How Sewage Network Works: A Photo Essay from Agra

Not many of India’s households are connected to piped sewer network or the centralised sewage treatment system. These sewer pipes which should ideally be connected to all households are supposed to carry sewage from the households to sewage treatment plants. These STPs then treat the waste water and release treated water back into the ecosystem which is either utilised for various purposes such as in agriculture or finally released into rivers. At the same time the sludge that is extracted after treatment which contains large amounts of faecal matter is converted into bricks to be used as fertilisers.

Sewer networks are laid out in cities with bigger sewer lines branching out into smaller branch lines that are then connected to house connecting chambers which in turn are connected to individual households. Once sewage is collected into main sewer pipes, these pipes make their way to STPs. However, there are limited number of STPs in any city and require pumping stations which collect sewage from different sewer lines and pump it further to STPs.

Very few people actually know and understand the complex system of sewage treatment even though this process is crucial for the urban ecosystem and availability of fresh water resources. Words alone can help people understand only so much about sewage treatment. So presented here is a photo essay from Agra which shows how sewage makes it way from main sewer lines through pumping stations finally to STPs.

Further along the pipe travels through the city along Fatehabad road and finally makes it way to the STP at Dhandupura with a capacity of treating 78 MLD(Million litres per day).

To know more about the status of sewage treatment in Agra and Uttar Pradesh you may visit this article published on India Water Portal- http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/needs-treat-its-sewage .