Industrial Visit
VANITECLIMITED
Common Effluent Treatment Plant
Vaniyambadi, Tamil Nadu.
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Vanitec Limited was incorporated in the year 1986 with the aim of providing wastewater treatment utilities for the benefit of its member-tanneries. The Company services the wastewater treatment needs of its 134 member-tanneries through a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) located in Valayampet, Vaniyambadi.
The Company was a pioneer in setting-up the first CETP for clusters of tanneries in India and commissioned the plant in May 1991 that continues to be in operation till date.
The Board oversees the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the Common Effluent Treatment Plants through a Plant Manager who has an able team of qualified engineers and chemists supervising a dedicated group of electrical, instrumentation, process and mechanical engineers alongwith general workmen operating on a 24-7-365 schedule. Administrative and accounting staff are available to take care of documentation and billings and the total personnel strength is 100.
PROCESS - FROM 1991 TO 2013
Wastewater treatment was based on a 2-stage process comprising of a Primary & Secondary treatment system. In the Primary Treatment, coarse debris and suspended solids were removed from the wastewater and the remaining dissolved organics were degraded in a biological treatment phase that used a consortia of a bacteria that brought about the wastewater to a condition that was suitable for river discharge
PROCESS - FROM 2013 ONWARDS
With the implementation of the Zero Liquid Discharge System, the Common Effluent Treatment Plant has stopped the discharge of its effluent into the River Palar. The wastewater is treated through a 4-Stage process whereby the water is completely recovered and reused by its member-tanneries and crystalline salt is recovered and stored for safe disposal. The 4-Stage process comprises of the following components -
- Primary Stage
- For removal of coarse debris and suspended solids
- Secondary Stage
- For the degradation of dissolved organics in the wastewater and thereby making it relatively benign
- Based on Membrane Bio Reactor technology
- Tertiary Stage
- Removal of remnant dissolved inorganics and organics and delivering 70% of very clean water that measure up to drinking water standards
- Final Stage
- Evaporation of 30% of the balance of �rejects� in a multiple-effect evaporator for crystallization of the inorganic salts that would go for storage or for possible reuse
FINANCIAL BACKGROUND
As stated earlier, the Company was a pioneer in setting-up the first CETP for clusters of tanneries in India. Keeping this in mind, the Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi invested Rs.10 lakhs in the equity of the Company. As it was a demonstration plant for tanneries in India, the Ministry of Industry, Government of India supported the effort with a special subsidy of Rs.15 lakhs. Matching grants were given by the Government of Tamil Nadu, which allocated a sum of Rs.25 lakhs as it was to be a concept-demonstrator. Apart from such participation, the Company received subsidies from the Central and State Governments to the extent of Rs.141.25 lakhs. The remaining funds were contributed by the member-tanneries that stood at Rs.145.75 lakhs. When the plant was commissioned in 1991, the capital investment stood at Rs.337 lakhs.
Between 1992 & 2004, further investments required for the modernization of the CETP took up the Gross Block of the Company to Rs.9.00 crores.
To comply with the mandated norm of Zero Liquid Discharge by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in the year 2004, the Company embarked upon the full-scale upgradation of its Common Effluent Treatment Plant.
The Water Recovery & Reuse Project was established at a cost of Rs.62.00 crores and was funded through a grant (35% of the project cost) from the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme sponsored by the Department of Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi while the balance of 65% being sourced from the beneficiary members and financial institution/s.
In 2012, the Company installed a Cross-Flow MBR at a cost Rs.6.00 Crores and further is in the process of erecting and commissioning an 8-Stage Multiple-Effect Evaporator at a cost of Rs.19.00 crores. This investment of Rs.25.00 crores has come solely from the pockets of the tanneries thus resulting in the total cost of the ZLD plant at Rs.87.00 crores and the cumulative cost of the project to Rs.96.00 crores.
