Educational Visit to Dhom Dam, Wai

The visit to dam site was organised with the intention to have a practical experience of the theoretical knowledge of Dams and Hydraulics. The practical experience to dam site made me understand every minute specification and detailing done while operating a dam. 

The Dhom dam is located on river krishna near dhom village in wai taluka. The main purpose for setting up the dam was for Irrigation purpose. Dhom village is situated at a distance of 37.9 km from Satara city and 7.9 km from Wai. Dhom has epithetic name "Dakshin Kashi" and in old times it was known as "Virat Nagari". The Dhom dam is Earthen/ Gravity Masonry dam.

Specifications of Dam

Sr.no	Attribute	Value
1	Name of dam	Dhom Dam
2	Operating and Maintenance agency	WRD,GOM
3	Seismic Zone	Seismic zone IV
4	Type of Dam	Earthen/ Gravity Masonry
5	Total Height of dam above Foundation	50m
6	Total Volume Content of Dam ( TCM)	6335
7	Design Flood (cumec)	2066
8	Type of Spillway	Ogee
9	Length of Spillway (m)	71
10	Crest level of Spillway (m)	741
11	Spillway capacity (cumec)	1178.29
12	Type of Spillway Gates	Radial
13	No of Spillway Gates	5
14	Size of Spillway gates (m x m)	12 x 6.5

Monitoring & Inspection of Dam.

Inspection of dam plays a very important role on dam site. Inspection are a necessary part of owning and operating a dam since early detection of gradual changes can minimize problems and reduce maintenance costs. Therefore Inspections are made daily, monthly and annually according to the need. Routine inspections are also an opportunity to note any vandalism which may have occurred.

1. Daily/ weekly Inspections- In this part the inspection of river flow observations, precipitation records, water level readings, gate operation, seepage monitoring (if present) is done.
2. Monthly Inspections-  In this part inspection of  operating equipment, safety equipment, performance and super-facial structure is done.
3. Annual Inspections- In this part the irrigation of Structural part and operating unit is done.
4. Detailed Inspections - In this part the detailed survey is conducted by Department of Natural Resources.

Ogee Spillway & Stilling Basin.

A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release flow from dams or leave into a down stream.Spillways release the extra water from the dam which helps the dam to maintain its stability and to avoid the flood or failure of dam.

In Dhom dam the ogee spillway was provided to pass the excess of water from dam. The chute spillway is however most common and basic design which transfers the excess water from upstream face to downstream face in control and smooth manner. These are usually design from ogee curve most often they are lined on the bottom and side with concrete to protect the dam and topography.

When the water in reservoir is above its capacity the gates of dam are opened and the excess water is outlet to the downstream side, however at the time of discharge huge energy is been created  which is dangerous of scour to the riverbed which may threaten the stability of dam and the neighboring river valley slopes and also the villages located on downstream sides. Therefore stilling basin is constructed on the downstream toe of spillway also know as energy dissipators which helps to absorb or cut the high amount of energy produced.

Gates

The gates are provided on dam site to lock the force of river water and to collect the water from seasonal rivers which can be used at the time of summers to nearby areas for various means. The Radial gates were provided at dhom dam. There were 5 gates of size 12 x 6.5 m. This gates were operated electrically as well as manually too. 

The manual operation for gate was set up with bad experience of electric motor failure at the time of heavy discharge of water in past. Therefore the manual operation of gates was also provided for dam to avoid such conditions which affects the stability of dam. The emergency gates were also provided on dam which are used at time of maintenance and repair of regular gates.

Cross Sections of Dam

Canals Provide

There were two canals provided from Dhom dam both transfers the dam water to various taluka's of Satara district for successful operation of irrigation purpose. The Right and Left canal were provided from dhom dam. 

Right canal was provided for a distance of 113 km from dhom dam to various taluka's of Satara district. The capacity of right canal is 230 cumec.

left canal was provided for a distance of 166 km from dhom dam to various taluka's of satara district. The capacity of left canal is 750 cumec.

Photos at Dam Site

Study of Waste-Water Treatment Plant

Waste-water relates to output source of water which we get from several activities like bathing, washing, using the toilet, outsource water from industries, rainwater runoff etc. Waste-water treatment is the process of converting the water that is no longer useful for human activities into the bilge water that can be discharged back to environment. Waste water contains all sorts of bacteria, chemicals and toxic elements which are very harmful to discharge directly in the atmosphere therefore the waste-water treatment is been brought into action so as to reduce the contaminants to acceptable level to make water safe to discharge in environment.

