Alternative energy:
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, November 22[2007]:
Here’s good news for all of us, who have been facing gas shortage and sewerage disposal problems. These problems can be solved at a cost of Rs 20,000.
By installing a small plant on the rooftop of your house or on the backyard, you can get rid of kitchen and toilet waste. On top of it, cooking gas will be available at your kitchen round the clock for free, concludes a recent experiment, supported by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).
Hari Prasad Pandey, a sanitation engineer at the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage in Jhapa, worked out this solution after conducting an 18-month-long experiment.
He has built a domestic plant, which converts kitchen waste and human waste into cooking gas. “You can run a gas stove for around 90 minutes per day out of the faeces and urine of two persons as well as kitchen waste you dump in the plant daily. It means you save at least Rs 400 per month,” he told The Himalayan Times, adding that there will be no foul smell or explosion.
A kitchen waste inlet, part of the plant, is linked to the outlet of the toilet. Both the lines feed a 1,100-litre reactor tank and 300-litre pressure tank, which has an effluent outlet. Another 300-litre tank is also used for drying the sludge.
On average, 1.5 kg of kitchen waste and toilet waste of two persons can generate gas equivalent to 802 kilocalories of energy. “Thus, it is possible to reduce the generation of biodegradable solid waste by 60 per cent. If the plant is installed in all houses in the Kathmandu Valley, the generation of solid waste can be reduced by 750 metric tons every day,” he said, adding, “This will also help keep the Bagmati river less polluted.”
“After keeping the waste in the plant for about two months, it can be disposed in the river. Biological Oxygen Demand in the water will be reduced from 6,000 milligrams per litre to 938 mg,” he said.
Pandey said, “I will not go for patenting this experiment, but will be happy if my invention serves the public.”
[KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 23, 2007, Mangsir 07, 2064 ]
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