Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal’s Post

ECOTECH - OUT TO CONQUER THE HINDI HEARTLAND Folks : And you thought we were only active in the South and in the Western regions of India ? Well think again. We are going to conquer the Hindi Heartland, North of the Vindhyas now. https://lnkd.in/g8tz8B2Z The fluent Hindi I speak in this interview with the All India Radio Lucknow is thanks to the first 10 years of my life spent growing up in Sion-Koliwada in Bombay. I brushed up, fine tuned my Bambaiya Hindi later during my High School days in Madras Christian College School, passing with flying colours the Visharad Degree offered by the Dakshin Bharath Hindi Prachar Sabha in Madras. Multilingual - Yes. Multi talented - Yes. Multi Faceted - Yes. But my primary focus remains "Wastewater Treatment, Recycle, Reuse" ever since I entered the hallowed portals of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee in the year 1974 - Unnis Sou Chauhatthar to be precise, bowed to my Guru Prof. W W Eckenfelder, the doyen of Wastewater Treatment, who taught me the basics, the fundamentals, the ABC, the अ आ इ ई उ ऊ of Wastewater treatment. And even to this day, Wastewater treatment remains an Art and Not Science - Famous quote of Prof W W Eckenfelder from 50 years ago. It is now 50 years of Blood, Sweat & Tears, and going stronger by the day. Nothing, but Nothing is going to stop us from conquering the Hindi Heartland. Yeh Hamara Guarantee Hai ! Hum Jeetenge ! Jai Hind !

AIYO SBR, MBBR STP ! AN AI FOR EAAS – AN EYE FOR DETAILS AND ANOTHER FAMOUS AIYYO           Folks : AIYO is the most frequently used term common to all major languages of Southern India – Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu AIYO is an extremely versatile exclamation used to express the entire gamut of human emotions : Sadness, Surprise, Shock, Extreme pain, Fear, Disgust, Commiseration, Relief … the list goes on. The intonation, the context make all the difference ! I Invariably break into a series of Aiyos when I see an SBR or an MBBR STP. My Aiyo denotes grief, pity, extreme sadness at the fate of these poor lifeless STPs killed at birth by ignorant consultants who have no clue about these STP technologies Then there is Ecotech EA35+. An Eye for detail, An Eye for every nut & bolt, pump, piping, valve, blower, diffuser and every unit, big or small in an STP, each very critical for long term sustainability of an STP. Technology, Design, Engineering, O&M practices perfectly matched which keep an STP alive and kicking for decades together And here is where we bring in AI – Artificial intelligence of the real kind. We now have logged more than 2300 Plant-Years of Operation & Maintenace experience that no other agency in India can aspire to come even close Automation in our EA35+ covers the two necessary and sufficient critical aspects in O&M of STPs 1. Automation of the mechanicals – Very straightforward calling for only garden variety level switches, timers etc. No need for any intelligence here – Natural, Native or Artificial. Purely event oriented 2. Automation of the Process, forecasting, anticipating, recognising the feeblest of signs, unusual symptoms immediately, then trouble shooting quickly, determining the root cause and taking immediate corrective measures. This calls for ML – Machine Learning, AI – Artificial Intelligence, PLC - Programmable Logic Controller etc. And the key to robust, reliable, foolproof PLC, Process Automation is the more than 2300 Plant years of flawless Operation experience that Ecotech has and no other agency in India has, still struggling even to decipher the basics of SBR and MBBR Technology. It is a simple matter for us to download the Algorithm from our trained minds and coding necessary logic program and control strategies into the PLC ML– AI – PLC etc. are not the ABRACADABRA Magic words that can make SBR and MBBR STPs work. Basic Human Native intelligence is the first and foremost requirement. What does not work by Design cannot be automated. PERIOD. And finally there is one other AIYYO we are all familiar with. Our own Prime Minister Modiji is a big fan of this Aiyyo. I am talking about the hugely talented Aiyyo Shraddha https://lnkd.in/gPvJJ6i4 Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal       May 23, 2024 DISCLAIMER : Ecotech in the Siemens Ecotech PLC Flyers is in no way connected with our Company Ecotech. It is pure and simple coincidence, Each Excellent in its own domain