There are two forms of waste water treatment plants which depend upon the effluent that is to be treated. The two types of waste water treatment plants are chemical or physical treatment plant & biological treatment plant. Biological waste treatment plants use biological matter and bacteria to break down waste matter whereas physical waste water treatment plants use chemicals and physical process to treat waste water. Biological treatment systems are ideal for treating waste water from households and business premises. Physical waste water treatment are used to treat waste water from industries, manufacturing firms and factories since these firms produce waste water containing toxic chemicals which are hazardous to discharge.

Simple Waste water Treatment Process Diagram.

Procedure of Waste-water Treatment Plant

The following is the step by step process for treating the waste water

Step 1- Waste Water Collection.

This is the first step of any plant to collect the waste water from every part of city. The waste water from buildings, malls, public offices and any other source of waste water is been collected with help of drainage underground pipes at one point and then send to treatment plant.

Drainage Pipes.

Step 2-  Odour Control.

This step plays an important role at treatment plant. The waste water contains various unwanted materials which results in anaerobic or septic conditions. This condition takes place when there is limited flow of oxygen or no dissolved oxygen available for respiration of microbes in waste water. This allows microbes to emerge as an "sulphate reducing bacteria" to thrive. These bacteria use sulphate ion and gives byproduct as hydrogen sulphate (H2S) which smells like rotten egg.

There are many different types of technologies to control odour from waste water collection and treatment systems. The two technologies used are liquid-phase and  vapour-phase technology. The liquid- phase technology is used where both corrosion and odour are concern whereas the vapour-phase technology is used to control odour in air and gas, usually they are used in point-source applications.

Step 3 - Screening.

The next process is of screening where the unwanted floating material is been separated from waste water. The waste water is passed through the screens and floating unwanted materials is been removed. there are three types of screens used  coarse, medium & fine.

1. Coarse screen has larger openings from 75- 150 mm.
2. Medium screens has opening from 20-50mm.
3. Fine screens have openings less than 20mm.

Grit Chamber- The waste water is then passed through grit chamber where the inorganic materials like sand, ash etc are removed. Basically the sedimentation process is been carried out in this part.

Skimming Tanks-  There are chances of having greasy and oily elements in waste water from industries and manufacturing firm outlets. Thus skimming tanks helps to remove this unwanted materials form waste water. The skimming tank is surrounded by baffle walls and the compressed air is been flushed inside from the floor of skimming walls and the rising air bubbles coagulates and solidify these materials and these material are then pushed to side compartment from where these elements are easily removed.

Step 4-  Primary Treatment.

The unwanted materials which are not removed from previous material are removed in this step by application of sedimentation process. The unwanted materials remains in suspended state in flowing water, however when this flowing waste water is stopped and stored in tank called sedimentation tank
then this matter gets settled down due to action of gravity after a certain amount of time. Sometimes the coagulants are used to facilitate the sedimentation process & then this process is called as coagulation- aided sedimentation. 

The process of sedimentation depends upon some factors like size, shape & specific gravity of particles besides viscosity and flow velocity of  waste-water. In normal process of treatment, sedimentation is usually carried out twice-once before the secondary treatment, referred to as primary sedimentation and after this process the secondary sedimentation is brought to action.

Coagulants: These are chemicals usually positively charged & which form insoluble & gelatinous precipitates with colloidal particles which are negatively charged which are present in waste water and thus this particles become denser and due to gravity action they gets settled down at bottom of sedimentation tank. The most common used coagulants in treatment process are alum (aluminium sulphate), iron salts (ferric sulphate, ferric chloride), lime and soda ash (sodium carbonate), sodium silicate & sodium aluminate.

Step 5- Secondary Treatment. 

This process is also known as activated sludge process. The secondary treatment process involves adding seed sludge to waste water to ensure that it is broken down further. Air is first pumped into huge aeration tank which mix the waste water with seed sludge which is basically small amount of sludge, which fuels the growth of bacteria which uses oxygen and other microbes that consumes the remaining organic matter. This process leads to the production of large particles  that settle down in huge tanks. The waste water passes through large tanks for a period of 3-6 hours. 

