To optimise the use of sewage water treated at the seven sewage treatment plants in the city, the BMC is planning to set up a separate distribution system of water pipelines in the city.
To optimise the use of sewage water treated at the seven sewage treatment plants in the city, the BMC is planning to set up a separate distribution system of water pipelines in the city. The BMC envisages that this system will circulate non-potable water to housing societies and commercial and industrial establishments for washing and flushing purposes. The BMC recently floated tenders to appoint a consultant for this project, who will be finalised by August this year.
This consultant will conduct a peer review of the existing sewerage system of Mumbai and also suggest ways to optimise use of the treated water.
The BMC presently supplies potable water to the city and almost all establishments use potable water for washing and flushing, apart from drinking purposes. From an average of 500 litres of potable water supplied to each household, very little is used for drinking and cooking purposes. One of the solutions to save potable water from being used for other purposes is to supply non-potable water to the bathrooms.
Presently, there are seven sewage treatment plants in the city, at Colaba, Worli, Bandra, Versova, Malad, Ghatkopar and Bhandup, which generate a total of 3,000 million litres of tertiary treated water daily. This is available at various tanker-filling spots in the city. Even though there is a demand for non-potable water for construction and gardening purposes in the city, there is no mechanism to distribute this water effectively.
The BMC is tentatively planning to attach this parallel water distribution network to the seven sewage treatment plants. It also intends to connect this network with the tanker-filling spots. Tentatively, the civic body has decided about 60 per cent of the water is likely to be distributed to the housing societies, 30 per cent to commercial establishments and the remaining to the industrial zones in the city.
