2 years of pushing for completing treatment

People seem to object to the constant odour emanating from the partially treated water let out in the park. If often foams, but kids playing football and basketball unconcerned, not do all the walkers object strongly enough to do something.

Visit to site: LW STP 2

Smell continues

Visit by Dr. Surendra Kulkarni of Lake Shore Homes

I visited the LW STPs with Rajesh and on 10th main outside the STP where treated water was being let out into the internal storm water drain we noticed a foul odour. It seemed to be getting some aeration as it went down the storm water drain - smelling strongly near the main road and less near the STP (5th cross).

We noticed that the waste water was going straight down the borewell due to a hole in the borewell chamber next to the storm water drain. The estate manager was called immediately and promised he would plug the hole.

Visit by KSPCB Chairman

Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Dr. Vaman Acharya and his team visited the Laughing Waters STP's among other sites in Whitefield at the invitation of Rajesh Shah.

Of interest was also the solid waste segregation and processing plant co-located with the STP.

Rajesh Patil
PA to Chairman

Visit by PCB SEOs

At the invitation of Rajesh Shah, we visited STPs in Whitefield, including all the STPs in Laughing Waters.

We took a water sample to test at our lab.

M. G. Yatish and D. Shanmukappa
KSPCB Senior Environmental Officers

STP in unhealthy shape

Spent 2 hours in the hot, really hot, sun with Paradigm (Iqbal and Justice) at STP-2, STP-4, park, ...

In retrospect i got yelled at for the completely lousy state they are in, the lack of operation, the breakdown, ....

STP2 is somewhat functional
- motor not connected at the time
- site not clean, mud is higher than inlet
- grate not clean (need to clean every 2 weeks)
- one outlet cover has been removed and replaced with roofing
- inlet is not water tight

Water quality test

Test was conducted for all 3 STPs.
Result for this STP attached.

• STP2_qua...

Water quality test

As part of the completion of the STP, a water quality test was conducted.
Result attached.

• STP2_qua...

Treated water arrives!

The good news of the day was that finally the STP-2 treated water made it to the park. The old septic tanks at STP-2 were cleaned up and being filled for the past 10 days. The old septic tanks at the park (designated as the site for STP-3 which was scrapped) were emptied and cleaned. Dhaval and Rajesh were definitely happy as the water gushed into the park tank.

Now the final chapter is to create the drip irrigation system and use our treated water to green our park and reduce borewell water use.

Explanation of delay and path going forward

While there has been a delay in the STP2 project due to various reasons, we have done our best to get it on track and completed in a timely fashion. About two weeks back, we had a brainstorming session at the site with consultant and contractor with the objective of exploring further optimization of the design keeping in mind current site information available, future requirements like swimming pool and learnings from STP1 regarding reuse of treated water. The Consultant provided the final design inputs for the completion of the project by incorporating some modifications. The following is the summary of the key takeaways

1. With the design changes we got an additional 0.6 m height for the treated water outlet from the final STP stage (stage 3). This has resulted in significant benefits such as
a. The outlet level (of treated water) is higher than the outside storm water drain level. As a result, we ARE NOT dependent on pumping the water continuously unlike STP1 for discharge of treated water and hence backflow will not happen.
b. This also gives about 30% more storage capacity for treated water at STP 2 itself as we have decided to convert the existing septic tank to storage tank. However, we will have to recast the roof slab of the storage tank.
2. The slab size of the STP2 was redesigned to accommodate the possibility of future structure (such as swimming pool) on top of the parts of STP (Settler and one-fourth of the remaining structure). This was essential to be done for any future plans for the site.

The resultant outcomes of the new design approach are:
· A delayed schedule (we also recognize that the consultant/contractor team has used this as an excuse for covering up some of delay from their side, but our view is that a better design is a preferred outcome) – new completion date is May 15.
· A revised project cost due to some increase in scope (Rs. 38.5 L for construction) – details given below.

Project cost will change from original Rs. 37 L due to one subtraction and some additions as shown below. We save about 1.5 L due to elimination of the STP3, but we will pay 3 L extra for items that were not in the original scope (1 L for the storage tank slab and 2 L for the strengthening of part of the roof structure for holding future swimming pool. This cost cannot be deferred). In addition, the consultant fee is revised up from Rs. 30 K to Rs. 75 K to factor in all the spec changes.

We had a tough time in negotiating with the contractor to keep the cost down and explored all positive logics. We finally struck the deal for a lower cost with aggressive payment terms. We will pay the remaining amount in 2 instalments of 50% each with the first one on the date of laying the roof slab for STP 2 (scheduled on May 2nd) and remaining on the completion of project (in all respects including piping etc). In case, STP does not become operational by May 15 for reasons under contractors control, we will deduct Rs 50000 flat towards penalty (which is much severe than Rs 1000 per day. Hence, we decided to waive off the earlier penalty keeping in mind the ultimate goal of having STP operational)

However, to make this agreement work, we have to provide the remaining payments in a timely and efficient manner to prevent any scope of further delay and arguments (We do not want the contractor to come back and say that delay is due to non-payment). The agreement with the contractor is that he will be paid one instalment (about Rs. 6.6 L as shown below) on May 2nd (when he should be ready to cast the slabs) and the final payment on completion (earliest May 16). Please treat this as advance information for timely processing of payment and will be submitting the detailed payment note in the prescribed format in due course.

Original contract cost 37,00,000.00 Final Project Cost 38,50,000.00
STP3 reduction (1,80,000.00) Retention amount 1,92,500.00
Relaying of pipes 30,000.00 Payable 36,57,500.00
Storage tank slab work 1,00,000.00 First payment 8,98,464.70
Slab strengthening for future 2,00,000.00 Second payment 5,37,283.15
Contractor final cost 38,50,000.00 Advance 9,00,000.00
Remaining payable 13,21,752.15
Consultant visit budget 30,000.00 First instalment (May2) 6,60,876.08
Consultant additonal charge 45,000.00 Final instalment (May16) 6,60,876.08
Consultant final cost 75,000.00 Retention (Aug 15) 1,92,500.00
Total project cost 39,25,000.00

We appreciate your support through this arduous project and anticipate continued cooperation till the finish. We appreciate the help provided by Tharun in the final stages as a facilitator.

Thanks and regards,


STP Sub-committee

Drawings received

Paradigm under Iqbal's supervision has taken detailed measurements of the site and come up with detailed drawings.

Of course, no changes can be made to the structure which is already completed, but it does provide info on all the internal piping.

Some of these are laid out and will need to be changed.