Some secondary treatment methods include a secondary clarifier to settle out and the biological floc or filter material grown in  the secondary treatment bioreactor. Some alternative methods are activated sludge, aerated lagoon, aerobic granulation, constructed wetland, membrane bioreactor, rotating biological contactor, trickling filter.

• Activated Sludge - It is the process of treating sewage and industrial waste waters using air and biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoa.
• Aerated Lagoon - It is a holding or treatment pond provided with artificial aeration to promote the biological oxidation of waste water. There are many other biological process for waste water treatment for example trickling filters, rotating biological contactors & biofilters.
• Aerobic Granulation - The biological waste water treatment is often accomplished using conventional activated sludge systems. These systems generally require large surface area for treatments and biomass separation units due to generally poor settling properties of the sludge.

Step 6- Tertiary Treatment.

This stage is similar to those used in water treatment plant which clean raw water for drinking purposes. The treatment Stage has the ability to remove up to 99% of the impurities from waster water. This produces effluent water that is close to drinking water quality. Unfortunately this process tends to be costly as it requires special equipments, well trained and highly skilled operators.

Step 7 - Disinfection. 

In this process the waste water treated from primary and secondary treatment contains some harmful elements which are to be removed so the disinfection process is been brought to action. The waste water is kept in tank known as disinfection  tank which contains chlorine and hypo chlorine present in it which helps to remove the unwanted materials and keep water to acceptable limit for a long time span. The waste water is kept in disinfection tank for nearly 30 min. The UV rays method is also applicable but its to costly therefore the chlorination process is more popular.

Step 8 - Sludge Treatment.

The sludge that is collected during primary and secondary treatment requires concentration and thickening to enable further processing. It is put in to thickening tanks that allow it to settle down & later separate from water this requires a time span of around 24 hours. The remaining water is collected and send back to aeration tank for further treatment. The sludge collected and be used in agriculture lands as manure. 

Useful Commands of Advance Excel for its Optimum & Efficient Use

Microsoft Excel has the basic features of all spreadsheets, using a grid of cells arranged in numbered rows and letter-named columns to organize data manipulations like arithmetic operations. It has a battery of supplied functions to answer statistical, engineering and financial needs. In addition, it can display data as line graphs, histograms and charts, and with a very limited three-dimensional graphical display.

Here are some useful commands to use excel more efficiently with less time consuming work

A] Commands for Excel Text Functions:

1] Len() : Returns the number of characters of a string.

    Syntax: =len(String). Here string means the position of cell

2] Rept() : Repeat given characters (S) specified number of times
    Syntax: =rept(string, number of times). Here number of times means the Repeat value of Character.

3] Concatenate() : Join multiple strings in one string 

    Syntax: =concatenate ( String1, String2, String3,.......)

B]  Commands for Excel Mathematical Functions : 

1] Sum() : Adds all the numbers given as an argument

    Syntax: =sum(numerical argument).

2] Product() : Multiply all the numbers given as an argument.

    Syntax: =product( numerical argument)

3] SQRT() : Return Square root of a number.

    Syntax: =sqrt(number).

4] MOD() : Returns Reminder

    Syntax: =mod(number,divisor)

5] Fact() : Returns the factorial value of a number.

    Syntax: =fact(number)

C] Commands for Excel Statistical Functions :

1] MIN() : Returns the smallest value from a list of supplied numbers.

    Syntax: =min(number1,number2,.......)

2] Max() :  Returns the largest value from a list of supplied numbers.

    Syntax: = max(number1,number2,.......)

3] Large(): Returns the kth largest value from a list of supplied numbers for given value k.

    Syntax: =large(datatable,k)

4] Small(): Returns the kth smallest value from a list of supplied numbers for given value k.

    Syntax: =small(datatable,k)

5] Count() : Returns the number of numerical value in a supplied set of cells or values

    Syntax: =count(value1, value2,.....)

6] CountA() : Returns the number of blank cells in a supplied set of values

    Syntax: =countA(value1, value2,.....)

7] Count Blank() : Returns the number of cells that satisfy a given criteria.

   Syntax:  =Countblank(data range)

8] Count If() : Returns the number of cells that satisfy a given criteria

    Syntax: =countif(criteria range, criteria).

