Planned indiret potable reuse (IPR), using advanced water treatment processes such as membrane filtration, has predominatly been the preserve of highly developed weathly countries such as the USA (and soon, Australia). However, it seems that such high-tech IPR practices may not be so endemic to such highly developed countries for very much longer.
An article in today’s Khaleej Times (published from Dubai, UAE) reports plans afoot to develop an advanced membrane-based IPR scheme for the city of Bangalore in India.
Bangalore is, in fact, among the most developed cities in India, thanks largely to a thriving technology industry. The New York Times reported in 2006:
“Bangalore is now home to more than 1,000 technology firms, ranging from tiny two-person start-ups to large multinational companies like Intel, Texas Instruments and Cisco Systems. In a teeming city of seven million, the industry employs about 300,000 workers, who are turning into a rising middle-class…”
“Young, comparatively well-paid technology workers, many in their 20s, dress in the latest American and European clothing labels, speak in accented English, drive foreign cars and shop in fancy malls. Home prices are shooting up in the city, and in the last couple of years, local newspapers advertise apartments and villas costing more than $1 million.”
Nonetheless, advanced water and sanitation infrastructure are not characteristics that most Indian cities are known for. Sewage is discharged into major rivers from many Indian cities after only very poor or no treatment. Such practices are –tragically- major contributors to the appaling public health conditions that continue to plague cities like Calcutta and Delhi.
So it was with a high degree of optimisim that I read this article reflecting the on-going development of Bangalore. It is to be hoped that knowledge, skills and capability developed in this city will, in time, be transferable to other Indian cities desperatly in need of improved water management.
I don’t have any further information on the proposed Bangalore scheme, other than what is in the article below. However if you do, I’d be grateful to know more.
Bangalore to Recycle Used Water for Drinking Purposes
Khaleej Times
24 January 2008
BANGALORE - The growing demand for water has forced the authorities in Bangalore to take up a project to promote use of recycled water for drinking purposes.
The demand for drinking water has reached 1.2 billion litres per day in Bangalore against the availability of 930 million litres per day. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has decided to implement a Rs4.72 billion project to recycle water for drinking purposes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
According to a statement from BWSSB, the project has been sanctioned by JNNURM’s Screening Committee, which met in New Delhi last week. Under the project, BWSSB will collect used water in Visvesvaraya valley on the outskirts of the city. “The used water will undergo tertiary treatment, ultra filtration and membrane process. This will help the authorities to supply an additional 135 million litres per day once the project is completed by 2010”, the statement said.
Presently, the drinking water supply to Bangalore is being met by River Cauvery, which flows at a distance of almost 120kms from Bangalore, and the Thippegondanahalli reservoir. But, the 810 million litres from Cauvery and 150 million litres from Thippegondanahalli reservoir are inadequate creating a shortfall of more than 250 million litres per day.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)