Ganga Prem Hospice, Gohri Maphi Village, Uttrakhand

Date: October 30, 2020

Location: Ganga Prem Hospise, Gohri Maphi Village, Uttrakhand
Scale: Institutional
Implementing organisation: Ganga Prem Hospise
Last visited: 7 September 2017

Designed Capacity: 10 KLD
Operational since: 2016
Capital cost: Rs. 3,00,000
O&M: Rs. 30,000 per annum

Ganga Prem Hospice is a spiritually orientated, non-profit hospice for terminally ill cancer patients. Situated in Gohri Maphi Village, Uttrakhand about 4.5 kms away from the National Highway No. 58 which connects Rishikesh and Haridwar, the hospice provides medical, emotional and spiritual support for individuals and their grieving families. The strategic location of the hospice situated on the banks of river ganga, just about 107 m north from the shore provides a serene environment for the patients.

In the absence of a sewerage network, Ganga Prem Hospice uses a decentralised wastewater management approach in its attempt to protect the groundwater and the Ganga river from contamination. The hospice implemented a decentralized wastewater treatment system (DWWTs) with knowledge support from Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi to treat its sewage and intends to completely re-use the treated water locally.

The DWWTs treats the wastewater generated at the hospice that comes from the toilets and kitchens. The system consists of a two chambered settler, six chambered Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR), Planted Filter Gravel (PGF) bed and a storage tank. The wastewater from the toilets and the kitchen block first enters the settler where the settlable solids are allowed to settle down. The effluent from the settler enters the six chambered ABR where the anaerobic biodegradation takes place and in turn removes organic biodegradable content. The effluent from the ABR enters the PGF bed that removes nitrates and phosphates from the wastewater. The treated water is stored in a tank from where it is available for re-use for horticulture purposes.

This treated water is re-used to maintain the green areas in the hospice plot which is estimated to be about 1,230 sq m requiring about 4,000 litres per day. The rest of the treated water is expected to be re-used for horticulture in the nearby farmlands.