Constructed wetland to treat Wastewater at Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai

Location: Powai Scale: Institutional Implementing organisation: Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai	Designed Capacity: 25 KLD Area : 200 m² Operational since : November 2013 Capital cost: INR. 10 Lakhs O&M: INR. 120,000/-



Indian Institute of Technology is situated adjacent to Lake Powai in Mumbai. The project was initiated by Centre for Environment Science and Engineering (CESE), IIT Powai and the constructed wetland plant is inside the campus about 1.25 km away from CESE building. This project demonstrates the effectiveness of the constructed wetland (horizontal sub-surface flow) to treat wastewater.



The treatment system consists of primary settling tank followed by a 400 sq m of planted filter bed. The bed has wetland plants growing over the gravel media and is designed as a horizontal sub-surface flow (HSSF) system. The bed is rectangular in shape with gravel layer upto 0.8 m deep. The inlet and outlet zones are filled up with larger gravels of 50-100mm diameter. There is also a water regulation chamber before the final collection tank.

The sewage generated from the IIT-Powai campus is treated through this system which was designed as an experiment pilot project. The water quality is monitored at various points throughout the bed via the monitoring ports.



The treated wastewater from the system is discharged into the Powai lake.
The research on this project has underscored the fact that the Constructed Wetland systems can be effectively combined with advanced tertiary treatment alternatives and the resulting high quality treated water can be successfully recycled into water production and sanitation applications.
Presently, the results of the treated water quality after filtration from the constructed wetland system showcase the capability to implement such projects at various scales.



Dr. Shyam R. Asolekar, Professor Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE),Indian Institute of Technology Powai, Mumbai 400 076 Email: asolekar@iitb.ac.in