Publications

Abstract : Sewage generally consists of black-water, grey-water, toilet-paper, detergents and soap. The manual STP plant collects the sewage in a collection tank where the sewage is left to settle. Then it is mixed with oxygen in aeration tank in order to speed up the bio-degradation process. Finally its is mixed with activated carbon and left in the sedimentation tank to settle down. Sensors have been used in machines and systems to make them automatic. They read the data in real time and provide the system a method to utilize the values and make decisions thus making them automatic. The project involves using the sensors to make the traditional STP more robust and efficient. Different quality parameters such as pH, colour, turbidity, TSS, BOD, COD, TOC, pathogen count etc., are used for measuring the quality of treated water. Determining decisive parameters such as TSS, BOD, COD, TOC involve either expensive instrumentation, lengthy procedure or they are time consuming up to 3 days like for BOD. Using any of these parameters to measure the quality of treated water is not feasible as we need to monitor the parameters instantaneously. By monitoring the quantities of gases such as CO2, CH4 and NH3 that are released during aeration process, it is possible to instantaneously account for the extent of treatment that is taking place at any given point of time.