BILGE VESSEL + SCUPPER VALVE

The whole world is facing an acute water crisis. According to statistical data, many regions in India can face drought in the forthcoming years. Recently the western suburbs of Mumbai, a metropolitan city of India, had no water supply. The situation is quite similar in many other countries around the world like Qatar, African nations, USA, New York. 

These instances serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need to reduce, recycle and reuse potable water in whatever way possible.

Despite water covering three-fourths of the earth, only 3% is usable fresh water, and the cost of treating it is cumbersome with problems like desalination, energy in moving water, leakage of freshwater in the supply network, spillage of sewage, treatment of sewage and other running costs. This in turn results in a large quantum of carbon emissions, as evidenced by the EPA's report that the energy needed to move, treat, and use water in the US produces 290 million metric tonnes of carbon-di oxide annually, equivalent to 5% of the nation's carbon emissions. 

Similarly, the Central Electricity Authority of India reported that the energy required for water supply and treatment in urban areas of India ranges from about 0.6 to 2.5 million metric tonnes of CO2 per cubic meter of water. In rural areas, the carbon emissions produced when supplying and treating water is much higher.

The energy requirement, combined with emissions from the resulting sewage, has a significant carbon impact too. On average, every cubic meter of water consumed generates 23lb (or 10.6Kg) of carbon emissions. With such a rapidly dwindling resource, we must treat the water at the source.

By reducing the associated carbon emissions in the water treatment and supply sector, it is possible to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and move towards low carbon housing.

The solution aims to address two major challenges faced by communities worldwide - water scarcity and the operational carbon emissions associated with freshwater supply, treatment and wastewater treatment. The solution will contribute to low carbon housing by reducing the operational carbon emissions associated with pumping wastewater, etc. 

We have developed an indigenous, sustainable, cost-effective, decentralized greywater treatment unit which collects, filters, reuses greywater generated in at home at minimal cost (keeping in view sanitation), thus saving precious water and reducing operational carbon emissions associated with conveyance, treatment of potable and greywater.

This table indicates the greywater generated by a four family household/day.

The solution has two units: Scupper Valve(SV) and Bilge Vessel(BV). The SV will collect greywater from the shower, washing machine. The collected water will be pumped by the SV toward BV which in tune will filter the greywater and store the recycled water for non-potable domestic uses.

The two comrades in arms will help households to save and fight the water crisis without any major modifications in the current home plumbing system.

SV is a small, case-like device which fits into the floor trap of the bathroom. The sensors present in this device sense and pump the soapy water to the BV. The BV has three buckets stacked one over the other and the water from SV is directed towards the lowermost bucket which further pumps the water to the top bucket. A small submersible pump is placed in the lowermost bucket along with water level controller wires to ensure that the pump gets switched off when the water drops down below a certain minimum level. This will protect the submersible pump from burning out.

Initially, the topmost bucket had 2 inches of fine aggregate, 2 inches of activated charcoal, 2 inches of sand, peels of orange, 2 inches of coarse aggregate. 

Fig-Initial Setup

Upon close collaboration with users, it was found that the numerous layers of filter media weren't hygienic and its replacement was a huge problem.

To overcome this issue, we took inspiration from the Baffle filtration process that involves the use of physical barriers to treat wastewater. 

However, implementing this process in such a compact setting is difficult, but, with a little out of the box thought, we managed to integrate it in the bucket resulting in better treatment efficiency. 

The first six containers act as baffles slowing down the flow of water, allowing sediments, other materials to settle and filter. The last two containers contain 2 inches of sand, activated carbon/peels of orange. 

Fig-Setup

Fig-Impurities(settled)

Fig- Installed setup

Sand will strain out the suspended matter, solids from the greywater and activated charcoal/peels of orange will remove organics that affect the taste, odour, color of water.

The wastewater will pass through these layers, get filtered. The treated water gets stored in the middle part of the BV which is connected to flushing cistern and can be reused for non-potable uses.

With this mechanism, users only need to detach a particular container from the network and replace the media instead of having to empty the entire stack.

The proposed solution is easy to implement which can be adopted by residential households to treat greywater at the source and reuse it for non potable end uses. Besides urban households, this solution is useful in rural areas lacking advanced sewage treatment facilities and struggling with water scarcity where water needs to be pumped over long distances. Additionally, it is suitable for remote areas of underdeveloped  countries where water crises are common.

The following calculation shows the impact this solution will have (calculations are done for Delhi, a city in India)

• Impact at END USER: On an average one person uses 25 litres for flushing in one day. A single family home of 4 people with an initial investment of ₹1,000 can save around 5000-6000 litres of precious potable water per month. Considering the water cost of 1,000 litres to be around ₹20 - ₹30, it will result in a saving of ₹100 per month i.e. ₹1,200 per year. A household can recover the money in a year through savings in their water bill and at the same time save around 50,000 litres of potable water annually.

• Impact at CITY LEVEL: If adopted and implemented by the end user it will result in saving potable water and infrastructure cost, operation, and maintenance of sewage treatment plants.

