Saph Pani deliverables

Summary

Saph Pani was an India-EU collaborative project with a duration of three years. The project aimed to improve natural water treatment systems such as bank filtration (BF), managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and natural treatment systems (NTS) for wastewater treatment (e.g. constructed wetlands) in India by building on a combination of local and international expertise. An enhancement of water resources and water supply, particularly in water stressed urban and peri-urban areas was targeted. The means to reach this impact was to strengthen the scientific understanding of the performance-determining
processes occurring in the root, soil and aquifer zones of the relevant regions and consider the removal and fate of important water quality parameters such as pathogenic microorganisms and respective indicators, organic substances, nutrients and metals. The consortium studied the three technologies on a total of nine sites in different parts of the Indian sub-continent.

A good understanding of bank filtration performance as a function of operation and design was established. The applicability of technology was extended through an assessment of flood risks and development of flood-proof designs and other measures. A survey of other existing sites broadened the experience base and allowed identification of potential new BF sites and the characteristics of such sites. Special attention was given to the polluted waters (nitrogen species) in Delhi and the adjoining aquifers, representative of the conditions in the Gangetic plain. The specific cost of production was determined to be less
than 0.1 €/m3, a factor three lower than surface water abstraction followed by conventional treatment.

Based on field results and modeling, MAR performance was reliably quantified, in particular for a percolation pond in a hard rock setting and a check dam in alluvial setting. Up to now limited data on MAR influence on quality was available and the project gave new insights, for example with regards to geogenic fluoride contamination, pathogen dieoff, organic pollutant elimination and dilution effects.

A catchment with a natural peri-urban wetland was comprehensively described (hydrology, water quality) and modeled which gave new insights in the cleaning capacity and options for improvement of the situation of the local farmers. On the national scale a complete inventory of Indian public NTS for wastewater treatment was performed. 41structures representing five different technologies (horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetlands, duckweed ponds, waste stabilization ponds, polishing ponds and Karnal-type constructed wetlands) were analysed on-site. Also pilot constructed wetlands trials were performed and the knowledge gained will facilitate planning and designing of NTS structures for wastewater treatment including post-treatment to enhance potential for recycling and reuse.

Current pre- and post-treatments for NTS in India and the critical water quality parameters of concern were determined. The partner knowledge base together with lab and field studies allowed us to derive recommendations for pre- and post-treatment options for different uses. Also, a matrix to select appropriate treatment was prepared based on data on cost and elimination capacity. It can be used by designers and planners for preliminary selection of NTSs and associated pre- and post-treatment systems. Human health risks, economical and institutional viability and social risk acceptance  were assessed on selected project sites and recommendations and sustainable  business models resulted. One example is NTS for wastewater treatment managed by local communities providing both irrigation water and fodder for cattle and thus allowing an increased income.

The project resulted in around 30 articles in scientific journals and the Saph Pani Handbook presenting an overview of the most important findings and striking success stories of the project. Results were disseminated through a project website, newsletters, leaflets for the general public, 4 targeted courses, practitioner meetings and over 40 events, culminating with the Saph Pani final conference with attendance of the Indian Minister of Water Resources, over 100 invited scientists, senior level policy and decisionmakers and presentations also from other current EU-India projects on NTS.

Acknowledgements
The deliverables are based on collaborative Indo-European research activities in the project Saph Pani on Enhancement of natural water systems and treatment methods for safe and sustainable water supply in India. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 282911 (www.saphpani.eu). The Saph Pani project started in October 2011 and ran till September 2014. All project partners and advisory board members are acknowledged for their dedication to the project and the inputs received for this publication. The project officers at the European Commission DG Research and Innovation, Unit I.2 Eco-Innovation, are acknowledged for project guidance.

