SBT plant at Vazir Sultan Tobacco (VST), Hyderabad

Location: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Scale: Individual/ industrial Implementing organisation: Life Links Eco Technology Pvt Ltd	Designed Capacity: 70 KLD later upgraded to 100KLD Area: 400 sqm Operational since : 2004 Capital cost : Rs 7-8 lakhs O&M: Rs 2 Lakhs per year


Vazir Sultan Tobacco factory implemented SBT systems to treat the factory effluent in order to comply with the norms of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) for discharging the treated water into municipality sewers. The effluent is primarily from tobacco processing. Canteen wastewater is also mixed with the effluent.


Wastewater is screened through metal mesh screens to remove solids. After screening it percolates through the trenches and is collected into the collection tank. The wastewater is then pumped to bioreactor filled with suitable media. There are two reactors in VST plant. Reactor one carries out physical separation of suspended solids. As the inlet of VST plant has high concentration of suspended solids, granular mineral additives are embedded inside the bed to enhances the filtration of the suspended solids. Reactor two contains media of soil with biological culture laid in a ridge and furrow pattern. The filtered wastewater is recycled on to the media till desired quality is achieved. Overall time of operation (wetting cycle) varies from 5 to 11h. The bed is then left to rest prior to next cycle of use. The process runs on batch mode. It is subsequently pumped on to the media in Reactor 2.


BOD reduction: 90% COD reduction: 86% TSS reduction: 92% (Source: Life Links, Hyderabad)


Harshawardhan Siddhanti Asst. Manager (R&D) Lifelink Eco Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Post: Plot No-10-3-761/6, 56(3rd), 2nd Floor, Vijay Nagar Colony, hyderabad - 500057, Andhra Pradesh Email: harsha.siddhanti@lifelink.in