With the city facing water shortage on a regular basis, the idea to use treated sewage water for non-drinking purposes doesn’t raise eyebrows anymore.
In an ambitious plan to use treated sewage water for parks and construction projects in Dwarka, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is constructing two more water storage tanks, apart from the three already existing, where the treated water will be stored and distributed for further use.
There are more than 60 parks in the 29 sectors of the sub city, and currently the treated water is being used in sector 5, 6, 10, 11 and 19, a senior DDA official told Deccan Herald.
The idea to use treated sewage water for non-drinking purposes in Dwarka was mooted two years ago, after which a complete network to supply the treated water from the Nazafgarh Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) was started to being built.
“The entire sewage of Dwarka goes to the Nazafgarh STP. Earlier the treated sewage water used to be discharged in the drain only, but two years back we built a connection through which the treated water started coming to the three tanks here in Dwarka,” said AK Chopra, executive engineer, DDA, Dwarka.
From the three tanks, each with a capacity of 2,000 kiloliters, the water goes to three underwater tanks, 900 kilolitres each, where with the help of submersible motors the water is being distributed to the parks of five sectors.
Currently the odorless treated water is used only for horticulture purpose only, but DDA official told Deccan Herald that after the construction of a proposed reverse osmosis (RO) plant in sector 19, the further treated water can be used for construction work like in mixing the water with cement and sand etc.
“Apart from that, three underground water tanks are also being built. In the phase-2 of the scheme we will cover the entire Dwarka,” Chopra added.
Delhi’s current demand of water is 1100 MGD (millions of gallons per day); however, only 835 MGD is available from all the sources.
“There is a gap of about 265 MGD between demand and supply. Hence to reduce the stress on demand of drinking water, it is essential to use recycled water for non drinking purposes,” said Chopra.
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) currently produces 400 MGD treated sewage water at all sewage treatment plants. 140 MGD is being use for irrigation and horticulture etc. There is a still potential of utilising 260 MGD recycled water for non-potable use, said in an official notification of DJB.