9] Countifs() : Returns the number of cells that satisfy a set of given criteria 

    Syntax: =countifs(criteria range1, criteria, criteria range2, criteria.......).

10] Average () : Returns the avg of list of supplied numbers

      Syntax: =Average(number1,number2....)

Thus to use excel in effective manner we should go through the advance excel course.

BIM- Building Information Modelling

What is Building Information Modelling?

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a term coined to deal successfully with the problem of fragmentation & error in the process of building project creation till its implementation.

Building Information Modelling essentially means developing a system which can house or manage all of the information needed in a particular project in a single DATA REPOSITORY that could be accessed by all project participants and readily incorporated into all project documents

BIM- Operational Network

BIM has a group of software's which are used to share the information with other so work in more simplified and efficient manner in which information can be Extracted, Exchange or Networked to support decision making regarding a building or any built asset. 

These cycle of project gets connected through BIM and it gets easier for all the departments to work in efficient manner.

BIM applicability in Construction, Real Estate, Infrastructure & Project Management (CRIP)  Industry.

A BIM can optimise overall construction time by highlighting bottlenecks & site constraints during construction work. In the USA, since 2007, it is mandatory to use BIM within the design process on any project funded by the GSA. Integration of BIM within the process may not reduce design & documentation time, but can minimize the efforts time and money required during the various construction phases. Moreover, good use of BIM improves participants efficiency &effective collaboration, thus speeding-up the entire process & produces operative information to run the facility. 

A review of literature focusing on BIM in India shows limited adoption of the same by the construction industry.Even today more than 90% of the architectural & construction firms are using 2D CAD based tools for designing & development of the project. It was found that some organisation are proposing integration of BIM based tools during bidding stage, however these tools are not the part of design development stages and other stages despite realizing the benefits such as improved efficiency.

Benefits through BIM Process

1. Design Visualization & improved design communication
2. Improve coordination & clash detection.
3. Automates the quantity take of process.
4. All building data at one place through data repository
5. BIM allows energy analysis for sustainable design at early phase of design.                    

List of Various Software's as Part of BIM Technology.

Architecture: Autodesk Revit Architecture, Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Nemetschek Allplan Architecture, Gehry Technologies.

Structures: Autodesk Revit Structure, Bentley Structural Modeler, Bentley Ram, STAAD & ProSteel, Telka Structure. 

Vishwaniketan's Under Graduate Fellowship Program

Vishwaniketan’s Institute of Management Entrepreneurship & Engineering Technology (iMEET) is approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi, HRD Ministry, and Government of India. It is affiliated to Mumbai University. The CTIF-Vishwaniketan network is responsible for our collaboration abroad and in India.


Vishwaniketan works with a vision to produced quality engineers who will positively impact there own life and also bussiness and society at large. Vishwaniketan focus on Project Based Learning approch to solve human and technology Problems. Vishwaniketan aim to create socially aware entrepreneurs who will empower society with relevant technology and business solution.


What is UG Fellowship Program of Vishwaniketan?

UG Fellowship Program is traning program which deals to pursue pratical and project based Learning in foregin universities. The best possible global exposure and learning provided to the student help them transform themselves into ideal global citizens .Vishwaniketan not only believe on this philosophy but ,has also taken major positive steps towards achieving this goal by implementing international programs with foreign universities.

Collaboration with foreign universities.

Vishwaniketan has collaboration with foregin universities throughout the globe. Vishwaniketan organise UG Fellowship Program for engineering  students all over india which are been selected on the basis of their projects.

The universities which are collaborated with vishwaniketan are as follows:

1) Aalborg University, Denmark.
2) UNESCO chair on PBL.
3) Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
4) Ural Federal University, Russia.
5) Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey-USA.
6) University of Rome-TorVergata, Italy.
7) Athens Information Technology, Greece.
8)National Technical University of, Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute".
9)CTIF, Princeton University, USA.
10) Global ICT Standardisation Forum for India (GISFI).
11) Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand (TBC).
12) University of Cape Town, South Africa (TBC).
13) University of Arkansas, USA (TBC).

Selection Procedure of 2017

Selection Procedure for UG Fellowship Program

The selection process is been distributed in 5 steps as follow

Step1: Registration Process

In this step students should visit www.vishwaniketan.edu.in and register themself.

