The need to establish a CETP arose as there are several small polluting units especially Electro Plating units housed in and around Veerasandra Indl Area in ‘D’ type and ‘C’ type sheds with hardly any space to set up an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) of their own. Even those units which had their own ETP’s were only an eye wash and just for namesake to obtain consent from KSPCB and were not treating the effluents properly. Therefore, a few Environmental conscious entrepreneurs ventured to set up a CETP in order to help themselves as well as others. M/s. KSPCB actively encouraged the club to set up the CETP right from the beginning.

Needless to say, the advantages of the CETP are manifold. Apart from saving the space, the treatment cost is reduced drastically as the expenses are shared equally by all the member units. The overheads are also drastically cut as the same set of chemists & operators work for all the member units. The units which were spending around Rs.3.50 to Rs.4/- per liter earlier are now spending hardly around 0.75 paisa to Rs.1.25 per liter. Last but not least, the most important aspect of the CETP is that the Effluents are treated properly and scientifically and are not partially or fully let into the UGD or septic tank as was being done by the individual units.

VIWA ECO CLUB is a nonprofit making welfare association set up mainly for the benefit of all the polluting units in and around Veerasandra, Bommasandra and Jigani Indl area. The excess fund generated is invested back for the upgradation of the CETP. M/s. KSPCB has also granted a subsidy of Rs.4 lakhs to the club, which has been spent by the club towards improvement of the plant.

The procedure adopted at Viwa Eco Club is the batch process wherein the effluents are taken up for treatment once the collection tanks are full. Viwa Eco Club has got 2 collection tanks of 10,000 liters capacity each, one for Chrome stream and the other for Acid –Alkali stream.