Shit! You can’t be drinking that!
That’s the natural reflex to water recycled out of, well, sewage. Unfortunately, with the way India’s groundwater level is getting depleted, we may not be left with much of a choice.
According to World Bank data, India is the largest consumer of fresh water. Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water tension and about 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to clean water.
And things will only get worse from here.
According to a Niti Aayog analysis, by 2030, the country’s water demand is going to increase by twice of the available supply, implying acute scarcity, resulting in 6% loss to the country’s gross domestic product or GDP.
Delhi is right at the centre of this strain. Estimates show that the daily demand for water for an ever-increasing population of 20 million is around 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD). Yamuna water fulfils 60% of this demand. The city receives about 870 MGD primarily from the eastern Yamuna canal (270 MGD), western Yamuna canal (280 MGD), upper Ganga canal (255 MGD), and its own groundwater resources (65 MGD).
Not a safe drop to drink
Delhi saw high levels of ammonia (0.9 ppm-2.6 ppm against the Central Pollution Control Board’s stipulated limit of 0.5 ppm) in the Yamuna river water, making the water unfit to process at Delhi Jal Board’s water treatment plants. Mixing such a high level of ammonia with the treating agent chlorine used at the plant could have potentially led to the formation of carcinogenic compounds called trihalomethane. Consequently, water production at three water treatment plants — Haiderpur, Chandrawal, and Wazirabad — decreased by about 40% since January 1. The reason behind such high levels of ammonia was failure on the government’s part to stop factories at the Delhi-Haryana border from releasing polluted effluents directly into the Yamuna.
Also, in direct contravention to an agreement signed between the governments of Delhi and Haryana in 1994, and a Supreme Court order in 1996, India’s capital received less water from the neighbouring state this year– a first in almost 22 years. According to the pact and the apex court order, Haryana is mandated to provide 450 cusecs of water daily to Delhi. However, it has only been providing 330 cusecs, or 120 cusecs less.
As a result, large parts of Delhi are suffering from water crisis. Desperate times, desperate measures
The Delhi government is willing to take on a taboo: Supply drinking water that was once poop and piss. This is not an easy sell at the best. Three things need to be tackled: technology, cost and finally the most important, consumer acceptance.
There are global examples that the Delhi government, and other governments who want to recycle, can look at.
A waste-water treatment demonstration plant in Ulu Pandan, Singapore, which began operating only last year, has won an award at the 2018 Global Water Awards in Paris. The Singapore government is also planning to make the forthcoming Tuas WRP as the most energy-efficient membrane bioreactor (MBR) in the world, with a net process energy consumption target of 0.1kWh/m3, 2.5 times lower than a typical MBR. Unifying the reverse osmosis (RO) polishing stage into the waste-water treatment plant is also groundbreaking for Singapore.
The second example is that of Janicki Bioenergy in Seattle, Washington. In 2015, with the help of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Janicki launched the Omni Processor’s first pilot programme in Senegal. Senegal now has more access to clean drinking water, energy, and overall improved WASH (clean water, sanitation, and hygiene) conditions.
The technology and the cost are in place
Existing water-treatment systems depend on chemical dosage, but the latest one uses improved technology. “Nobody has concentrated on sludge management. This is the most expensive process because you need labour and trucks, which add to the cost of maintenance, and the way it (the waste) is being disposed is not even environment-friendly. It can be converted into fertiliser,” says Smita Singhal, director and CEO, Absolute Water, a water-cycling company that the Delhi government is talking to for recycling projects. Also, the existing process of treating water makes it less mineral-filled.
This is because the Delhi government’s (Delhi Jal Board to be specific) current thinking is encumbered with old ways of doing things.
“The government is ready to accept the technology but not ready to move beyond that. They want to stick with the already-established infra and technology. And don't want to even accept green technologies that can treat water organically retaining its mineral content,” says Singhal.
There are three main operating costs at different levels of the water-recycling process in the old way:
1. Cost of transporting the sewage water to the treatment site
2. Cost of treating the water to make it drinkable
3. Cost of transporting the water back to the places where it is finally used
“Due to these costs, all the earlier projects that have been initiated are very localised. That means if they are treating waste water in a particular area, the water will then only be transported back there. It won’t go to other areas. That was another reason for the failure of the earlier projects,” says Jyoti Sharma, water expert, FORCE, an NGO.