  • Potable Water Savings: As per 2011 census 29,06,987 households in Delhi have proper bathing facilities within the premises. If 20% homes adopt this i.e., 581,397.4 and considering 100-litre savings per day, then Delhi city can save 58,139,740 liters of fresh water per day. This will also result in saving in pumping energy as the municipal corporation will have to pump less water because of lower demand hence will result in lower carbon emission in water conveyance.

  • Infrastructure, Operation and Maintenance Savings: The BV unit filters and recycles greywater resulting in less sewage. Specifically, it could reduce sewage production by up to 58,139,740 liters per day and would in turn lead to less load on sewage treatment plants. Just to put the picture in perspective, the capacity of Pappankalan sewage treatment plant is equivalent to water treated and reused by BV, if 20% of homes in Delhi adopt it. The STP construction cost is around ₹1 per litre and operation cost is around ₹100,000 per day. This would result in one time infrastructure cost savings of ₹56,000,000 and operation cost savings of ₹36,500,000 annually.

We also studied the environmental and economic impact of this solution at individual household and municipal/city level. We found that a family can recycle and reuse 50% of their water demand through this system resulting in less input or load on fresh water and at the same time less output of sewage. This leads to savings and has an impact not only at household level but in the whole water supply network/system i.e., desalination, energy in moving water, leakage of fresh water in supply network, spillage of sewage, treatment of sewage and other running costs.
Reference - https://ccsinternship.files.wo…

I am highly passionate about water conservation and have been working in this field since a tender age of 10. Back in grade 7, I developed a basic design and initial prototype of this idea, but did not stop there. From being just an idea three years back, it is now an implementable project. We have organised a series of surveys for the users to understand their perspective. One of the surveys was to understand the barriers towards greywater recycling. With continuous user feedback, we have optimized the design to make it compact, user-friendly.

Our experience, dedication to this project put us in a strong position to deliver this solution. We are confident that our solution can make a significant contribution to preserving water resources and reducing carbon emissions in housing operations.

1) Space constraints

2) Lack of implementation knowledge

3) Bad odors

4) Difficulty in collecting greywater, replacing filter media

6) Changes in the home plumbing system 

The results helped us understand the roadblocks and we finally designed a solution that addressed all the issues highlighted.  

It's features are as follows - 

• COMPACT: As one of the barriers highlighted was lack of space for installing a wastewater system, we adopted the vertical stack design for the BV, inspired from the classic stack composter called Khamba which fits into tight space. Due to its vertical stack design, it takes less floorspace equivalent to a space taken by a water bucket. The SV too fits into any drain like a plugin.
• ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY: It uses natural materials like activated carbon, sand, peels of orange which last for a longer time period.
• LOW COST: The components used in the project are low-cost materials, easily available in the local market. The whole setup costs about ₹1000 and a family of 4 can recover the money in a year through savings in their water bill.
• MODULAR & SCALABLE: The BV design is expandable and more buckets can be added to meet the demand. It can be easily scalable at society, city, state, and country level as it requires no changes in the existing plumbing network of bathrooms/society.

• INTELLIGENT AND SMART: It has an Arduino Uno which switches the pump on/off depending on the water level without human intervention. It logs water usage through an in-line water meter. The user can also see the amount of water saved on a daily, monthly, or annual basis. 

Since the input is shower/washing machine/hand wash water, there is not much issue of bad odor. We have simplified the replacement process by assembling the filter media into containers, as previously explained.

BV is able to filter the washing machine water and a remarkable improvement is seen in appearance, colour, odour of the filtered water. 

The filtered water was tested for turbidity, pH levels to see if the same can be used for irrigation. The test showed pH levels in the range of 6.00-6.45 which is suitable for irrigation and there was a significant improvement in turbidity levels too. 

Currently, the solution caters to a small community consisting of approximately 20 to 40 households.

As I develop my product further, I recognize that there are some areas where I could benefit from some support. Specifically, I am seeking technical and market assistance.

Technical Support: My product is focused on providing an easy-to-install and effective solution for greywater treatment at the source. To further improve the product,  I require guidance from technology partners who have experience in greywater treatment. I am seeking collaboration opportunities with experts who can provide technical expertise and share best practices to enhance the effectiveness of my product.

Market Assistance: While I am confident in the effectiveness of my product, I recognize that there may be market barriers that could hinder its success. Therefore, I would also welcome support in identifying potential customers, conducting market research, and developing effective marketing strategies to ensure that my product reaches its target audience.
I strongly believe that with the appropriate support, my greywater treatment unit can have a significant and meaningful impact on households, communities, and climate change.

A well-known saying on garbage segregation reads, "Waste is a resource if we segregate it at its source."I believe the same saying applies just as well to water recycling.

Wastewater is a resource if we filter/treat it at the source.

To our knowledge, there is currently no solution available that allows users to have a compact, aesthetically pleasing decentralised wastewater treatment system within their homes/societies that treats wastewater at the source and leads to savings and has an impact not only at household level but in the whole water supply network/system i.e., desalination, energy in moving water, leakage of fresh water in supply network, spillage of sewage, treatment of sewage and other running costs.

