Ever since the first community decided that sewers were needed, waterways have been used as the preferred location for disposal of sewage. However, as settlements grew, wastes inevitably overwhelmed the ability of the waterways to assimilate the decomposing organic matter, oxygen levels dropped and fish began to disappear. Sewage, or wastewater treatment, evolved to remove organic matter from the waste stream prior to discharge so that healthy oxygen levels could be maintained.

Energy equations around the world are changing rapidly, making renewable energy sources a part of every nation's energy policy. In this context the energy potential of waste has been long ignored. Waste management has been seen as a linear system of collection and disposal.

At Canopus India (Canopus, the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina is named Agastya in ancient Indian astronomy. Agastya is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising coincides with the calming of the waters of the Indian Oceans), we look at waste as part of a cycle of production-consumption-recovery or perceive waste through a prism of overall sustainability. We focus to integrate the two aspects of waste management – reduce, reuse, recycle and safe disposal of wastewater and making the waste treatment process self sustainable in terms of energy.