Residents' associations in Bengaluru await guidelines on selling treated water

Bengaluru: Following the government’s announcement on Wednesday to allow big apartments to sell treated water from their sewage treatment plants (STPs), residents’ associations are waiting for detailed instructions.

Several of the apartment resident bodies want to learn about the logistics and costs of the rollout, even as Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre vowed to issue guidelines in a week’s time.

Despite welcoming the move to curb wastage of treated water, apartment residents wonder how the government will regulate sales and prevent misuse. Concerns also mount over the quality and safety of treated water.

Kiran Hebbar, governing council member, Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF), noted that the sewage treatment plant in Prestige South Ridge Apartments has an STP to produce 2.2 lakh litres of treated water a day, of which a mere 1.2 lakh litres has been utilised for gardening and sanitary purposes.

"The remaining 1 lakh litres go down the drain, so the decision to redistribute is a good one. We must think how this water is properly used and not misused commercially," he said.

BAF has also been urging the government to mandate STPs at apartments with 100 or more units and reduce wastage in smaller apartments.

Satish Menon, resident at a Jalahalli apartment, raised several questions on precisely how the government’s decision will play out. "Managing an STP is a lot of hard work,” he pointed out. "Questions remain on who will buy this water and how much. Some clarity is needed.”

Hareesh Sivaraman, a civic activist in T Begur, said that the move would ease water crisis, but will not totally solve it.

"It is good that apartments can now sell excess treated water, but we need to look beyond that to replace freshwater usage for commercial activities, especially since many government offices and industries do not have STPs and depend on borewell water themselves," he said.