Step 2: Projects Completed by Past Batch 

In this step the students should go through the project which are completed by last batch students. The projects completed by students are available on website.

Step 3: Projects offered

In this step the students should go through the projects offered by the foreign universities. This step is very important for students to go through the projects and select proper universities which are related to the projects which studentshave done in past.

Step 4: Improve your chances

Vishwaniketan also offers traning of softwares for students in january under their VAP program. This will help student to have efficiency and fast complition of project.

Step 5: Interviews

In this process the selection committee will call students for interviews which will be based on their projects done in past as well as in indentifying the qualities and skills which are required for UG FELLOWSHIP.

The students should Carry Hard Copies of
1)Application Form (Emailed at ugfellowship@vishwaniketan.edu.in).
2) Two Copies of Latest Resume.  
3) Statement of Purpose(SOP).
4)Passport Copy (if Available).
5)List of Projects Done so far.
6)Broad areas you wish to work.

Note the interview for long distance students are  conducted on Skype.

Contact Information.

Address
Survey No-52 Off Mumbai-Pune Expressway Kumbhivali, Tal- Khalapur,Maharashtra 410203.

Phone: (02192) 274206/274207/274208/274210

Email: director@vishwaniketan.edu.in
Email: ugfellowship@vishwaniketan.edu.in

The Indian Rupee Will Make you feel Rich.

Every one has a dream to go abroad and explore world but most of us eliminate the idea by the fear of cost. But here are some countries where Indian currency will make you rich.

These countries are also the best option for us to have start-up industries or to have Indian owned Multinational Companies Branches in these countries.

1) Bolivia: 1 Bolivian Boliviano = 9.28 Indian Rupee.

2) Paraguay : 1 INR = 74.26 Guarani.

3) Zimbabwe: 1 INR = 5.85 ZWD.

4) Costa Rica : 1 INR = 8.15 Colons.

5) Belarus : 1 INR = 216 Ruble.

6) Cambodia : 1 INR = 63.93 Riel.

7) Vietnam : 1 INR = 338.35 Dong.

8) Mongolia : 1 INR = 29.83 Tugrik.

9) Hungary : 1 INR = 4.22 Forint.

10) Nepal : 1 INR = 1.6 Nepalese Rupee.

11) Sri Lanka : 1 INR = 2.08 Sri Lankan Rupee.

12) Algeria : 1 INR = 1.63 Algerian Dinars.

13) Indonesia: 1 INR = 197 Indonesian Rupiah.

14) Japan: 1 INR = 1.73 Japanese Yen.

15) Iceland: 1INR = 1.72  Icelandic Krona.

16) Chile: 1INR = approximately 10 Chilean Peso.

17) Uzbekistan: 1INR =  44.76 Uzbekistani Som.

18) Djibouti: 1INR = 2.65 Djiboutian Franc.

19) Yemen: 1INR = 3.74 Yemeni Rial.

20) South Korea : 1 INR =  16.52 South Korean Won.

21) Laos 1 INR = 120.35 Laotian Kip.

Indian Currency may be less as compared to the currency of developed nations like USA and UK but Indian currency is far more rich currency in many countries of world as stated above.

We can not only choose the above stated countries for our holidays but also can setup industries in these countries in low amount. However there are some factors that are to be taken into consideration before setting up industries in these countries.

Visit to Precast concrete Industry in Yekaterinburg.

The first industrial visit was organised by Ural Federal University for UG Fellowship students.The visit was organised at Precast Concrete Factory named "ATOMSTROI KOMPLEX" in Yekaterinburg. The company was set up in Yekaterinburg 13 years ago.

The first step of making Precast concrete blocks is bringing the raw materials and mixing them in a mixer according to its requirements. The raw materials used are Gypsum lime cement ash or pfa and aluminum.

These raw materials are brought and placed in mixers according to requirement of concrete block material design. After the mixing process hardening of concrete takes place.

The operator operates the whole process with the help of an software shown in fig.

After the mixing process and hardening process is over we get the concrete block as shown in figure.

After this process the concrete block is tilted with 90 degree angel just to make cutting procedure easier.

After the tilting procedure is done the block is taken to 3 steps cutting procedure where the concrete block is cut as per the requirement.

In first step the block goes through horizontal cutting process.

In second step the concrete block undergoes with vertical cutting process.

