The Hindu Business Line : Ambur, Vaniyambadi tanneries to use recycled water

Effluent treatment
Tanneries to be connected to modern water recycling facility.
This system has not been tried on such a large scale for tannery effluents in India and will be the first of its kind.
The Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company (TWIC) is implementing the project.
Special purpose vehicle Ambur Economic Development Organisation has promoted for the project.
Another Rs 50-crore effluent treatment and water recovery project at Ranipet is in the pipeline.

Chennai , April 23

Tanneries in Ambur and Vaniyambadi - in the northern part of Tamil Nadu - are to be connected to a modern water recycling facility that will help them reuse water from the common effluent treatment plants (CETP).

According to Mr Rafeeque Ahmed, President, All India Skin & Hide Tanners and Merchants Association, three CETPs in Ambur and Vaniyambadi will be connected to the new facility, which is planned here.

A membrane bioreactor system, a technology proven to be effective in removing organic pollutants and suspended solids from tannery effluent, will first involve a pilot project which will then be extended to a commercial scale of about 7,500 million litres a day.

According to Mr Ahmed, this is a system that has not been tried on such a large scale for tannery effluents in India and will be the first of its kind. The Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company (TWIC) is implementing the project.

The project is a part of the Rs 70-crore cluster development programme, which is being funded through a 75-per-cent grant from the Centre and a 25-per-cent contribution from the tanneries.

A special purpose vehicle Ambur Economic Development Organisation has promoted for the project, he said.

Shoe city

The Ambur Economic Development Organisation is also overseeing the entire development of the region, which is being promoted as a Shoe City.

This includes upgradation of the existing CETPs and development of roads in Vaniyambadi and Ambur.

An exhibition hall, training and testing facility in Ambur and a warehouse in Vaniyambadi will also be set up under the project, Mr Ahmed said.

For the tanneries, which need to move to zero liquid discharge within two years according to a directive of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the water recycling facility is a crucial requirement.

The industry is set to spend over Rs 150 crore in the next two years to emerge a zero liquid discharge industry.

Mr A. Shankar, Chief Project Consultant, Water and Wastewater projects, TWIC, who addressed a meeting on water management and conservation in industries said that another project in the pipeline is a Rs 50-crore effluent treatment and water recovery project at Ranipet, another major leather industry hub in North Tamil Nadu. TWIC is a joint venture between the Tamil Nadu Government and IL&FS, which floated the New Tiruppur Area Development Company Ltd for the Rs 1,000-crore water supply and sewerage project in Tiruppur.

Mr Rafeeque Ahmed said apart from pollution treatment, tanning industry needs to recover water for recycling as the industry is based in the northern part of Tamil Nadu, which is chronically water starved.

According to a concept paper on environmental mission in Indian tanning sector by the Council for Leather Exports, the total volume of treated waste water in Tamil Nadu is about 20 million litres a day.

If the water could be recycled it would present a significant saving of freshwater.

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