1 Centre for Sustainable Technologies,
2 Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning,
3 Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India Conclusion Varthur lake behaves as an anaerobic-aerobic lagoon and helps in treating the wastewater with a 60% BOD removal efficiency. The lake functions well in the rainy season bringing down the BOD to <20-30 mg/l., however presence of macrophytes restricts the aerobic functioning of the lake checking BOD removal during summer. The quality of settled sludge improves with the distance from the inlet indicating the nature of reactions taking place in different reaches of the lake. The study showed improvement in water quality after its passage through the lakes with the retention time of 4-5d demonstrating the function of lake and wetlands in removing excess nutrients. Best engineered wetlands with the regular harvesting of macrophytes would aid in remediation of wastewater are economically viable options. This option of treating moderate strength urban sewage to acceptable quality while employing a minimal intervention help in ensuring sustainability as it addresses environmental, economic and social aspects–cost effectiveness, enhancement in ecological goods and services and more importantly aids in bioremediation. Citation: Durga Madhab Mahapatra, Chanakya H. N and T. V. Ramachandra, 2010, Sustainability and treatment potentials of an urban sewage-fed lake in Bangalore, India. Proceedings of the 17th National Symposium on Advances in Environmental Monitoring and Modeling, May 13-15, 2010, IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
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