In third step the concrete block undergoes with cutting blocks as per required dimension the extra concrete is again send for its  reuse process.

Then the cake is send to Autoclave for final hardening of the blocks. The Autoclave is 37m wide and the blocks are kept for 12 hours at 120 to 180 degree Celsius.

After 12 hours the block are taken out of Autoclave and then are send to wrapping sections were the blocks are wrapped with help of machines to save the blocks from rain and sort of stuffs.

The company has the ability to make Precast slabs as well as Precast stairs. The company works throughout the day with certain shifts.

Design Of Steel Structures with Russian Standards

Their are basically 5 steps of design in  Russian system

1) Development of Design scheme.
2) Determination of Loads.
3) Calculation of Internal forces in Elements.
4) Selection of Cross Section.
5) Check for Designed Cross Section.

Loads & Loads Combination

INDIAN CODES :-

•) In India the Calculation of Dead load, Live Load & Wind load are done with reference of IS 875.

•) The Specialized Information of Industrial Buildings is provided by some codes like
IS 807.

•) For  Design of Earthquake Loads in India the reference of IS 1893 is taken into consideration.

•) For Design of  Towers & Other Forms of Structure the codes taken into consideration are IS 802, IS 9178, IS 6533.


RUSSIAN CODES :-

The Basic data on all types of loads except the earthquake loads are given in SP20.13300.2011 loads and effects code.

For Design of Earthquake loads or Sesmic Loads SP14.13330.2011 is taken into consideration.

Weight of Some Building Materials as per Russian Standards.

Loads & Effects

In Russian Standards all the loads are divided in two groups depending upon its duration and action.

1) Dead Load (Permanent): It includes the weight of Structures, Weight of Soil & pressure for underground soils, forces from prestress.

2) Live Load (Temporary): These loads are further divided into two sub category

2.a) Long Time loads like Store goods, machines in industrial Buildings, Pressure of Fluids Etc.

2.b) Short Time loads like Weight of People, Weight of Snow & Wind loads.

There is one special category designed for Earthquake loads and loads caused due to sudden breaches of technological process.


The load has two values-
a) Unfactored Load &
b) Design Load.


Unfactored Load ie Specified Characteristic Load are the loads that acts on structure during its operation.

Design Loads are the maximum possible loads that can act on structure.


Formula-     P = P^n  × (gamma)f

Where P.     = Design Load
         P^n.    = Unfactored Load
(gamma)f = Partial Safety Factor for loads
                        given in SP 20.13330.2011

(gamma)f = 1.05 For weight of steel.
(gamma)f = 1.04 For weight of  Snow.


The reability coefficient for load shows how many times the design load may exceed Unfactored load.

VISIT EXPERIENCE AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT.

To become a Civil Engineer its very important to have a balance Theoretical Knowledge as well as Practical Knowledge. Eventually with the same concept our visit was organized to WATER TREATMENT PLANT at Nigdi.

The visit was plan with the intention to enhance our theoretical knowledge with practical experience.

The Water Treatment Plant is operated by Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation  (PCMC). Water is treated here and then supplied to the entire twin city.

The Water Treatment Plant works with basic aim to make water more acceptable for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, including being safely returned to the environment.

Water treatment plant Procedure

The Operation Cycle of Water Treatment Plant.

The Water Treatment Plant  work is distributed in 6 parts.

1) Intake source management to get fullfill amount of water every day.

2) Sampling Unit.

3) Processing Unit.

4) Storage unit.

5) Supervision & Control Unit.

6) Maintenance Unit.

Pavana Dam

The Intake Source


The intake source of Water Treatment Plant plays a very important role as the intake source should be sufficient to provide every day water requirement of Plant so as to avoid shortage of water.

The Intake Source of Water treatment Plant Nigadi is Pawna dam situated nearly 4km away from the plant. The plant treats 420 MLD ( ie Milions Litres Per Day).

PCMC is planning to build fourth water treatment plant in Chikhali.The new plant will enable the PCMC to treat water that will be drawn in future from Andra and Bhama Askhed dams to meet the growing needs of Pimpri Chinchwad.

The city's population is expected to rise to 25 lakh by 2025, which means the water supplied through Pavana dam will prove inadequate. As per the plan, the areas in Pavana and Mula river basins will get water drawn from Pavana dam while the areas in the Indrayani river basin will get water from Bhama Askhed and Andra dams, located around 20 kms away. From reports for Pimpri Chinchwad, the state government has sanctioned 167 MLD water from Bhama Askhed and 100 MLD water from Andra dam.

