDBI or any other financial institutions. The project proponent for CETP (company) will approach the State Govt./Central Govt. for their contribution of their subsidy. The subsidy would be released into the account of the company opened in the IDBI (or any other financial institutions).

Resource Recovery---a case with chrome tanning

The Chrome tanning of hides is carried out by employing Basic Chrome sulphate (BCS) as the tanning agent. The quantity of BCS employed is 60-80 kg per 1000 kg hide processed. This BCS quantity on average contains 9.04 kg chromium as metal. The chronology of the chrome recovery is summarised in the following text. It is established that in case of conventional process, even after the chrome tanning is complete wherein the chrome absorption by the hide is only 60%, the spent tan liquor still contains a significant concentration (upto 40%) of chromium which can be recovered by the mechanism described below.

Step 1. Collection of spent Tan liquor

Step 2. Maintenance of pH of spent liquor at 8 to 8.2 by adding MgO(0.5% of spent liquor) to optimize the precipitation of chrome(in sludge).

Step 3. The mixture is stirred and allowed to settle down for few hours. The chrome in the form of chrome hydroxide gets settled.

Step 4. The supernatant containing insignificant quantity of chromium concentration is liable to be
discarded.

Step 5. The chrome sludge is dissolved in 98% concentration sulphuric acid (quantity of which is 0.1% of spent liquor). This mixture is worth of blending with freshly made chrome tan liquor.

Step 6. It is generally believed that recovery of chromium in a properly designed and operated recovery plant could be somewhere around 98% of the chromium in the spent tanned liquor.

COMMON EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANTS

A Boon to Small Scale Industries

COMFORTABLE FINANCE

Government Incentives through its subsidiary Institutions provide much needed financial inputs, a significant boost, especially for small scale sector.

EASIER OPERATION

Establishment of individual treatment plants become unacceptable by SSIs due to extreme characteristics of untreated effluent and high qualitative variance therein. A skilled operational staff becomes an affordable option in CETP, wherein all the member units can identify a management group from within, for its effective operation.

		TREATMENT AT LOW COST
T		Source specific effluent quality( extreme pH , BOD, colour, nutritive value & metals etc. )which would otherwise render their treatment ac costly preposition, becomes homogenized in CETP and significantly reduce the treatment cost.

		PRAGMATIC REGULATION
P		Performance evaluation and its surveillance for implementation of qualitative measures in large nos. of individual plants, at times become a difficult task for regulatory authorities. All this become easily manageable in case of CETP.

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM OF TYPICAL CHROME RECOVERY PLANT

RECOMMENDED PROVISIONS

It is an observed fact that the desired efficacy of the CETP depends on simulated efforts on the part of the CETP management, entrusted with the task of operation and maintenance, as well as, on the member-industrial-units. Although there are stipulated standards prescribed for effluent quality for inlet to and outlet from CETPs, much is required for regulatory provisions by making them more comprehensive which in-turn shall help ensuring effective implementation of stipulated recommendations besides making all the member units equally accountable for any aberrations.

OPTION I : THE CASE WHERE CETP MANAGEMENT IS EXCLUSIVELY CONSTITUTED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE CONCERNED INDUSTRIES.

RECOMMENDATION

Considering the nature of job and prevailing mode of effluent disposal, the concerned individual industries be given prescribed effluent standards, to be complied by them either at their outlet or at the final outlet of the CETP concerned. In this case seeking consent be made obligatory only for the individual industry and the CETP management be kept free from such obligation.

OPTION II : WHERE THE CETP MANAGEMENT IS AN INDEPENDENT BODY AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY REPRESENTATION OF THE INDUSTRIES CONCERNED.

RECOMMENDATION "A"

Two separate standards be prescribed, the PRIMARY STANDARDS in terms of pH,SS and/or Chromium be stipulated for the individual units and the SECONDARY STANDARDS (Comprehensive) in terms of all the relevant parameters, be prescribed for the CETP management. In this case, seeking consent be made obligatory on the part of the Individual industries, as well as for the CETP management. Moreover, there should be an agreement among the individual industries and the CETP management for achieving the prescribed characteristics of the treated effluent.The modalities of agreement should be such that in the event of any aberrations, at least the levying of equity contribution from member units for operation and maintenance of CETP are rendered liable to be reviewed under intimation to the apex authority.

RECOMMENDATION "B"

Although the Primary and Secondary Standards be prescribed as mentioned in Recommendation "A", the compliance only of the Secondary Standards be adjudged at the final outlet of the CETP , and only the CETP management be held responsible for any aberrations in (Secondary) standard compliance. Moreover, seeking consent in this case be made obligatory only for the CETP management. However, in the event the CETP management feels that the individual unit fails to comply the Primary Standards, it may,under intimation to the concerned appellate authority, discontinue accepting effluent from that defaulting unit,and the unit henceforth be treated as operating without the valid consent.

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