Decentralised Wastewater Treatment System at Kachpura village in Agra


Location: Kachpura slum near Mehtab Bagh, Agra Scale: Community Implementing organisation: Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), Agra Nagar Nigam (ANN) and USAID.	Designed Capacity: 50KLD Operational since : 2010 Capital cost : Rs 10-11 lakhs O&M: Rs 70,000-80,000 per year


Decentralised wastewater treatment system at Kachpura slum as a part of Crosscutting Agra Program (CAP) for low income communities. The system was installed with financial assistance from Water Trust UK and London Metropolitan University and technical support by Vijay Vigyan foundation. The aim of the programme was to improve the sanitation conditions in the slum areas. The system treats approximately 50 KLD of the total wastewater which it receives from 5 clusters of slums through a common drain. The remaining untreated wastewater flows through parallel drain into the major drain that connects to the River Yamuna.


The system comprises of screen chamber which prevents the solid waste entering into the system. The wastewater then enters into three chambered septic tank. After primary treatment, it goes to nine chambered baffled anaerobic reactor which is filled with gravels. After secondary treatment the wastewater goes to planted filter bed for root zone treatment. The bed is filled with three different types of filter media (white river pebbles, red stones and gravels) and planted with Canna indica. The treated wastewater is reused for horticulture and irrigation purpose by the local community of Kachpura.


BOD reduction: 61% COD reduction: 64% TDS reduction: 94% (Source: CURE)


Dr. Renu Khosla Director, Social Development Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence A-10, Green Park (Main Aurobindo Marg), New Delhi-110016, India renukhosla@cureindia.org
Rajesh Kumar Project officer, Cross Cutting Agra Program (CAP) Room no. 313, 2nd floor Agra Nagar Nigam- 282002 Agra, UP. Email: rajeshkumar.agra@gmail.com