The Delhi Jal Board in its new project plans to treat the waste water, mix it with the Yamuna water, and then take out the treated water for a final treatment and distribution. This is one way of tackling the “psychological resistance” against recycled water.
“You put the recycled water into the Yamuna at Palla. When you take out that water at Wazirabad, you need to again treat it with the regular process,” says a water technologist, who spoke to ET Prime on the condition of anonymity. User behaviour: First recycling invasion of Delhi failed
In October 2015, a DJB initiative called “Toilet to Tap” hit a huge cultural and psychological barrier of the end user. People were not ready to use the water from the initiative as drinking water.
“At DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) bus depots this recycled water was being used to wash buses. Such was the resistance to this recycling,” says Singhal of Absolute Water.
Given this is such a sensitive topic, the first step would have to be to get political unanimity on this issue. Political parties shape public opinion, and especially on this topic their opposition could be decisive.
The second step would be to create a public-outreach programme. “In most Indian homes, the mug that one uses for toilet will not even be used for bathing. So, from there to win consumer trust that this water is safe to drink is a very big step. A huge amount of investment in consumer awareness is needed. Brand ambassadors for the reuse also have to be created,” says Madhukar Sabnavis, country head - planning and discovery at Ogilvy & Mather India.
Singapore marketed its recycled wastewater as NEWater. It was able to use its national media to talk about the safety and the technology that made it safe. A study titled 'Turning the Tide: Informal Institute Change in Water Reuse' by PhD students Leong Ching and David Yu at National University of Singapore, says: “Media interest for water reuse in Singapore began building up between 1997 and 2001. Story lines on NEWater were overwhelmingly positive, with 84% of the reports being positive and none negative.”
Australia tried to import the Singapore technology but failed. The study explains why: “Singapore has more inclination towards 'positive' story lines on water reuse than in the case of Australia. On news reports and commentaries collected in each country, for instance, the proportions of the frequency of the negative mentions of “yuck” was more than 20% in Australia compared to just 2% in Singapore. Moreover, stories which are indicative of favourable social norms towards water reuse were much higher in Singapore at 76.7% than Australia’s 29.4%.”
So, it will be a huge task for any Indian government, Delhi being no exception, to win this battle for consumer trust that the liquid of life can be a reincarnation of filth.
That’s the natural reflex to water recycled out of, well, sewage. Unfortunately, with the way India’s groundwater level is getting depleted, we may not be left with much of a choice.
According to World Bank data, India is the largest consumer of fresh water. Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water tension and about 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to clean water.
And things will only get worse from here.
According to a Niti Aayog analysis, by 2030, the country’s water demand is going to increase by twice of the available supply, implying acute scarcity, resulting in 6% loss to the country’s gross domestic product or GDP.
Delhi is right at the centre of this strain. Estimates show that the daily demand for water for an ever-increasing population of 20 million is around 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD). Yamuna water fulfils 60% of this demand. The city receives about 870 MGD primarily from the eastern Yamuna canal (270 MGD), western Yamuna canal (280 MGD), upper Ganga canal (255 MGD), and its own groundwater resources (65 MGD).
Not a safe drop to drink
Delhi saw high levels of ammonia (0.9 ppm-2.6 ppm against the Central Pollution Control Board’s stipulated limit of 0.5 ppm) in the Yamuna river water, making the water unfit to process at Delhi Jal Board’s water treatment plants. Mixing such a high level of ammonia with the treating agent chlorine used at the plant could have potentially led to the formation of carcinogenic compounds called trihalomethane. Consequently, water production at three water treatment plants — Haiderpur, Chandrawal, and Wazirabad — decreased by about 40% since January 1. The reason behind such high levels of ammonia was failure on the government’s part to stop factories at the Delhi-Haryana border from releasing polluted effluents directly into the Yamuna.
Also, in direct contravention to an agreement signed between the governments of Delhi and Haryana in 1994, and a Supreme Court order in 1996, India’s capital received less water from the neighbouring state this year– a first in almost 22 years. According to the pact and the apex court order, Haryana is mandated to provide 450 cusecs of water daily to Delhi. However, it has only been providing 330 cusecs, or 120 cusecs less.
As a result, large parts of Delhi are suffering from water crisis. Desperate times, desperate measures
The Delhi government is willing to take on a taboo: Supply drinking water that was once poop and piss. This is not an easy sell at the best. Three things need to be tackled: technology, cost and finally the most important, consumer acceptance.
