Reuse of Treated Wastewater in India
Recently a report titled “Reuse of Treated Wastewater (TWW) in India” has been released.
- The report has been released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a non-profit policy research institute.
- This report assesses the economic and market potential for re-use of TWW at a national level.
Key Findings of the Report
- The market value of total available TWW in the year 2021 was estimated at Rs 630 million.
- An area nine times the size of New Delhi could be irrigated using the available TWW in the year 2021.
- Reusing TWW in irrigation could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 1.3 million tonnes in 2021.
Issues related to current policies related to TWW:
- Only a few states identify and prioritize areas for reuse of TWW,
- There is a lack of incentives for reusing TWW,
- TWW quality standards not defined etc.
Key Recommendations
- Waste water should be considered as an integral part of water resources. Therefore, it should also be made an important component in all policies, plans and regulations related to water management.
- Water quality standards need to be well defined, both in terms of safe extraction and reuse.
- Urban local bodies should be empowered to prepare and adopt long term plans for city level wastewater reuse.
- The effectiveness of wastewater treatment requires need-based and demand-driven technological advancement.
Source – The Hindu
