August 2010, saw the implementation of a pilot program to treat wastewater in the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. EcoBio-Blocks were installed in 3 out or 6 wastewater treatment plants to deal with problems created in infrastructure and basic services which are being overwhelmed with rapid urbanization and population increase. These wastewater lakes, located about 50 kilometers outside of the city were selected by the Ulaanbaatar Water and Sewerage Authority due to their proximity to the wastewater sources and the fact that the water is being discharged back into the main Tuul River without treatment.
EcoBio-Blocks are attached to the floats
EcoBio-Block had been introduced to the Expert Meeting group in Asia in October of 2009, generating strong interest among the participants who found great potential in the simple, sustainable (expected to last 5-7 years), low maintenance technology.
Taking into consideration various factors such as shape, size, depth, water conditions, bottom conditions, location of lake and the climate of Mongolia, a custom built design was developed by the manufacturer, Koyoh Co. in Japan. Floats were created to enable the Blocks to activate just under the surface of the waste water with sufficient levels of oxygen for the natto bacillus bacteria to be constantly active.
There has been regular testing done in the waters after implementation, and after a period of one month, an improvement in water quality of 30% has been found in various parameters of the water.
Scene of final EcoBio-Block setup
Sponsored by KCAP, Knowledge Management Center for Asia and the Pacific, a United Nations Habitat initiative “linking environmental issues with sustainable solutions”, pilot projects are being conducted including “feasibility studies, demos, and experiments”.
These projects are being developed with unique technology or know-how which appear to have significant potentially effective solutions to specific urban issues being faced in Asian cities.
