The hotel has been functional since October 1999.

The Site
The Hotel is located in a plot of extent of approx. 5 acres, along the Ernakulam- Alleppey bypass road.
The plot, which was originally paddy fields has the top 1 ms with filled up soil, below which is a 2ms layer of silty clay. Further below it is predominantly organic clay till the rock layer, which is prevalent at almost 60 ms below ground level.

The western boundary of the site is a stretch of backwaters. The present level of the site is almost same as the maximum High Tide Level (HTL), which is +108 cms above Mean Sea Level (MSL). The recorded maximum High Flood Level (MFL) near the site is +137 cms above MSL.

Though almost surrounded by water, Cochin is a place, which faces acute water shortage because of its peculiar geophysical characteristics. The network of back waters (for which Kerala is best known) act as links between the rivers and the sea. These large water bodies have fresh water during the monsoon (till about December). However, during the dry months the seawater flows inward to the backwaters making them brackish. Surface wells in the region also yield only brackish water during the dry months. There are no rock formations along the coastal belt at reasonable depths and hence possibility of drilling bore wells for sourcing fresh water was also to be ruled out.

Piped water supply from Kerala Water Authority amounts to only about 1000 litres per day. There is acute scarcity of municipal water supply in Cochin and hence prospect of increased supply from the Water Authority is highly improbable.

The only other source is water supplied by private tanker lorries; but this, besides being extremely expensive, is also untreated water with uncertain quality.

After considering the various options, ‘Inspiration' recommended that the best option would be to have a Total Water Management Plan for the Project – the basic concept of which was focused on

Such a planning would not only work economical on the long run, but also ensure supply of safe, uncontaminated water throughout the year. The next step was to work out the fundamentals of rainwater harvesting and purification and decentralized wastewater treatment systems.

The ideas unfolded logically. The scale of the project was worked out based on the projected average water requirements. Based on Indian standards, the basic water requirement for the project worked out as follows. One of the basic policy decisions was to opt for a dual line system – in other words, separating the potable and non-potable end uses.

The depth was fixed at 2 – 2.5 metres on an average since this was what the ground substratum allowed and deeper storage may give rise to anaerobic conditions i.e oxygen starvation. The corresponding area was fixed at 2500 square metres. This area would harvest rainfall directly and also runoff from the roofs. The surface run off could also be collected after ascertaining its quality with on-situ testing.

Sullage (Grey water) recycling system
The sullage (grey water) is let through a multi stage low maintenance system to treat it and recycle it for flushing, gardening and other non potable end uses.

Sullage→Grease traps (for removal of fat and grease) → Anaerobic filters (for partial BOD removal)→ Submersible pump chamber →Constructed wetlands (for BOD reduction to 30 mg/l)→ Polishing pond (for BOD removal to 0 mg/l)→ online chlorination (for disinfection)→ Overhead tank for flushing /gardening

Quantity of water required for flushing/gardening etc : 8000 litres per day. (stage 1)

The waste water from the bathrooms, kitchen and wash areas of Cottages and Kitchen block is first led to grease traps for removing grease and fat. After the grease trap, the grey water is directed to upflow filters for removal of solid particles and also for partial BOD reduction due to anaerobic action The effluent from the filter is pumped to multi-stage constructed wetlands /reed beds at the top of the mount. The treated effluent is collected in a polishing pond, where the final polishing and BOD removal is effected mainly by water plants like duck weed. This water is chlorinated and pumped to the overhead tank for flushing, gardening and other non-potable end uses.

Details of Grease trap
The function of a grease trap is comparable to that of the septic tank; light matter will float and heavy matter will sink to the bottom. The difference is that the biodegradable solids will have no time to settle
So grease trap mainly removes grease and fat and also some heavier solid particles.

Details of Anaerobic Filter
The dominant principle of the septic tank is sedimentation in combination with sludge digestion. The anaerobic filter also known as fixed bed or fixed film reactor, is different in that it also includes the treatment of non-settleable and dissolved solids by bringing them in close contact with a surplus of active bacterial mass. This surplus together with “hungry” bacteria digests the dispersed or dissolved organic matter within short retention times. Most of the bacteria are immobile. They tend to fix themselves to solid particles, for, e.g. at the reactor walls. The filter media provides additional surface area for bacteria to settle. Thus, the fresh wastewater is forced to come into contact with active bacteria intensively. The larger the surface for bacterial growth, the quicker the digestion.

Details of Horizontal Flow Reed Bed System
Constructed Wetlands /Reed Beds are designed man-made systems which are aimed at simulating the treatment that has been observed to take place when polluted water is let into naturally-occurring wetlands. These systems have been seen to purify water by removing organic matter (BOD) and oxidising ammonia, reducing nitrate and removing phosphorus. The mechanisms are extremely complex and involve bacterial oxidation, filtration, sedimentation and chemical precipitation.

A typical horizontal flow tank has a depth of about 0.6 m filled with gravel of 6mm to 12 mm size, with reeds growing on the surface. The wastewater, which is fed at the inlet flows slowly through the bed in a horizontal path until it reaches the outlet zone, where it is collected. During this passage, the wastewater will come in contact with a network of aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic zones. The wetland plants planted are predominantly phragmites australis, with some local species like typha and scirpus. The treated effluent is let through a polishing pond with duckweed and then after chlorination is collected and pumped to the OH tank for reuse for flushing, gardening etc.

Plumbing Lines
Sump tanks: A 10000 lt capacity sump tank is located near the main entrance which can store the available municipal supply water. There is an on-line chlorination after which the water is pumped to the OH tank.
The water from the lake is collected in the sump tanks near the pump room, after purification and from there pumped to OH tank.
The overhead tank above the kitchen block (OH1) has 2 compartments. The smaller compartment OH1b is to have treated and recycled grey water, which shall be connected to all flushing cisterns in the cottages and staff quarters in kitchen block and garden taps.
The larger compartment OH1a has the purified water from the lake and water available from municipal supply; this is to be supplied for all potable water taps, bathing, washing etc., in the kitchen, restaurant and cottages.
The water from the lake has been monitored regularly since June 1998, and based on the observations regarding various standards for drinking water, a simple purification plant has been installed.

In conclusion
The most significant achievements that one can understand from the above project could be that where good quality surface/ground water or piped water is not available,