ESSO – EVERY SATURDAY, SUNDAY OFF ? I WORK SATURDAY, SUNDAY AND EVERY OTHER DAY !           Folks : About four and half decades ago when I started my career in Dorr- Oliver in Bombay, February 15, 1979 to be precise, there was a joke commonly bandied about my choice of Company. Goes like this. Not many of my readers here would have been born to recall that in those days, the two major petroleum companies operating in India were Burmah-Shell and ESSO. The former donned a new avatar as Bharat Petroleum in the year 1976. And ESSO transformed to Hindustan Petroleum of today. The petroleum Twins – BP and HP that we know today. Caltex, the third in this triumvirate, a smaller player was simply gobbled up by HP a few years later. When all of India in that age was following a 6 day a week work culture, ESSO was derisively referred to the Every Saturday, Sunday Off company. And hence the friendly banter in the family about my joining the ESSO clan. Be that as it may. I can now reveal the truth. In Dorr-Oliver I was encouraged to go to various sites to learn, learn, learn the Art and Science of Wastewater Treatment in its myriad facets – R&D, Engineering, Installation, Commissioning, Operation & maintenance and what have you. I will just cite four of the most memorable of these Saturday and Sunday travails. 1. RASHTRIYA CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (RCF) in Trombay I was given the charge to commission a Phosphate ETP in the Trombay unit of RCF. I learned all about Milk of Lime Slaker, using the MOL to precipitate out the phosphates in the Wastewater, dabbling in the lab of RCF, learning the ropes of Phosphate analysis. 2. R&D FOR DETERMINING SOTE OF NEWLY DEVELOPED SURFACE AERATOR BY DORR OLIVER Spent several days including Saturdays, Sundays with my good friend and colleague Anil D Kini at the Glaxo factory in Thane, Bombay. Starting with Zero D.O in the Aeration tank using SMBS as scavenger, plotting D.O Vs. time to determine the Standard Oxygen Transfer Efficiency of the 36 RPM slow speed surface aerator jointly developed by D-O Brazil and D-O India. 3. 420 MGD BHANDUP WATER TREATMENT PLANT This might be a little daunting even for accomplished Chemical Engineers ! https://shorturl.at/472dB   4. COMMISSIONING A ZINC CLARIFIER-THICKENER IN VERAVAL, GUJARAT   https://shorturl.at/QDhJC   Folks : Now you understand why I am to this day a strong votary and advocate for working every Saturday and Sunday and every other day of the Week. A work ethic I try to inculcate in every one of our team members, setting an example. So much to learn and very little time on our hands ! Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal         May 21, 2024

ESSO, ESSO, ESSO : SOS ! Acronyms, Acronyms, Acronyms. I am totally fed up with such acronyms especially when used in the context of Environment, Conservation, Sustainability, etc. Just a bunch of alphabets for all that they mean and deliver on the ground, like these below. 1. Enterprise Single Sign-On ! 2. Enterprise Software and Services Offering !! 3. Earth Science Support Office !!! 4. English Skills for Staff Officers !!!! 5. Electronic Step by Step Office !!!!! My Word ! I have said this before about ESG - Yeh Kya Hi ji ? https://shorturl.at/dKUVv Tomorrow on this very page you will find out what ESSO means to me. Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal May 20, 2024

DEEP FAKE MBBR STPs DEEP FAKE SBR STPs Folks : Deep fakes in Social media are of recent vintage after the advent of AI Deep fakes in STPs have been around for more than a decade. I can genuinely vouch for this fact. I speak based on factual experience. We have conducted our Ecotech 360 degree STP audit of over 120 SBR STPs and about half that number of MBBR STPs. All of them dysfunctional or outright Defunct. SBR numbers stand out only for the reason that Bangalore is our HQ and SBRitis is endemic in the Southern parts of our country. But this situation is changing rapidly with Big Developers and Builders from the Western region stepping up their presence in the South, bringing with them the equally dreaded contagion of MBBRitis to the South. And to cut a long story short, both are quintessential Deep Fake STPs as designed and executed in India The first picture shows the Eight degrees of Deepfake in Indian MBBR STPS. There are several more. But why flog a Dead Horse ? The other pictures in series show only some of the most blatant Deepfakes in SBR STPs in India. I can cite half a dozen more of such Defects, Deficiencies, Drawbacks (The Three D’s) in Indian SBR STPs.  The Heart of SBR- Mechanical Long Weir Decanter missing. Decant tank becomes a Death Trap. But again why Flog ? The last Picture of an SBR design by a leading consultant is worth a thousand words as the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare would have said. But I will be brief. Brevity to me is the Heart and Soul of Wisdom, Vast Experience, Unsurpassed Expertise. Modesty prevents me from saying anything more. 1. The Effective Water depth of 4.0 m in SBR tank does not meet universal norms of a minimum depth of 4.50 m 2. Adding insult to injury, Effective depth of Decant tank is 2.0 m , or 50 % of the SBR depth as against universal norm of only 33.33 % 3. Here is the Triple Whammy : 1) Shallow water depth 2) 50 % of depth for one batch and 3) Rudimentary pipe decanter in place of Long weir motorized Decanter 4. Poor Engineering : Cover slabs on SBR and Decant at the same level. Wasted, idle Tank volume leading to increased construction costs 5. Poor Engineering : Cover slabs in SBR tank preclude execution of Retrievable diffuser sets in the tank. Damage to any one diffuser would trigger a domino effect leading to failure and total shutdown of the STP 6. And pray tell me, what is the Denitrification strategy in this SBR ? I can go on and on to reach that magical figure of a thousand words. Verily the Bard reincarnated as the Environmental Expert to reaffirm the Timeless Truth of his saying.  A mere Four centuries in time separating us. Folks : You think AI created these Deepfake STPs ? Nah ! It is Pure and simple lack of Basic, Native, Natural Intelligence in the people who churn out these STPs but have absolutely no clue obout STPs and STP Technologies. Google Almighty is their Guru https://shorturl.at/anuY6 Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal          May 14, 2024

1. THE PATIENT – DOCTOR RELATIONSHIP 2. THE CLIENT– CONSULTANT RELATIONSHIP Folks : You can see the close kinship between the two scenarios above. 1. A patient with an ailment selects a doctor after due diligence, research and puts his future well being in the hands of the Doctor. A professional relationship, a transaction if you will. And there is a cost attached. The Doctor’s fee. No bargaining here. Only Quacks, charlatans, fraudsters will compromise on their fees. 2. A client with an ailing STP comes to us for succour, we do not rush headlong to perform the surgery. A detailed and diligent diagnostic exercise on the STP is performed equivalent of X Ray, CT Scan, MRI to understand the full extent of the ills the STP suffers from. The equivalent of these medical diagnostic tools is an STP audit focusing on the Technology, the Design, The Engineering and the O&M of the STP. Correct Technology is the solid foundation on which the other three Pillars of a good STP are built. Any deficiency, defect, drawback in any of these four aspects of an STP will determine the extent to which the STP is dysfunctional or outright defunct.  We can now proceed to prescribe a proper, well researched, sustainable solution for the STP to lead a healthy life for decades. This is the ECOTECH 360 DEGREE AUDIT OF THE STP True professionals that we are, every one of our audit exercise receives the same care, diligent fact finding, nuts and bolts detailing, in depth enquiry, brainstorming to arrive at the very Best, Optimal Upgradation scheme. A Precision Surgery on the STP. In this exercise we bring to bear accumulated Knowledge, Expertise gained over 45 years of on the Ground Hands on Experience : > 200 New plants designed, working to perfection > 2200 Plant- Years of Operation & maintenance Experience >70 Precision surgeries performed on Dysfunctional SBR, MBBR, MBR STPs And for our time, our effort in writing out the right prescription and course of Treatment, we charge a professional fee. And in line with our philosophy of public service, this is a just a minimal token amount. Over the years we have learnt that anything given free is not valued. Just in the past two weeks a 550 Flat high end Apt. complex approached us and wanted their dysfunctional STP to be audited.  And another one with about 740 flats . But they would not pay even the nominal fee for our services. The fee charged would be just a pittance of Rs. 55 and Rs. 40 per flat for them. And the STP when made functional would save them a minimum of Rs. 1000 per flat per month in savings in fresh water purchase costs! And the added benefit of Future Water Security ! Protection of the Environment !! I am unable to decide whether it is sheer apathy, abysmal ignorance or utter stupidity of the so called educated classes in India. Folks : tell me if you know The STP remains the most neglected Orphan in these residential complexes Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal ...... May 09, 2024

