In another ten days, Chennai will become the first Indian city to recycle sewage and supply it for industrial purposes, said Chennai Metro Water Board officials. A new treatment plant being built at Kodungaiyur in North Chennai will be operational by August first week as construction works are in the final stages.
Once the plant starts functioning, recycled water will be sent to industries in the city. This means that fresh water that is currently being supplied to industries will be provided only for residents as drinking water, helping the city to tide over the severe water crisis.
One more similar treatment plant under construction at Koyambedu is expected to open in the first week of September. Both plants which can treat 90 million litres of sewage a day work based on a reverse osmosis treatment method. By this method, sewage that is usually let into the city’s river after secondary treatment will now be diverted to these new plants for a third level of treatment, which makes the water fit enough for industrial use.
For a decade now, close to 40 Million Litres a Day (MLD) is being supplied to water-intensive industries at Manali, Minjur, Ennore in North Chennai and Oragadam, Sriperumbudur in the suburbs from Chembarambakkam reservoir and Minjur desalination plant.
“At the Kodungaiyur plant we will Initially be treating 15 MLD of sewage and will slowly increase the load to 35 MLD and finally to the full capacity of 45 MLD. Industries are to benefit from this project too as they will be getting an additional supply of 50 MLD of treated water for their use,” said a Metro Water official.
Once both plants are commissioned, officials said water that was previously given to industries will be supplied to residential areas like Tiruvottiyur, Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Madhavaram and Manali in the North, Chintadripet, Purasawalkam, Egmore, T Nagar, Mambalam in the centre.
“Now as Chembarambakkam reservoir has gone dry, water from the quarries are supplied to industries. Before, close to 30 MLD from the reservoir were supplied to industries in SIPCOT. Now we can now easily maintain our supply of 525 MLD till October. We will be supplying treated water to six out of 27 industries in the Manali belt initially,” said the official.
Metro Water officials said due to these new plants 20 percent of sewage generated in the city will be recycled, cutting the dependency on fresh water sources.
Also, the capacity of both plants will be increased from 90 MLD to 120 MLD, which means each plant will be equipped to treat 60 MLD of sewage against 45 MLD. Officials said that the capacity expansion of both the plants will be completed by July 2020.
Facts in a glimpse: