Expressing our devotion towards Yamuna

                                                   Expressing our devotion towards Yamuna

Introduction

 

Researchers from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP), in 2017 gave a report that more than half of India’s population have no access to potable, pure drinking water. India’s water situation is alarming and powers the health concerns and brings agricultural production and employment to set back, leading an increasing number of people to poverty.

 

India’s water crisis is a menace that millions of people are facing. As the summer is approaching, accompanied by heat waves and dry spells, the need for clean and accessible water becomes extremely necessary.

 

The Yamuna is not just a river for Delhi, she is also our mother as she sustains a vast ecosystem that is functional within the city. As a result of this, the ‘I Love Yamuna Campaign’ is launched, with the environment and forest department jointly doing initiation of this noble effort. The government has an intention to encourage Delhiites to participate actively in tree plantation drives and river cleaning activities through this initiative.”

 

This can be achieved by doing sewage treatment with the help of microbes.

 

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has also started

Yamuna Action Plan to save this river of our India

from pollution. In these plans, it is suggested to build a large number

of sewage treatment plants in order that only the treated sewage may be discharged

into the rivers.

 

You will be benefitted by reading this blogpost as you will come to know the importance of cleaning Yamuna river as well as the method of sewage treatment which will help in cleaning Yamuna River.

 

What is sewage treatment by Microbes?

 

The large quantities of waste water are generated everyday in

cities and towns. Human excreta forms a major component of this waste water.

This municipal waste-water is also termed sewage. It consists of large

amounts of organic matter and microbes. Many of which are pathogenic.

This untreated sewage cannot be discharged directly into natural

water bodies like rivers and streams.

Hence, before disposal, treatment of sewage is being done in sewage treatment plants (STPs)

to make it less polluting. Treatment of waste water is done with the help of

heterotrophic microbes which are naturally present in

the sewage. This sewage treatment includes combined actions of:

1.      Aerobic microbes which firstly reduce the

BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) of the effluent, BOD refers to

the amount of the oxygen that will be consumed if all the organic

matter in one liter of water are oxidised by bacteria. Till the BOD is reduced the sewage water is being treated. The BOD test is measurement of the

rate of uptake of oxygen by micro-organisms in a sample of water

and indirectly, BOD is the measure of the organic matter present

in the water. The greater the BOD of the waste water, more the waste water has polluting

potential.

2.      And other different kind

of bacteria, which grow anaerobically, which do the digestion of the bacteria and the fungi

in the sludge. During this digestion, bacteria does production of mixture of gases

such as methane, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide.

 

References:

1.      NCERT 12^th book

2.      Delhi govt launches ‘I Love Yamuna’ drive to clean river

By

HT Correspondent