Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida organized a visit to the Sewage Treatment Plant at Rithala, Delhi on 4th December, 2014. 45 students of IInd and IIIrd Year Civil Engineering Program accompanied by faculty members Mr. Amit Kr. Sharma and Mr. Sarvagya Tripathi visited the site. The purpose of the visit was to make students familiar with the principles of sewage treatment plant including design, construction and standard specifications.

The visiting students were welcomed by Mr. Pankaj Kumar., J.E. at the plant and were taken to the laboratory, where they were given detailed information about various parts of plant through 3D models. The students were explained about various tests performed to check suitability of water for specified purposes.

Mr. Pankaj informed the students that the Rithala plant was constructed by the Delhi Jal Board and it handles waste water for a population equivalent of 1,200,000 in New Delhi. The plant achieves high discharge standards through various advanced technologies of waste water treatment such as biofiltration and sludge treatment through dissolved air flotation. Rithala plant is operated on a self-sustainability basis in terms of energy requirements. The plant was commissioned in September 2002, and has been operated by Degrémont since April 2003. Rithala STP is treating only domestic waste of Rithala region.

After presentation the students visited the plant, and were taken to various primary and secondary treatments for sewage water. They were informed that the working of plant relies on a range of different technologies including physical, chemical and biological treatments, membrane bioreactors, sand filters etc. The students also had an opportunity to witness the working of Aeration tank, Digester, Biomass gas plant & Settling tank etc. The flexible technical configuration of the plant and the continuous availability of different wastewater and sludge compositions for experiments ensure that even though on a small scale, the customization to new research tasks is possible at any time.

At the end of the visit, the students were introduced to the idea behind the working of interceptor, which is being conceptually designed for preventing direct drain in Yamuna and shall be ready to work in 2015.

It was an informative, interesting and a fruitful visit for the students and provided an apt learning opportunity at an early stage of their undergraduate engineering program.