Whereas handled wastewater in India is commonly discharged into water our bodies or used for non-essential functions similar to irrigating public parks, its reuse for extra crucial functions stays comparatively unusual.
With depleting freshwater sources, erratic rainfall patterns and rising water shortage, it’s crucial that India undertake progressive water administration options.
Knowledge from the Central Air pollution Management Board reveals that solely 28 per cent of the whole sewage generated is successfully handled and a mere 3 per cent of this handled wastewater is used beneficially.
This represents a major untapped useful resource that might assist alleviate India’s water safety considerations.
The failure to reuse handled wastewater additionally underutilises the substantial capital invested in sewage therapy vegetation.
However with out satisfactory infrastructure, supportive insurance policies and monetary incentives, this example is more likely to proceed.
Present challenges
Regardless of the rising want, wastewater reuse in India faces a number of challenges.
The infrastructure for wastewater therapy is insufficient.
There’s an absence of pointers on sector-wise high quality of handled water reuse as totally different sectors have distinct necessities of processed water high quality starting from organic therapy to reverse osmosis or ultrafiltration to satisfy high quality requirements.
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By easing monetary constraints, providing regulatory assist and cultivating a marketplace for handled wastewater, the federal government can drive widespread adoption of reuse practices.
R&D initiatives are poor and require boosting of funding to foster innovation and speed up the adoption of wastewater reuse practices. There’s additionally a scarcity of participation by the non-public sector and a scarcity of expert personnel.
Added to this, socio-cultural obstacles usually stop the acceptance of reused water.
The excessive capital prices of establishing wastewater therapy amenities and superior applied sciences, similar to zero liquid discharge which maximises the water being recovered for reuse however can be very costly, discourage industries and municipalities from embracing reuse practices.
Monetary constraints and a scarcity of clear incentives additional hinder progress.
Advantages of water reuse
That is regardless of the various advantages of reusing wastewater.
Reusing handled wastewater is a promising resolution to freshwater shortage.
For instance, a large-scale mission of utilizing handled wastewater for agriculture and groundwater recharge in Kolar, Karnataka, demonstrated vital socio-economic advantages.
The outcomes confirmed improved groundwater ranges and high quality, elevated agricultural productiveness, larger livestock and fish manufacturing, and a 118 per cent rise in land values.
The web earnings of farmers from money crops doubled, highlighting the mission’s potential to spice up agro-economic programs and assist a round economic system within the water sector.
A research by The Power and Assets Institute in thermal energy vegetation prompt that interventions similar to ash water recirculation and implementing wastewater recycling and reuse can yield a collective common financial good thing about on common Rs 300 million per 12 months (US$US3.57 million) with accompanying water financial savings of almost 10 million cubic metres a 12 months.
One other research by the institute discovered that the Bangalore Water Provide and Sewerage Board generates a further annual income of almost Rs 164 million (US$US2 million) by promoting 18 million litres per day of handled water, which fully covers its operations and upkeep prices.
An identical mannequin operates in Chennai and may very well be replicated throughout India.
There are additionally advantages to be gained from recycling the precious vitamins present in wastewater — like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — which if recovered can be utilized to scale back reliance on artificial fertilisers.
The Worldwide Water Administration Institute estimates that the sewage generated from class I and II cities throughout India — 6,400 million litres per day in line with the Central Air pollution Management Board — has a nutrient load of about 2,500 tonnes.
This interprets right into a theoretical day by day financial worth of Rs 19.5 million (US$US232,000) if the vitamins have a worth of Rs 8,000 (US$US95) per tonne.
Driving the change
Whereas a number of Indian states have applied insurance policies to advertise handled water reuse, a complete nationwide framework is crucial to drive widespread adoption.
The Nationwide Mission for Clear Ganga took a major step on this route by publishing the “Nationwide Framework on Secure Reuse of Handled Water” in 2022.
This framework outlines the roles of assorted authorities businesses and proposes enterprise fashions to encourage handled water reuse.
Nonetheless, extra sturdy insurance policies and incentives are obligatory to completely combine handled water into India’s hydrological cycle, similar to:
- Establishing water reuse benchmarks for industries
Within the absence of well-defined requirements for handled water utilization, it’s important to equip industries with a transparent set of pointers and established benchmarks. This might embody requirements primarily based on a fit-for-purpose strategy to advertise wastewater reuse and sources restoration, with out compromising on product high quality.
- Incentives for R&D in water effectivity and wastewater reuse
The federal government ought to implement insurance policies that incentivise industries, analysis establishments and universities to undertake R&D initiatives centered on progressive water therapy applied sciences, water effectivity practices, pilot initiatives and demonstrations.
- Incentives for agriculture
Farmers could also be incentivised to make use of handled wastewater for irrigation, particularly in water-scarce areas.
- Volumetric water pricing
Water customers needs to be charged totally different charges primarily based on their stage of consumption. Increased tariffs for non-recycled water will encourage municipalities and housing societies to undertake recycled water for non-potable functions.
- Incentive for housing societies and residential areas
Encourage using handled water for non-potable functions similar to landscaping, rest room flushing and cooling programs in residential areas. This may very well be executed by subsidising twin plumbing programs to separate potable and non-potable water provides or offering rebates on property taxes as a reward for lowering dependency on freshwater.
- Public-private partnerships
Participating the non-public sector as a associate can quick observe the event of wastewater therapy and reuse infrastructure. The federal government can present monetary assist, whereas the non-public entities usher in technical experience to construct and preserve the programs.
- Water use credit
Just like carbon credit, entities that use handled wastewater may obtain water-use credit, which may very well be monetised or traded with different builders. The 2030 Water Assets Group hosted by World Financial institution Group has revealed a handbook on wastewater reuse certificates as tradable permits which can be utilized as a base doc for such a coverage intervention.
India stands at a pivotal second in addressing its escalating water challenges.
With 72 per cent of sewage remaining untreated and greater than 35,000 million cubic metres of handled wastewater anticipated to be accessible by 2050, the alternatives for large-scale wastewater reuse and associated socio-economic advantages are substantial.
By easing monetary constraints, providing regulatory assist and cultivating a marketplace for handled wastewater, the federal government can drive widespread adoption of reuse practices.
This shift is not going to solely alleviate strain on freshwater sources but additionally improve water safety and sustainability for future generations.
Anshuman is Director, Water Assets Division of The Power and Assets Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India.
This text is a part of a particular report on water reuse, produced in collaboration with The Power and Assets Institute (TERI), New Delhi.
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