By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Nov. 12: The Guheshwori Wastewater Treatment Plant, whose construction completed recently, is currently undergoing testing and commissioning, targeting to bring it in full operation by next month.
According to the Kathmandu Valley Wastewater Management Project (KVWMP) of the Project Implementation Directorate (PID) of the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation, the Guheshwori treatment plant is currently being tested by purifying the water of the Bagmati River.
The plant is now undergoing test operation by using 24 million litres per day of water (MLD), said Surat Kumar Bam, project manager of the KVWMP.
The installation capacity of the Guheshwori treatment plant is 32.4 MLD. Bam said that the Guheshwori treatment plant will come into full operation by the end of December.
The contractor is planning to bring the treatment plant into operation from December 17. However, it may be delayed for some external circumstances.
Interruption of regular electricity supply to the plant from the national grid and the delayed monsoon adversely affected the works on the biological plant, he said.
“The problem in the supply of electricity is still there and this can further affect the plant,” he added.
Bam said, “After it comes into full operation, the Guheshwori plant will help reinstate the glory of the Bagmati River, giving a new lease of life to the current sewage-based river.
"At present, the people do not believe that the current state of the sewage-filled rivers will be changed and they will have natural water flow in the Bagmati and other rivers of Kathmandu, but it is going to be realised within next two years," Bam said.
"Once, the Guheshwori treatment plant completes in three months, it will automatically erase the public doubts," he said. The diluted water will meet the international standards and can be used for several purposes, except for drinking, he said.
After the Guheshwori plant comes into operation, around 364 litres of diluted water will flow per second in the Bagmati River in the Pashupati Area, he said.
“This improves the river ecosystem of the Bagmati,” he added.
The Guheshwori plant is being developed by Vatech India under the built, owned and operate model for 10 years at a cost of Rs.2.56 billion.
It will generate 230 KW/hr electricity from the biogas produced from the plant and will be used in the plant.
He, however, said that the electricity will be generated from the plant only 60 to 90 days after the plant comes into operation as it would take time for the formation of sludge.
He said that the treatment plant had included a component of deodorisation unit to control the spread of bad smell in the surroundings from the plant.
Bam said that around 13 per cent progress was made in other wastewater treatment plants being built at Sallaghari, Kodku Balkumari and Dhobighat.
The capacity of wastewater treatment plant to be built at Sallaghari, Kodku Balkumari and Dhovighat is 14.2 MLD, 17.5 MLD and 74 MLD respectively, he added.