The Hindu : New Delhi News : DJB proposes to use recycled water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 14, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

DJB proposes to use recycled water

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

7 to 8 % water gets wasted during treatment

NEW DELHI: With Delhi's neighbouring States dragging their feet over release of more water to the city, the Delhi Jal Board wants to make the optimum use of what it has. To meet the increasing demand for water, the Board has proposed to enhance the water supply by recycling wastewater.

The Board plans to recycle water that gets wasted during the treatment phase at its existing water treatment plants.

"After commissioning of the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant we were able to get 50 MGD of water, though we were supposed to get 140 MGD. Even this 50 MGD has helped us shut down more than 300 tube-wells in South Delhi alone, which has brought down our dependence on groundwater," said DJB Chief Executive Officer Arun Mathur.

Depleting groundwater

Referring to the fast depleting groundwater levels in the city, Mr. Mathur said: "The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has pointed out that seven of the nine districts in the city are over-exploited for groundwater. We have to therefore reduce our groundwater consumption."

The CGWB's report says the groundwater levels in the city have shown a significant decline of more than 20 cm/year in water level.

"At present about 7 to 8 per cent of water gets wasted during treatment at four of our water treatments plants. To prevent this wastage we are setting up recycling plants at the water treatment plant campuses in Chandrawal, Bhagirathi, Wazirabad and Haiderpur," Mr. Mathur said.

He said the water that goes waste during processes like filtering and backwash will be recycled and put back into use.

"If we manage to save this 8 per cent, we are likely to get an additional 45 MGD of water in the current financial year," Mr. Mathur said.

Pointing out the efficacy of setting up recycling plants, the DJB CEO said: "We hope to add an additional 10 MGD at the end of this month through recycling. At the Sonia Vihar water treatment plants the loss of water during treatment is as low as 1 to 1.5 MGD, so now we are aiming to bring down the wastage at other plants as well."

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