Express Water (Vol. 1 No. 1) December, 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

A

journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the first crucial step we are taking now with the inception of EXPRESS WATER magazine will have to go beyond the thousandmile mark. That’s how we will be able to follow our vision - of being a community engagement platform that brings the world’s water communities together.

The water community has various stakeholders governments, industrial users, technology vendors, consultants, institutes, water experts, policy-makers, contractors, EPCs, etc. Moreover, as an industry, we are still not completely organized. Different communication mediums are present in the industry, only providing a one-sided flow of information mostly on the technology and its implementation. Consequently, we always felt the lack of a strong binding force which could bring all the stakeholders together on one platform - to share ideas, opinions, and most significantly the invaluable experiences.

EXPRESS WATER magazine aims to fill this very gap. Winning the trust of all the stakeholders will be a challenge to us. Therefore, we aim to be neutral, unaffected by the market pressure, to provide unbiased content and space for the water sector to converse and converge. We derive this strength from the core philosophy of the Indian Express group.

As per a recent market-report by Frost, this year the key predictions for municipal water and wastewater segment include Sustainability, Customer Engagement, Smart Water Management, etc., while

HEAD OFFICE - MUMBAI EXPRESS WATER® The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 2nd Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai- 400 021 Board line: 022- 67440000 Ext. 527 Branch Offices NEW DELHI Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division Express Building, B-1/B Sector 10 Noida 201 301 Dist.Gautam Budh nagar (U.P.) India.

Board line: 0120-6651500.

Mobile: +91 9899707440 BANGALORE Mathen Mathew The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 502, 5th Floor, Devatha Plaza, Residency road, Bangalore- 560025 Mobile: +91 9840826366

EXPRESS WATER

“If there is magic on this planet,it is contained in water.”Loren Eiseley

HYDERABAD The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 6-3-885/7/B, Ground Floor, VV Mansion, Somaji Guda, Hyderabad – 500 082 KOLKATA Ajanta Sengupta The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division JL No. 29&30, NH-6, Mouza- Prasastha & Ankurhati, Vill & PO- Ankurhati P.S.- Domjur (Nr.Ankurhati Check Bus Stop), Dist.

Howrah- 711 409, Mobile: +91 9831182580 Email id: ajanta.sengupta@expressindia.com KOCHI The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Ground Floor, Sankoorikal Building, Kaloor – Kadavanthra Road Kaloor, Kochi – 682 017 COIMBATORE The Indian Express (P) Ltd. No. 205-B, 2nd Floor,Vivekanand Road, Opp. Rajarathinam Hospital Ram Nagar, Coimbatore- 641 009

growing demand for Sustainable Solutions, Water Reuse and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) will drive the market in the industrial segment. This means that innovation will obviously be the key, and concepts like Internet-of-Things (IoT) for a green and sustainable infrastructure, and more cost-effective decentralized treatment systems would find favor.

The water sector is truly at a crucial juncture.

EXPRESS WATER would be at the forefront to consistently highlight such trends. To become the most trusted source of information and help you make informed buying decisions, we will come up with the right blend of project news, products, market trends, and analysis. We will address a wide range of issues in diverse disciplines of water & wastewater from across the globe and most importantly India.

For inaugural issue what could have been better for us than going to the leaders of the water sector and asking for their collective wisdom on water. Our esteemed authors and their organizations represent a complete water ecosystem in this issue’s cover story.

Let us know your thoughts on our inaugural issue.

Send us your suggestions and contributions. After all, as a community, we can only prosper as long as we stay connected and keep sharing the magic of water.

MAYUR SHARMA Editor mayur.sharma@expressindia.com @TheExpressWater

AHMEDABAD Nirav Mistry The Indian Express (P) Ltd. 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Near Judges Bunglows, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad - 380 015 Mobile: +91 9586424033 BHOPAL Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. Business Publication Division 2nd Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai- 400 021 Board line: 022- 67440000 Ext. 527 JAIPUR Prabhas Jha The Indian Express (P) Ltd. S2,J-40, Shyam GHP Enclave, Krishna Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur - 302 001 Mobile: +91 9899707440

Important:Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,it is not possible to verifyits contents.The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such contents,nor for anyloss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies,associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or publications.We therefore recommend that readers make necessaryinquiries before sending anymonies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

December, 2017

3

CONTENTS WATER DIALOGUE

Vol 01 No 1 December 2017 Pages 72 Chairman of the Board

06 10

Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD

Neil Viegas Editor

Mayur Sharma*

INTERVIEW - SADHGURU Founder, Isha Foundation INTERVIEW - DR. SANJAY MUKHERJEE Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai

DESIGN

MARKET

National Design Editor

Bivash Barua

62 64 66

Assistant Art Director

Pravin Temble Chief Designer

Prasad Tate Senior Designer

Rekha Bisht Graphic Designer

Ashish Anchan Photo Editor

Sandeep Patil MARKETING

Kailash Shirodkar CIRCULATION

MARKET REPORTS

67

WATER LEADERS

ACCURATE DOSING PUMPS ENABLE WELSH WATER TO MAINTAIN STRICT PHOSPHORUS LIMITS The investment is expected to achieve a quick return thanks to significant savings in maintenance associated with stripping down and cleaning the diaphragm pumps.

