New policy to reuse treated wastewater launched in Gujarat; aims to save ‘Clean Water’

NewsBharati    29-May-2018
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Gandhinagar, May 29: The Gujarat government in a bid to save clean water for domestic use announced a new policy for reusing treated wastewater. According to the new policy, it is mandatory for thermal power plants and large industrial units in Gujarat to use treated wastewater.

 

The government is also targeting to reuse 100% of treated wastewater by 2030 and also aims to reduce the state's dependence on freshwater sources like the Narmada river. Notably, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel launched the policy at a function held in Gandhinagar on Monday.

Speaking after launching the policy, CM Rupani said that water was a basic problem in Gujarat, but the government was committed to resolving the problem. He further cited that the ongoing water conservation drive, plans to set up desalination plants along state's coast, and the latest policy as measures to find a permanent solution for water shortage.

"Gujarat consumes about 3,000 million litre per day of water. Even if only 50% of the water is recycled and reused, we can save a large quantity of water," he said urging industrial units to stop using groundwater. CM Rupani also stressed on the use of treated wastewater in order to conserve other ground and freshwater sources.

An official release said that under this policy, the state government planned to construct 161 sewage treatment plants to treat wastewater and use it for non-drinking purposes. The treated water would be used in industrial units, thermal power plants, gardening and in the construction sector, it added.

At present, around 2,600 million litres per day (MLD) of wastewater was being treated by 52 STPs in the state. The policy aims to double the existing water treatment capacity to around 5,000 MLD in the next two years, the release informed.

Key points of a new policy for reusing treated wastewater are as follows:

Under this policy, the state government made it mandatory for thermal power plants located within a radius of 50 kilometres of an STP to use treated water.

This would also apply to industries or industrial parks which are consuming over 1 lakh litres of water per day.

The policy document also said that once these industries got a connection for treated water, the state government would disconnect the fresh water connection given to them.