Partners of the Saph Pani project:
FACHHOCHSCHULE NORDWESTSCHWEIZ FHNW Switzerland, Thomas Wintgens, Anders Nättorp, Julia Plattner, Liang Yu, Linda Stamm, Jeremias Brand
UTTARAKHAND JAL SANSTHAN UJS India, P. C. Kimothi, S. K. Sharma, Ramesh Chandra, R. K. Rauhela, Manish Semwal, P. K. Saini, Pooran Singh Patwal
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HYDROLOGY NIH India, R. D. Singh; N. C. Gosh, V. C. Goyal, C. K. Jain, Sudheer Kumar, A. K. Lohani, Surjeet Singh, Anupama Sharma, Sumant Kumar, Shashi Indwar, Biswajit Chakravorty, Y. R. S. Rao, B. Venkatesh, T. Thomas, B. K. Puarendra, Sanjay Mittal, Rakesh Goyal, Biswajiit Das, Saroj Khatania
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE IITR India, Pradeep Kumar, Indu Mehrotra, Ankush Gupta, Medalson Ronghang, Soma Kumari, Himashu Singh, Fuzail Ahmed, Laxmi Das, Anand Bharti
VEOLIA WATER (INDIA) PVT LTD VEOLIA India, S. V. K. Babu, Priyanka Bhat, Vikas Gupta, Anuj Goel, Brune Poirson, Mélanie Grignon, Bodhisattwa Dasgupta, Naresh Kumar, Ashok Parashar, Bharat Bhushan Chadha
ANNA UNIVERSITY CHENNAI ANNA India, Elango Lakshmanan, Parimala Renganayaki, K. Brinda, Rajesh Rajendran, Rajaveni Sundarapandian, M. C. Raicy, Jagadesan Gunalan, Indu S. Nair, G. Gowrisankar
SPT CONSULTANCY SERVICES PARTNERSHIP SPT India, Thirunavukkarasu Munuswamy, Shenbaganandam Ganapathy, Saravanan Janakiraman, Arulprakasm Subramanian, Balaji Karuppaiah, Parimala Renganayaki Sundaram, Balasubramanian Krishnan
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF RAIPUR RMC India, A. K. Malwe
ARUN GULATI AJD India, Arun Gulati, Manish Gupta, Siddarth Kimothi
COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH NGRI India, Shakeel Ahmed, Ramaswamy Rangarajan, Vilasrao Somvanshi, Subash Chandra, Nepal Mondal, Tanvi Arora, Sahebrao Sonkamble, Sarah Sarah, Farooq A. Dar, Naziya Jamal, Deepa Negi Kapardar, P. Raghavendra, Tarun K. Gaur, Rekha Kumari, Rakesh K. Tiwari, Adeyuppu Pratyusha, Satyajit Raut, Akoju Ramadevi, Vikram Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Napasani Veerababu, Taufique Warsi, Md. Wajihuddin, Satya Chari
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BOMBAY IITB India, Shyam R. Asolekar, Dinesh Kumar, Anana Hiremath, Pradip Kalbar, Richa Singh, Rahul Sutar, Shruti Ranjan, Sachin Pandey, Ankit Srivastava, Ashish Kumar, Deepak Vishawakarma, Lohit Reddy, Sanjeev Yendamui
DHI - (INDIA) WATER & ENVIRONMENT PVT LTD DHI India, Bertram Moninkoff, Mohamed Fahimuddin
KOMPENTENTZZENTRUM WASSER BERLIN GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH KWB Germany, Bodo Weigert, Christoph Sprenger, David Stevens, Gesche Grützmacher, Hella Schwarzmüller, Maike Gröschke, Michael Rustler
BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES BRGM France, Marina Alazard, Stéphanie Aulong, Alexandre Boisson, Abdel Majiit Bouzit, Alain Chevalier, Céline Cosson, Benoît Dewandel, Christine Flehoc, Wolfram Kloppmann, Thierry Laurioux, Jean-Christophe Maréchal, Jérôme Perrin, Marie Pettenati, Géraldine Picot-Colbeaux, Géraldine Quarton, Benjamin Tellier, Dominique Thierry, Matthieu Basset
ZENTRUM FÜR UMWELTMANAGEMENT UND ENTSCHEIDUNGSTHEORIE CEMDS Austria, Markus Starkl
HOCHSCHULE FÜR TECHNIK UND WIRTSCHAFT DRESDEN HTWD Germany, Thomas Grischek, Cornelius Sandhu, Ulrike Feistel, Rico Bartak, Thomas Voltz, Stephanie Fischer
UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION -UNESCO IHE The Netherlands, Saroj Sharma, Maria Kennedy, Haziz Mutabuzi, Richard Missa, Charles Nyongo
INTERNATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE IWMI Sri Lanka, Priyanie Amerasinghe, Mahesh Jampani
COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION CSIRO Australia, Declan Page, Peter Dillon, Joanne Vanderzalm, Jatinder Sindhu
FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN FUB Germany, Christoph Sprenger, Thomas Taute, Lutz Thomas, Maike Gröschke, Theresa Frommen, Mario Eybing, Kolja Bosch, Florian Brückner