BROTHER, YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY ! Folks : While cleaning out the knick-knacks, the doo-dads that collect over the years in the attic of our home, our household help pulled out this faded with age, brown litttle box . Never having seen anything like this before in their lives, extreemly curious to find out what it was, they came to me. This little box took me back almost 40 years. This was the Typewriter my dear father presented to me when I moved from Bombay to Bangalore, to start a whole new career and a whole new chapter in my life. To start a Company called Ecotech, specialising in wastewater Treatment, Recycle, Reuse. My very first customers were ITC, their Cigarette factory in Frazer town. United Breweries, the Brewery on Grant Road, now the swanky UB City ; Grant road rechristened now as Vitttal Mallya Road. Brooke Bond instant coffee factory in Whitefield, now the Unilever Research center campus. Binny Mills in Binnypet, now the Shapoorji Pallonji Township called Park West. And many, many more. And this little Brother was my constant companion from those bygone days. And I recall I would visit all of these factories and sites in my equally trustworthy Vijay Super Scooter. Yes. My Brother has aged just as gracefully as I have. Still retaining the sheen and the shine of yore, ready to belt out quotations, reports and other such worthy and worthwhile documents, just as I do now. This post however is not with a little help from my little Brother. It is a Logitech Keyboard now with the help of a little mouse. I just wonder from which attic I will fish them out from 30 years from now. 😊

MATHA, PITHA, GURU, DEIVAM Folks : Pardon me, indulge me again for a little bit of reminiscing that I do every once in a while in this forum.       At the start of this new Financial year 2024-25, I sent out an impassioned exhortation message to all our 350 + team mates in our Company – Ecotech. It started with an age old Sanskrit phrase that every Indian knows : - Our Company, Ecotech is the Matha, the Mother to all of us  - I can truthfully lay claim to being not Pitha, but a father figure to all of you  - Equally that of a Guru, the mentor teaching you and guiding you all these years  - And above all is the Divine being who showers his blessings on all of us    ………….    And while writing this about our Company, my thoughts naturally turned to my own biological mother, whose portrait occupies a prominent place in my office, her ever smiling visage exhorting me all the time to do my best for Society at large and our Nation. My mother was a very strong willed lady, a strict disciplinarian, never the one hesitating to wield the stick. I owe it to her my strict upbringing, code of ethics, morals drilled into me during my initial 10 years of growing up in Bombay in our Sion home. Force of circumstance, with my father having a transferable job, landed me in Madras under the care of my maternal grandparents and a joint family experience with uncles, aunts, cousins all under one roof in Mylapore. The rest as they say is History. I finished High School from the venerable Madras Christian College School, went on to study Chemical Engg. at IIT Madras and thence to Vanderbilt University in Nashville for my Masters and Phd. Returned to India January 01, 1979, started my career as an Environmental Engineer at Hindustan Dorr Oliver on February 15, 1979. And Here I am 45 years later, exhorting my team mates in Sanskrit, the Mother of all Languages ! And here is the saga of Mrs. Mythili Seshadri, my mother from her younger days through the years and to her last available portrait, constantly watching over and guiding me to give my best in everything I do. Folks : a little aside here. The photo in the middle is that of my foster mother, my aunt in Mylapore with a remarkable family resemblance. Palani Vijayalakshmi was a highly accomplished Carnatic music maestro. And I grew up in the Mylapore home, aptly named Shruti Laya. Music classes in the morning, Music classes in the evening. A pleasant musical interlude between School and evening German classes in faraway Max Mueller Bhavan on Mount Road. And as I reminisce :  An unforgettable vibrant past leading the way to an even more vibrant future. Every new day bringing new challenges, Opportunities to serve, to excel in whatever one is trained to do. A Paean to a labor of love on this the International Labor day. Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                   May 01, 2024