Laboratory Tests in WTP LAB

Laboratory Treatments

The water sample from source is been treated to examine the amount of contaminants and the selection of the suitable procedure of treatment.

The is managed by Mr. Sanket Mote and he guided us with the procedure conducted at the plant.

The test conducted are:
•)Turbidity
•)pH
•)Hardness
•)Heavy metals concentration

Equipments in Lab

Turbidity test is conducted to determine the amount of mud silt and other containments in water which cant be seen through naked eyes.

Turbidity is generally high in Rainy season as compared to other season therefore extra efforts are taken at the time of Rainy season.

Turbidity can be measured using either by an electronic turbidity meter or a turbidity tube. Turbidity is usually measured in Nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) or Jackson turbidity units (JTLJ),
depending on the method used for measurement. The two units are roughly equal. At Water treatment Plant the Turbidity is measured by Turbidity Meter
HACK2100QT.

Drinking water should have a turbidity of 5 NTU/JTU or less. Turbidity of more than 5 NTU/JTU would be noticed by users and may cause rejection of the supply. Where water is chlorinated, turbidity should be less than 5 NTU/JTU and preferably less than 1 NTU/JTU for chlorination to be effective

The dosage for alum to form coagulant is determined and added after aeration to for proper sedimentation. However if the amount of coagulant is more then it affects the filtration process.

Bacterial Test

The bacterial test is conducted to determine the Pathogenic bacteria's present in the sample.

There are some types of bacterial test like

1. MPN method.
2. Radicals.
3. Single path method.

The Equipment used to conduct Bacterial test at Water treatment Plant Nigdi was Single path kit for the 3rd method.

The aim of conducting the bacterial tests  determine the Pathogenic bacteria's present in the sample so as to determine the amount of Chlorine dosage for bacterial degradation of water is designed.

Residual Chlorine Test.


The Residual Chlorine test is to determine the quantity of residual chlorine in the sample to preserve the quality  of  water supplied


Orthotolidine Test

In this test, 10 ml of chlorinated sample of water is taken after the required contact period, in a glass tube. To this 0.1 ml of orthotolidine solution is added. The color formed is observed after 5 minutes. The formation of yellow color normally indicates the presence of chlorine (either combined or free) in the water. The more yellow the color, the greater, is the chlorine residual. The amount of residual chlorine can be ascertained by comparing the colour developed in the glass tube with the standard colors already kept in the laboratory. This test, is therefore, very simple and does not require much technique or time. Under normal conditions, a lemon yellow color is satisfactory for public water supply. The orthotolidine test will normally gives the total residual chlorine present in water. However, it may be adjusted so as to give separately the quantities of free residual as well as combined residual of chlorine.

The free residual chlorine forms the yellow color during the first 5 seconds of the addition of orthotolidine, while the combined residual chlorine goes on forming the colour for about 5 minutes. Hence, the colour after 5 seconds will give the quantity of free residual chlorine, and the colour after 5 minutes will give the free and combined chlorine. The difference in value between the two values is the combined chlorine.

The orthotolidine test, however, is not accurate, because the impurities such as iron, manganese, nitrate etc., are likely to cause a false yellow colour, and indicating wrong and increased chlorine residual.

Cascaded Areator

Aeriation unit

This  is  the  starting  unit  of  the  water  treatment procedure. Once  the  sample  is  tested  the  water  coming from  Ravet  is  pumped  through  this  cascaded  aerator.  The purpose  of  having  an  aerator  is  to  improve  the  amount  of dissolved  oxygen  in  the  water  and  to  release  the  other gases,  also  a  few  metals  get  oxidized  during  this  procedure.

This  procedure  is  important  to  make the  water  odorless  as there  is  transmission  of  gases  during  this  process. Water is allowed to freely  fall  on the  cascaded steps and  which  each  fall  the  water  particles  are  exposed  to  the fresh  air  from  the  surrounding.  This  process  promotes  the exchange  of  gases  like  CO2,  etc. 