The proposed system can be easily implemented at individual homes with no changes in the existing home plumbing network and takes little space in the bathroom. 

The name has been derived from Bilge which is the bottommost part of the ship's hull where waste-water is treated and Vessel which is a hollow container to hold liquid. According to the water consumption pattern for a typical family, it is observed that we require approximately the same amount of water for flushing and laundry. BV and SV collect, filter and store waste-water from various sources which is reused to meet with the flushing, mopping, and irrigation demand. This results in saving potable water for flushing and irrigation end use which is 18% of the daily water consumption.

Our solution is unique in its approach to water filtration, drawing inspiration from the baffle filtration process. Typically, it is highly challenging to accomodate this process in a compact space such as a bucket but we have successfully created a compact setup of the process that delivers reliable treatment. This connection is placed in the topmost bucket and helps us in meeting the barrier highlighted by the survey respondents i.e., difficulty in changing the filter media from time to time. Instead of emptying the whole stack and layers, people would only have to detach a particular container and replace the filter media. Additionally, we have also carefully selected the appropriate filter media that fulfills its intended purpose without deteriorating too quickly.

The containers act as barriers slowing down the flow of water and allowing suspended particles and contaminants to settle out. It removes solids and other contaminants from wastewater before it is treated further.

The filtration media that we have selectively chosen, including sand, activated charcoal/orange peels, work together to strain out suspended matter(floating as well as sinkable), solids, and bacteria from the water, as well as remove any organic compounds that affect its taste, odor, and color.

Due to its vertical stack design, it takes less floorspace equivalent to a space taken by a water bucket and the Scupper Valve too fits into any drain like a plugin.

The proposed solution is able to address the barriers highlighted by the survey respondents such as space constraints, bad odor, difficulty in replacing filter media and lack of available solutions. 

We have identified the following impact goals for our solution 1)Water conservation 2)Reduction of wastewater 3)Climate change mitigation 4) Improvise the filtration media.

To achieve these goals, we plan to, 

• To track the water saved and recycled, we intend to install a smart water meter which will be connected to an online central website. These meters will enable us to measure the amount of water being recycled, allowing us to quantify our impact. 

• Invest time on researching and exploring alternative materials for the filter media such as pistachio shells, coconut husks, seashells, and others that are lightweight.

• Increase outreach efforts to educate communities about the operational carbon emissions associated with freshwater supply, treatment and wastewater treatment. 

• We aim to install this system in 100-200 households and gather feedback from users to improve the product.

• Conduct ongoing monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of this solution and identify areas for improvement. Comparing the water bills of households before and after implementing our solution will help analyze the impact of our solution on the environment.

• Leverage digital technology to scale up our impact. 

• We will work towards creating a clean and sleek design that exemplifies the beauty of the restroom and can be easily bought off the shelf.

As mentioned above, we have identified three impact goals for our solution
1)Water conservation
2)Reduction of wastewater
3)Climate change mitigation.

To track our progress towards these goals, we have planned to incorporate smart water meters into our solution which will share the quantum of water recycled.
This will help us in measuring progress toward these impact goals. In addition, we will assess the impact of our solution on water usage by comparing the water bills of households before and after implementation of our solution.

This project is intelligent and smart as it has an Arduino uno which switches the pump on /off depending on the water level without human intervention. It also logs water usage through an in-line water meter.  The user can also see the amount of water saved on a daily, monthly or annual basis. The system also has an AI component which predicts in advance when the cleaning or replacement of filtration media is required, thus meeting all the barriers highlighted by the survey respondents.

As mentioned above, both the concept and the prototype for the solution was solely developed by me and I am only taking it forward. However, as an individual entity, I understand the significance of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into my work. As we continue to develop and expand I am committed to creating a work environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.  I strongly believe that we can create a stronger, more effective team that values and respects the contributions of everyone involved. I believe that by prioritizing these principles, we can create a stronger and more effective team that can have a greater impact.

Our project is not focused on generating revenue or profits, as we have yet to explore potential business models and are still iterating and improving on the design. We have no intention of seeking a patent to ensure greater flexibility and creativity, as well as the potential for a larger user base. While it may not lead to immediate profits, it could lead to a stronger and more supportive community that could benefit our project in the long run and have a bigger impact on the community.

Moreover, being a high school grade 11 student, my present focus is to get the right guidance, participate in various competitions which may provide seed funds till I can take a more rigorous approach to take it to a larger audience. 

While our solution does not generate direct financial benefits, we believe that its larger climate change benefits make it a viable and sustainable option for the future. 

Nonetheless, we have devised strategies to ensure our financial sustainability and to keep driving our efforts to mitigate climate change

Firstly, we plan to collaborate with like-minded organizations that share our vision for climate change mitigation and have the necessary financial resources to support the large-scale implementation of our solution. 

Secondly, we intend to continue investing in research and development to improve our solution's efficiency, performance, and scalability. This will allow us to attract funding and support from climate change and water-related organizations who are interested in funding innovative and sustainable solutions.