Expressnews
CHENNAI. January 18, 2023: About 6.2 billion litres of untreated industrial wastewater is generated every day across India, said Mr Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, at the valedictory session of the 13th IWA International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse, hosted by FICCI.
Mr Bery underlined the massive potential of the water and wastewater sector, with the market growing at about 15 to 20 per cent annually. He noted that urban wastewater management could be a crucial component in the circularity of water use. It can provide an additional supply of treated wastewater for use in industry, agriculture and municipal sectors, thereby reducing dependence on groundwater.
He recognised that Indian industry is taking “appreciable steps to reuse water”. However, he noted the poor adoption of treated water usage in agriculture and the domestic sectors, which account for 95% of water use. “So far, there are no firm Indian standards stipulated for the use of treated water for various purposes, including irrigation. Perhaps we can use guidelines published by the ISO to use treated water for irrigation purposes”, he said.
In his special keynote, Thiru Shiv Das Meena, Additional Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, underscored the need to classify the treated used water based on the usage and then fix the quality parameters for that water. He highlighted that treated water quality parameters for reuse in a dyeing industry would be different than in the construction sector. Similarly, in agriculture, he underscored using micro irrigation for using treated water to save cost and ensure extensive coverage.
Thiru Meena added that treated water is also being used in aquifer recharge, rejuvenation of water bodies, and using blended water as is done in Singapore. He also emphasised minimising the cost of production of treated water.
Ms D Thara (I.A.S.), Additional Secretary (A&CV), Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, “If we are not water secure, we are not anywhere secure”. She added that India could solve many issues regarding climate change and water resilience by working in a coordinated manner. She highlighted that cities could become water generators rather than water consumers by treating the sewage and sending the treated water for use in agriculture. Ms Thara noted that we have discharge standards for water, but there are no standards for every user today. “We need to look at how do we fix standards to bring in various users to adopt to various standards”, she said.
In addition, she underlined bringing in the trust-based system in the water sector. “If you’re able to restore people’s trust in the water you supply and prove that it is good to drink either freshwater or treated water, then people will use it”, she added.
Among other speakers, Dr Thomas Michael MOLLENKOPF, President, IWA, pointed out the need to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions and called upon everyone to protect water sources and help build networks for a better future.
Dr Joseph Lahnsteiner, Chair, IWA Reuse SpecialistGroup, and Dr GSK Velu, Chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council, also spoke on occasion.