SUSTAINABILITY IS US - ECOTECH KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE – THE HALLMARK OF SUSTAINABILITY                           Folks : I am sure by now all of you know Ecotech – Our Philosophy : Technically perfect, Professionalism to the core, ethically unsurpassed. All in our DNA. And all these qualities are ingrained and exemplified in the work we do. 1. Sustainable STPs in the small scale Decentralised space 2. Excellence and Integrity since 1986 – that is 38+ years of Technical excellence, ethical, professional conduct of business 3. Keeping things simple – Hallmark of sustainability, and this bears repeating - Hallmark of Technical Excellence, Professional and ethical conduct of business. We have several clients of excellent pedigree who will swear by Ecotech – Unilever, GE Companies, ITC, Cisco and many more who have been our clients, associates for over 25-30-35 years and more.  GE the doyen of sustainability, and EHS practices gives us a score of 99 % in our EHS performance. We respect that score. Only 99 % because of the universally acknowledged precept that there is, and there must always be room for improvement, and not to be lulled into a false sense of complacense. https://shorturl.at/abgEX And our standing in this field, head and shoulders above all the rest is because we follow the three simple steps as above 1,2,3. Even when it comes to the challenging task of generating potable quality water from our STPs we follow the simple 1,2,3 Rule. Keep it simple and sustainable with excellence built in. An enlightened community in Bangalore has been drinking our STP + ATP treated water for more than 12 years. And it has been even vetted, verified and validated by our Member of the Legislative Assembly, a highly respected politician with a Masters Degree in Engineering from no less than from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor – The Mecca of higher learning in the USA https://shorturl.at/guyC0 Our Advanced Tertiary Treatment Plant (ATP) just adds a two step process to convert our STP treated water to potable quality. Not for us the fussy, Mumbo Jumbo, Voodoo technologies with Six, Seven or Eight stage treatment route for potability. An eight stage treatment will very obviously mean eight degrees of failure just like in the MBBR STPs. https://shorturl.at/jkt48 Simplicity is the essence of Sophistication. Simplicity is the essence of Excellence the Mantra of Sustainability https://shorturl.at/AMXYZ That is what Ecotech in essence stands for : Sustainability, Simplicity, Excellence Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                     April 30, 2024

MBBR DECONSTRUCTED ; MBBR DEMOLISHED SCORECARD - EAAS 100 ; MBBR < 50                           Folks : Pardon me for concentrating on demolishing the  scourge, the contagion called SBRitis of pandemic proportions prevalent in the Southern parts of our country. I do believe I have succeeded in this mission in no small measure. Developers and builders who have suffered from SBRitis are now saying enough is enough Strange as it may seem they are falling into the age old trap of “From the Frying Pan into the Fire” https://shorturl.at/nwN56 They are now experimenting with MBBR Technology. MBBRitis is a known disease, scourge, contagion that has been afflicting large parts of our country in the West and in the North for decades Apparently there has been no effort to learn ; To learn from others’ mistakes. No homework, no due Diligence done before plunging headlong into the fire I am now targeting MBBR and MBBRitis to receive the same merciless, ruthless treatment that a good professional doctor would do to banish it once and for all from the Small Scale Decentralised Urban STP scene Here is a set of EIGHT DEGREES OF FAILURE we have seen in MBBRs in India, let me reiterate again, in the small scale. Excellent technology when used in large sized plants being run into the ground by sheer lack of knowledge, lack of understanding of the technology Here is the List of Eight Degrees of Failure of MBBRs in India, highlighted in the sketch 1. No Primary sedimentation stage – Mandatory 2. MBBR Tank size < 50 % of the corresponding EAAS Aeration tank 3. D.O not high enough to build and sustain a good layer of attached growth of microbes 4. Coagulant addition – No coagulant addition. Damned if you do, Damned if you Don’t 5. heavy solids carryover due to incorrect application of Lamella settlers 6. Microbes get attached to Tube / plate in calm, quiescent conditions in the settler 7. Very thin slurry of settled solids in the lamella settler, difficult to dewater 8. And the Grand Daddy of all Blunders ! Recycle sludge from settler – The MORTAL SIN ! And what this MBBR has now become is a pale shadow of, an apology for, poor imitation of, mockery of the Time tested, Proven, Robust, Reliable EAAS STP. All of which now, this MBBR is the exact opposite of And hence also the third line in the Title of this post. : MBBR Score < 50 I have stopped this discourse at the failure mode count at Eight. The ruling planet of Number Eight is Saturn – Shani. Best avoided – Like the Plague MBBRitis truly is And when an MBBR STP is designed by Dumb persons, even the dumbest operator should be able to follow simple instructions and signage Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal ............  April 27, 2024