In-Stream Decontamination System at Saul Kere

In-Stream Decontamination system is a small-scale collaborative project constructed near the southern inlet of Sowl Kere.  This intervention is part of an ongoing collaboration which includes diverse partners spanning Design, Engineering, Civil Society, and Science perspectives. The six-fold partnership includes input from Biome Environmental Trust (project management, collaboration, coordination), MAPSAS (community engagement), Eco Paradigm (engineering & construction), Commonstudio (design), ATREE (monitoring), and Wipro (fiscal sponsorship).  

This small scale intervention “model Nallah”, approximately 2M Wide and 8M long has been constructed next to the STP at Saul Kere.

                      

Within this space, we will run a series of experiments with jelly stones and terracotta rubble metarials. The first treatment will test the removal of organic contaminants by means of jelly and Terracotta rubble material. Terracotta has properties which makes it a viable biofilter media for urban wastewater. We plan to test the system for flows between 2.4 and 9.6 KLD.

      

The ultimate aim is to use the insights of the Sowl Kere studies to develop a series of larger interventions which can be placed directly within nallahs to prevent the contamination and eutrophication of urban lakes. We call this larger approach “Strategic In-stream Systems” or “STRAINS”— decentralized, frugal, flexible, and inclusive.