 

Clariflocculator

This is the second unit placed after Aeration unit.

flocculation  is  the  central  portion  of  the  tank  which  consist  of  a  mixer  that  is rotating  at  a  low  speed  to  facilitate  the  collision  of  the  charged  particles  and  their  conversion into  sludge which are  settled  down.

The water contains negatively charged particles whose amount is been analyzed and the same quantity of positive charged particles are supplied in so as the positive charged particles and negative charged particles gets attracted to each other and as the size of this particles increases they settled down in Sedimentation zone.

Sedimentation zone is the outer zone which is curved in nature and there is depression at the center.

The  water  is  having  a  detention  time  of  0.5hr  in  the  flocculation  and  3hr  in  the sedimentation  zone.

Chlorination Unit

Chlorine is used to destroy disease-causing organisms in water, an essential step in delivering safe drinking water and protecting public health. Chlorine is by far the most commonly used disinfectant
in all regions of the world. Where widely adopted, chlorine has helped to virtually eliminate water- borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Chlorine also eliminates slime bacteria, molds
and algae that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks. Only chlorine-based disinfectants leave a beneficial “residual” level that remains in treated
water, helping to protect it during distribution and storage. Chlorine is a versatile and low-cost disinfectant appropriate for any size water system, whether it serves a remote rural village or a large modern city. Where piped water supplies are not available, chlorine can also be used for treating water in individual households. Specially-packaged chlorine
bleach can disinfect household water.



However there are other disinfectants too like UV, Ozone, Boiling, Potassium Permaganet. But the main objective of adding disinfectant to water is to provide safe drinking water till it reach large span consumers. Therefore chlorine is the best option which satisfy all the requirements.



Storage  unit  and  pumping

In  this  unit  the  treated  water  is  allowed  to  stay  for  sometime  and  them  pumped  to the  distribution  network  by  using  mechanically  operated  pumps.  The  plant  is powered  by  electricity  from  the  MSEDCL

Filtration unit

This  is  a  big  unit  comprising  of  a  number  of  filter  pits.  The  filter  used  in  this  tank  was rapid  sand  filter  in  which  the  water  is  allowed  to  pass  through  the  sand  and  it  gets  filtered  as it  passes  down  under  the  action  of  gravity.  The  sand  is  having  small  pores  which  allows  water to  pass  through  it  preventing  the  suspended  matter.

During filtration the water enters the filter through upper valve, moves down towards the filter bed, flows through the filter bed, passes the underdrainage system (filter bottom)and flows out through lower valve. The unit used to measure filtration rate is actually the approach velocity, which is the inflow rate (m^3/h) divided by the filtration area (m^2).

When, after a period of operation, the filter rate controller is fully opened, further
clogging of the filter bed cannot be further compensated and the filtration rate will fall.
The filter is then taken out of service for backwashing.

For this, the upper and lower valves closed, and upper back wash valve  is opened to drain the remaining raw water out of the filter. A few minutes later lower backwash valve  is opened to admit the wash water.

The backwash rate should be high enough to expand the filter bed by about 20% so that the filter grains can be scoured, and the accumulated deposits carried away with the wash water. The wash water is collected in the wash water troughs from where it drains to waste. When the backwashing is completed, backwash valves  are closed and upper valve  is re-opened, admitting raw water to begin a new filter run.

Use  of  Supervisory  Control  and  Data  acquisition (SCADA)


This  plant  employs  one  of  the  most  advanced  techniques  for  its  daily  operations.  SCADA  is  a cloud  based  tool  that  is  developed  for  the  plant  and  helps  the  plant  management  to  monitor  and control  the  daily  activities  at  the  plant  in  the  supply  network.

Diagram Explaination

Level 0 contains the field devices such as flow and temperature sensors, and final control elements, such as control valves.

Level 1 contains the industrialised input/output (I/O) modules, and their associated distributed electronic processors.

Level 2 contains the supervisory computers, which collate information from processor nodes on the system, and provide the operator control screens.

Level 3 is the production control level, which does not directly control the process, but is concerned with monitoring production and targets.

Level 4 is the production scheduling level.

I would like to thank Civil Department of Trinity College of Engineering for conducting the visit to Water Treatment Plant Nigadi. Especially  Meenakshi Khapre mam  & Harshal sir for conducting the visit.

I would also like to thank
Mr.  Praveen  Ladkat Executive  Engineer,  PCMC for allowing us to visit the plant and to grab the pratical experience.