There are global examples that the Delhi government, and other governments who want to recycle, can look at.
A waste-water treatment demonstration plant in Ulu Pandan, Singapore, which began operating only last year, has won an award at the 2018 Global Water Awards in Paris. The Singapore government is also planning to make the forthcoming Tuas WRP as the most energy-efficient membrane bioreactor (MBR) in the world, with a net process energy consumption target of 0.1kWh/m3, 2.5 times lower than a typical MBR. Unifying the reverse osmosis (RO) polishing stage into the waste-water treatment plant is also groundbreaking for Singapore.
The second example is that of Janicki Bioenergy in Seattle, Washington. In 2015, with the help of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Janicki launched the Omni Processor’s first pilot programme in Senegal. Senegal now has more access to clean drinking water, energy, and overall improved WASH (clean water, sanitation, and hygiene) conditions.
The technology and the cost are in place
Existing water-treatment systems depend on chemical dosage, but the latest one uses improved technology. “Nobody has concentrated on sludge management. This is the most expensive process because you need labour and trucks, which add to the cost of maintenance, and the way it (the waste) is being disposed is not even environment-friendly. It can be converted into fertiliser,” says Smita Singhal, director and CEO, Absolute Water, a water-cycling company that the Delhi government is talking to for recycling projects. Also, the existing process of treating water makes it less mineral-filled.
This is because the Delhi government’s (Delhi Jal Board to be specific) current thinking is encumbered with old ways of doing things.
“The government is ready to accept the technology but not ready to move beyond that. They want to stick with the already-established infra and technology. And don't want to even accept green technologies that can treat water organically retaining its mineral content,” says Singhal.
There are three main operating costs at different levels of the water-recycling process in the old way:
1. Cost of transporting the sewage water to the treatment site
2. Cost of treating the water to make it drinkable
3. Cost of transporting the water back to the places where it is finally used
“Due to these costs, all the earlier projects that have been initiated are very localised. That means if they are treating waste water in a particular area, the water will then only be transported back there. It won’t go to other areas. That was another reason for the failure of the earlier projects,” says Jyoti Sharma, water expert, FORCE, an NGO.
The Delhi Jal Board in its new project plans to treat the waste water, mix it with the Yamuna water, and then take out the treated water for a final treatment and distribution. This is one way of tackling the “psychological resistance” against recycled water.
“You put the recycled water into the Yamuna at Palla. When you take out that water at Wazirabad, you need to again treat it with the regular process,” says a water technologist, who spoke to ET Prime on the condition of anonymity. User behaviour: First recycling invasion of Delhi failed
In October 2015, a DJB initiative called “Toilet to Tap” hit a huge cultural and psychological barrier of the end user. People were not ready to use the water from the initiative as drinking water.
“At DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) bus depots this recycled water was being used to wash buses. Such was the resistance to this recycling,” says Singhal of Absolute Water.
Given this is such a sensitive topic, the first step would have to be to get political unanimity on this issue. Political parties shape public opinion, and especially on this topic their opposition could be decisive.
The second step would be to create a public-outreach programme. “In most Indian homes, the mug that one uses for toilet will not even be used for bathing. So, from there to win consumer trust that this water is safe to drink is a very big step. A huge amount of investment in consumer awareness is needed. Brand ambassadors for the reuse also have to be created,” says Madhukar Sabnavis, country head - planning and discovery at Ogilvy & Mather India.
Singapore marketed its recycled wastewater as NEWater. It was able to use its national media to talk about the safety and the technology that made it safe. A study titled 'Turning the Tide: Informal Institute Change in Water Reuse' by PhD students Leong Ching and David Yu at National University of Singapore, says: “Media interest for water reuse in Singapore began building up between 1997 and 2001. Story lines on NEWater were overwhelmingly positive, with 84% of the reports being positive and none negative.”
Australia tried to import the Singapore technology but failed. The study explains why: “Singapore has more inclination towards 'positive' story lines on water reuse than in the case of Australia. On news reports and commentaries collected in each country, for instance, the proportions of the frequency of the negative mentions of “yuck” was more than 20% in Australia compared to just 2% in Singapore. Moreover, stories which are indicative of favourable social norms towards water reuse were much higher in Singapore at 76.7% than Australia’s 29.4%.”
So, it will be a huge task for any Indian government, Delhi being no exception, to win this battle for consumer trust that the liquid of life can be a reincarnation of filth.
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