100 percent saturation of Grey Water Management in Pappankuzhi Village, Tamil Nadu
Success Story
Owing to the concerted efforts of community members and government
officials, a grey water management system has been successfully implemented in
Pappankuzhi Village Panchayat in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu. The
system which includes individual household soak pits and community soak pits
with either horizonal or vertical type filter, effectively treats about 42,000
litres of greywater that is generated per day in the village. The initiative is
a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G) Phase II campaign of which
greywater management is an integral component.
Community leadership: It was Swachhagrahi, A Sarla
Devi who played a crucial role in creating awareness about the importance of
solid and liquid waste management, highlighting the need for grey water
management in the village. People were made aware of what grey water
constituted and the hazards of improper management of grey water. Thereafter,
President of the village, Ganesan and the Panchayat Secretary played a vital
role in advocating the need for greywater management and allocated the
necessary funds to establish a system in Pappankuzhi in November 2021.
While the Panchayat took care of the operation and maintenance of the system,
the community was encouraged to follow certain precautions to ensure better
management. This included ensuring that waste was not dumped into the
drainage channel; desilting was carried out to prevent stagnation of grey water
and cleaning of the storm water drain on a regular basis.
Background of village: Situated in the Sriperumbudur
block of Kanchipuram district, Pappankuzhi is made up of two habitations
namely, Pappankuzhi village and Pappankuzhi colony with a total population of
1016 from 474 households. There are two overhead tanks in the village with
a capacity of 30,000 litres each. Every day, about 60,000 litres of water
is consumed by the households of which 70 per cent becomes grey water that
amounts to about 42,000 litres per day.
Earlier, in the absence of such a system, it was common to see grey
water being discharged onto the roads leading to pollution and stagnant water,
the latter a breeding ground for mosquitoes, microbes and parasites that led to
diseases such as Dengue, Malaria and Cholera. To make matters worse,
there was open dumping and discharge into water bodies which contaminated both
the surface and groundwater in areas with a high-water table. The
community was also unaware that treated greywater could be used to provide
relief from acute water stress.
What is Greywater: Greywater is the category of waste water that
is not contaminated with faecal matter or urine. This includes used water from
bathing, washing dishes, laundry, etc.
Soak pit models adopted for effective GWM: Individual
household soak pits which are suitable for managing grey water at individual
household level were constructed in 93 households at a cost of Rs 9300
each. Further, 2 community soak pits with horizontal type filter were
constructed at disposal points of drainage systems at a cost of Rs 1,33,000
each. Such soak pits are suitable for clusters with high groundwater
table and the treated water can be used for agriculture purposes.
Additionally, one community soak pit with a vertical type filter which is
suitable for clusters with low water table was constructed at a disposal point
of the drainage system at a cost of Rs 127,000.
Individual household soak pits are simple to construct with
locally available materials. Under this system greywater can
be treated at source, preventing the flow of greywater onto the village paths,
open land or stagnating in low lying areas. In Pappankuzhi village, 93
households could not be connected to the drainage channel and hence were
provided with individual household soak pits to manage grey water.
Components of an individual household soak pit include a collection pipe
or platform where greywater generated in households is collected; an inspection
chamber where solid and other floating material suspended in the greywater get
filtered; and the soak pit that consists of a concrete tub that is placed
within where suspended particles settle, allowing greywater to overflow into
the filter media where it gets filtered and safely percolates into the ground.
Community Soak Pits with horizontal and vertical type filters:
Both the Horizontal and Vertical type filter soak pits are efficient for
treatment of grey water generated from households that have space
constraints. They are usually constructed at the discharge points of the
drainage systems.
Drainage systems have been built in Pappankuzhi Village up to the grey water
disposal point. Given that horizontal type soak pits are suitable for
places with high water table where the treated water can be recovered and
reused for agricultural activities; two such soak pits were constructed in
Pappankuzhi village.
On the other hand, vertical type soak pits require less land area when
compared to horizontal type soak pits and can be constructed in areas with low
water table, where the treated water will help replenish the ground water
table. Pappankuzhi has one vertical soak pit that was constructed near the Sivan
Koil Street at a cost of Rs 1,27,000.