Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS & SB) has started using Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology to treat sewage at its sewerage treatment plants (STPs). The technology is considered to be the best when it comes to the treatment of industrial and municipal waste.

One of the primary reasons for this adoption is that it requires less space when compared to the Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR) technology that is used in existing STPs. Also, the maintenance cost of SBR is lower.

The 14 million liters per day (MLD) STP at Fox Sagar, 5 MLD STP at Vennela Gadda, 28 MLD STP at Pariki Cheruvu, and 14 MLD at Shivalaya Nagar in GHMC Qutbullapur circle and 41.5 MLD STP at Miralam are some examples of STPs equipped with SBR technology.

The state aims at treating 100 percent of sewage generated in the city, and construction of STPs is being undertaken in different parts of the city. The STPs stop the flow of sewage into catchment areas and discharge wastewater into lakes and other water bodies. It also takes care of environmental aspects.

The wastewater is treated using aeration and biological floc followed by a series of steps, and hence the water can be used to maintain greenery, washing vehicles, and construction activities, etc. Incidentally, Telangana state is way ahead of other states when it comes to sewage management.