Lok Sabha Question No. 1584 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-24
Subject: National Waste Water Reuse Policy
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: SUDHEER GUPTA, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

1584.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1584

ANSWERED ON 24.11.2016

## NATIONAL WASTE WATER REUSE POLICY

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKA SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR SHRI KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

Will  the  Minister  of  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

(a) the current status of wastewater reuse in the country;

(b) whether the Government is considering formulation of a national wastewater reuse policy in the country and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be formulated;

(c) whether a drawback of Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology has resulted in wastage of huge water in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to use latest technology of RO?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION

(DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

(a)&(b) Central Government encourages recycle and reuse of water among different stakeholders. The National Water Policy, 2012 has also recommended that the recycle and reuse of water, including return flows, should be the general norm.  The  Policy  has further recommended that recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards, should also be incentivized through a properly planned tariff system.

CPCB has reassessed the sewage generation and treatment capacity for urban population of India for  the  year  2015.  The  sewage  generation  is  estimated  to  be  62000  MLD  approximately  as against the sewage treatment capacity of only 23277 MLD from 816 Sewage Treatment Plants

(STPs).  CPCB  has  issued  directions  under  Section  18(1)(b)  of  the  Water  (Prevention  and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 for making it mandatory for local/urban bodies to set up STPs of adequate capacity to bridge the treatment gap. As far as possible, the treated effluents are to be recycled / reused for the non-potable use. The above mentioned gaps in Water Supply and Waste Water  Management provide  huge  opportunities  for  infrastructure  development  for  urban  local bodies in particular and State Governments in general.

Recently,  the  Government  had  taken  a  decision  that  the  thermal  power  plant(s)  including  the existing  plants  located  within  50  km  radius  of  sewage  treatment  plant  of  Municipality/local bodies/similar organization shall in the order of  their  closeness  to  the  sewage  treatment  plant, mandatorily use treated sewage water produced by these bodies and the associated cost on this account be allowed as a pass through in the tariff.  Such thermal plants may also ensure back-up source  of  water  to  meet  their  requirement  in  the  event  of  shortage  of  supply  by  the  sewage treatment plant.  The associated cost on this account shall be factored into the fixed cost so as not to disturb the merit order of such thermal plant.

(c) & (d) A drawback of Reverse Osmosis Technology is that some water gets wasted due to the use  of  this  technology.  However,  application  of  Reverse  Osmosis  in  drinking  water  treatment systems is preferable when the Total Dissolved solids (TDS) in raw water is high or there are multiple  contaminants  in  raw  water  which  warrant  the  use  of  Reverse  Osmosis  technology. Further, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has issued specification on Reverse Osmosis based point of use water treatment system in its specification IS 16240:2015. The specification states that RO system is not recommended for arsenic level above 0.1 mg/1 and fluoride level about 8.0 mg/1. Also, the minimum recovery shall be equal to or more than 20 percent. State Governments take several measures for providing safe drinking water to the people of the State by using different water purification technologies/processes like pre-chlorination, aeration, coagulation,  sedimentation,  filtration,  disinfection  etc.  Central  Government  supplements  the efforts of the State Governments in this regard through various schemes and programmes.

Department of Science and Technology is promoting indigenous research and development to develop  cost  effective  and  efficient  solutions  for  water  purification  technologies  including demonstration of high recovery reverse osmosis systems.

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