AAP govt to set up hybrid water treatment plants

The newly elected Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi will set up hybrid water treatment plants as part of its promise of providing safe drinking water to masses.

According to the members of AAP think tank, these seven-stage water purification plants will be first set up under a pilot project in areas where water contamination has reached an alarming proportion.

The party has identified at least 10 Assembly constituencies where portable water has fluoride and nitrate contaminations. 

The AAP in its manifesto had promised to “guarantee safe and accessible water supply with quality standards as per BIS: 10500 certification”.

Sanjay Sharma, a water consultant who advised the AAP, claimed that the small hybrid water treatment plants are a one-time investment for ensuring premium quality water supply.
If such hybrid plants are set up across the city, it will replace over 10 lakh reverse osmosis (RO) water purifiers in the city, he said.

“Such treatment plants have very low maintenance cost and can bring down the water wastage to a large extent,” Sharma said, adding that by getting rid of water guzzling RO purifiers the city can save up to 25 MGD (million gallon daily) water.

The new technology will combine the advantages of conventional energy sources with those of freely available solar energy.

One hybrid plant can cater up to 200-500 households and the installation can cost anything between Rs 50 lakh and 1 crore. The US city of California relies on its network of sophisticated water treatment plants to supply World Health Organisation (WHO) with standard drinking water, Sharma said.  

The project will be implemented across the city if the initial experiment doesn’t face major hurdles, he added.

With AAP coming into power, it is expected to float a global tender for bringing in the foreign technology to Delhi.

Meanwhile, the senior AAP functionaries said the Arvind Kejriwal-led government will deliver on its promise of 50 per cent cut in power tariff and 20 kilolitres (20,000 litres) of free water every month to every household per month.
DH News Service