International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science

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Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management

Received: 12 July 2019    Accepted: 13 November 2019    Published: 08 April 2020
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Abstract

Yamuna is the most important tributary of Ganga River originating from the Yamunotri glacier of Himalaya, the ‘Asian Water Tower’. Since Yamuna is fed by the above glacier, the Ganga River supplies water perennially. The catchment area of Yamuna River is 3, 45,848km2 which is the largest among the other tributaries of Ganga. Surface water resource of the Yamuna River is 61.22km3 and the net groundwater availability is 45.43km3. Total sewage generation per annum from domestic and industrial sources in Yamuna River basin is about 9.63km3. Due to the mixing of the above human influenced sewage, the waterways of this basin are stinking in many reaches and almost dead near Delhi. The pollution loads of the stinking and dead reaches of this river pollute the groundwater of the Yamuna River basin in many reaches. To treat and recycle the above sewage load about 1,320 sewage treatment plants are necessary. The capital and annual maintenance cost of these plants are Rs. 22, 440 million/$320.57million, Rs. 10,070million/$143.86million respectively (at one US dollar equal to Rs. 70). Benefits of the Yamuna River basin sewage treatment and recycling are 1. About 1,156.32million m3 of biogas can be produced per annum 2. Or from the biogas about 2,312.64million kwh electricity can be produced and the value of the electricity is Rs. 8,044.24million/$144.92 million 3. The biogas can be used for running the sewage treatment plants and for cooking directly through pipes 4. About 433.62million tons of bio-sludge can be obtained per annum and used of agriculture with suitable amendments 5. About 45.43km3 of groundwater of this basin can be protected from the sewage loads 6. About 9.63km3 of the treated sewage per annum can be used for nondomestic uses and this much quantity of fresh water can be conserved from this basin for future use 7. The foul smell and the stinking environment of this basin can be completely stopped 8. The waterborne diseases and other water miseries will be arrested and 9. Above all the waterways can be made living rivers once again. The value of the 9.63km3 of conserved freshwater per annum is Rs. 14, 45,185.33million/$20,645.50million. In the present scenario of water stress and scarcity in the 21st century in many nations, using freshwater for all uses including for toilet is the outdated hypothesis.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13
Published in International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science (Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2020)
Page(s) 14-29
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Yamuna River, Pollution Load, New Hypothesis, Wastewater Treatment and Management

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Centre for Climate Change, Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur, India

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    Natarajan Pachamuthu Muthaiyah. (2020). Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management. International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science, 5(1), 14-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13

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    Natarajan Pachamuthu Muthaiyah. Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management. Int. J. Energy Environ. Sci. 2020, 5(1), 14-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13

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    AMA Style

    Natarajan Pachamuthu Muthaiyah. Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management. Int J Energy Environ Sci. 2020;5(1):14-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13,
      author = {Natarajan Pachamuthu Muthaiyah},
      title = {Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management},
      journal = {International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {14-29},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20200501.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijees.20200501.13},
      abstract = {Yamuna is the most important tributary of Ganga River originating from the Yamunotri glacier of Himalaya, the ‘Asian Water Tower’. Since Yamuna is fed by the above glacier, the Ganga River supplies water perennially. The catchment area of Yamuna River is 3, 45,848km2 which is the largest among the other tributaries of Ganga. Surface water resource of the Yamuna River is 61.22km3 and the net groundwater availability is 45.43km3. Total sewage generation per annum from domestic and industrial sources in Yamuna River basin is about 9.63km3. Due to the mixing of the above human influenced sewage, the waterways of this basin are stinking in many reaches and almost dead near Delhi. The pollution loads of the stinking and dead reaches of this river pollute the groundwater of the Yamuna River basin in many reaches. To treat and recycle the above sewage load about 1,320 sewage treatment plants are necessary. The capital and annual maintenance cost of these plants are Rs. 22, 440 million/$320.57million, Rs. 10,070million/$143.86million respectively (at one US dollar equal to Rs. 70). Benefits of the Yamuna River basin sewage treatment and recycling are 1. About 1,156.32million m3 of biogas can be produced per annum 2. Or from the biogas about 2,312.64million kwh electricity can be produced and the value of the electricity is Rs. 8,044.24million/$144.92 million 3. The biogas can be used for running the sewage treatment plants and for cooking directly through pipes 4. About 433.62million tons of bio-sludge can be obtained per annum and used of agriculture with suitable amendments 5. About 45.43km3 of groundwater of this basin can be protected from the sewage loads 6. About 9.63km3 of the treated sewage per annum can be used for nondomestic uses and this much quantity of fresh water can be conserved from this basin for future use 7. The foul smell and the stinking environment of this basin can be completely stopped 8. The waterborne diseases and other water miseries will be arrested and 9. Above all the waterways can be made living rivers once again. The value of the 9.63km3 of conserved freshwater per annum is Rs. 14, 45,185.33million/$20,645.50million. In the present scenario of water stress and scarcity in the 21st century in many nations, using freshwater for all uses including for toilet is the outdated hypothesis.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Rejuvenating Yamuna River by Wastewater Treatment and Management
    AU  - Natarajan Pachamuthu Muthaiyah
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    T2  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
    JF  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
    JO  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
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    AB  - Yamuna is the most important tributary of Ganga River originating from the Yamunotri glacier of Himalaya, the ‘Asian Water Tower’. Since Yamuna is fed by the above glacier, the Ganga River supplies water perennially. The catchment area of Yamuna River is 3, 45,848km2 which is the largest among the other tributaries of Ganga. Surface water resource of the Yamuna River is 61.22km3 and the net groundwater availability is 45.43km3. Total sewage generation per annum from domestic and industrial sources in Yamuna River basin is about 9.63km3. Due to the mixing of the above human influenced sewage, the waterways of this basin are stinking in many reaches and almost dead near Delhi. The pollution loads of the stinking and dead reaches of this river pollute the groundwater of the Yamuna River basin in many reaches. To treat and recycle the above sewage load about 1,320 sewage treatment plants are necessary. The capital and annual maintenance cost of these plants are Rs. 22, 440 million/$320.57million, Rs. 10,070million/$143.86million respectively (at one US dollar equal to Rs. 70). Benefits of the Yamuna River basin sewage treatment and recycling are 1. About 1,156.32million m3 of biogas can be produced per annum 2. Or from the biogas about 2,312.64million kwh electricity can be produced and the value of the electricity is Rs. 8,044.24million/$144.92 million 3. The biogas can be used for running the sewage treatment plants and for cooking directly through pipes 4. About 433.62million tons of bio-sludge can be obtained per annum and used of agriculture with suitable amendments 5. About 45.43km3 of groundwater of this basin can be protected from the sewage loads 6. About 9.63km3 of the treated sewage per annum can be used for nondomestic uses and this much quantity of fresh water can be conserved from this basin for future use 7. The foul smell and the stinking environment of this basin can be completely stopped 8. The waterborne diseases and other water miseries will be arrested and 9. Above all the waterways can be made living rivers once again. The value of the 9.63km3 of conserved freshwater per annum is Rs. 14, 45,185.33million/$20,645.50million. In the present scenario of water stress and scarcity in the 21st century in many nations, using freshwater for all uses including for toilet is the outdated hypothesis.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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