Ecosan biogas plant set up at Manjeri

Ecological sanitation plant to use toilet effluents

An ecological sanitation (Ecosan) biogas plant, based on toilet effluents, is being set up at the District General Hospital at Manjeri near here.

Hospital Superintendent A.P. Parvathi said here on Sunday that the plant was ready for commissioning.

The plant will make use of the toilet effluents and food wastes generated at the hospital.

The plant had been set up at a cost of Rs.13 lakh. Funds had been provided from the MP's local area development fund by the then MP, P.V. Abdul Wahab, the Hospital Development Council, and the district panchayat. The plant had been constructed by the Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC), Mundur, a State government-accredited agency, under the supervision of Bio-Energy Systems, a Kozhikode-based agency with technical expertise in ecosan plants.

The model had been done in the Non-Conventional Energy Development Agency (NEDA) model, recognized by the Central government.

The plant would be below ground level, and the roof could be used for parking or gardening. The plant will run on a trial basis for a month, Dr. Parvathi said.

The IRTC will oversee the functioning for three years. The plant would help reduce the problem of waste disposal at the hospital by 85 per cent, she said.

The plant would make septic tanks redundant. A similar plant would soon be set up at the old block of the General Hospital, she said.