Leaders from water community share their thoughts on the challenges water sector is facing and chalk out their roadmap for all the stakeholders.

Mohan Varadakar

23-60

PRODUCTION General Manager

PROJECT TRACKER

B R Tipnis

POST EVENT - INDIA WATER WEEK 2017

CASE STUDY

Gauri Deorukhkar SCHEDULING & COORDINATION

POST EVENT - IFAT INDIA 2017

68

Manager

Bhadresh Valia Express Water® RNI NO. MAHENG-14351. Printed by The Indian Express (P) Ltd. and published by Ms Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400710 and Published from

72

WATER & WASTEWATER REUSE PROJECTS IN NAMIBIA The Ujams Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse project also received a distinction award for “Industrial Water Project of the Year” at Global Water Summit in Athens, Greece.

74

Express Towers, 2nd Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. (Editorial &

P03 : EDITOR’S NOTE

Administrative Offices: Express Towers, 1st Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai –

WATER TRAVELS MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN IN A STEADY FLOW TO THE POWER PLANT The project has recently been awarded as 'Project of the Year'.

NAMAMI GANGE Total 34 projects worth Rs. 3581 crore were sanctioned for cleaning Ganga between 20082014, while 56 projects worth Rs. 9630 crore have been approved since 2014 till date.

P21 : MOVEMENTS

70

MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT IMPROVES METER READING ACCURACY A water utility in California uses FlexNet to better serve its growing customer base.

400021) Copyright © 2017 The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act

4

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW

WATER DIALOGUE With Sadhguru Founder, Isha Foundation Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and bestselling author. He has been conferred the ‘Padma Vibhushan’ by the Government of India in 2017. He recently completed a nationwide Rally for Rivers campaign in which he drove himself covering 9300 kilometers, 16 states and over 142 events, at the end of which he submitted first copy of a draft policy with recommendations on revival of rivers in India to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sadhguru, in an interaction with Mayur Sharma shares his thoughts on water and his initiative for rivers...

6

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW WHAT IS WATER for you?

How essential it is to understand the significance of water in today's world?

Sadhguru: Water is not a commodity, it is life-making material. Whenever we look for life, we look for a drop of water first! 70% of our body itself is water. In this culture, we did not see rivers as just water bodies. We see them as life-giving gods and goddesses. To a thinking mind, which is confined to the limitations of its logic, this may sound foolish or very rudimentary. “A river is a river, how is it a goddess?”

If you lock up such a person in a room without giving him water for three days, and then show him a glass of water, he will bow down to it – not to a river, just a glass of water!

Water is an essential element of your survival, but today, the kind of water situation India is facing is really dire. The per capita volume of water that is available in India today is only twentyfive percent of what was available in 1947. Today, there are many towns and villages in India where they bathe only once in three days. India’s is a culture where no matter what, even if you do not eat, you have a shower. Nowadays, people are skipping their bath. This is not development; this is not wellbeing. A situation seems to be coming where we will have to drink water only on alternate days. As a nation, we are not organized enough nor do we have the resources to move millions of litres of water from one place to another and make sure people have water to drink. Millions of people would just die without water.

Water is a resource that has to be managed. We have not really paid attention to this in the last few decades.

There is an urgent need for an enforceable policy which will determine how we should live around our water bodies, what we should do and what we should not do.

EXPRESS WATER

This is a responsibility that we owe to the future generations. As a generation of people, we have caused the maximum damage. As a generation, even if we can’t fix everything, at least we must drive in the right direction towards what must be done.

What was the impetus for 'Rally for Rivers' campaign? How is it different than the earlier campaigns for saving rivers?

Sadhguru: Rivers have been the lifelines of this nation. We are a culture that has grown out of a riverbank. But today, our rivers are at dangerous levels of depletion. If you fly over India, the nation looks like brown desert. Many rivers don’t even touch the ocean many months of the year. When rain comes it floods, otherwise there’s nothing. This is not a situation we can afford to ignore anymore.

Various policies are required to protect the river as the problems faced are diverse. However, most campaigns today focus on redistributing the existing water and managing pollution entering the river systems.

There has not been much effort to increase the water flow in the river. Rally for Rivers’ focus is in this aspect of “Source Augmentation.”

The draft policy for river revitalization focuses on the health and life of the river as a living entity. It proposes tree plantation along the river sides as a means for source augmentation of the river flow.

Most campaigns also do not address the needs of the majority of the stakeholders dependent on the river systems – especially the farmers. 60 to 80% of the water from the river system is used for irrigation purposes. The policy recommendation details how if farmers shift to tree-based agriculture with micro-irrigation practices, the water

demand on the river can be reduced by 40 to 50%. This will decrease the pressure on the river system and enhance the income of the farmer at the same time.

If we implement this properly in the next eight to ten years, you will see the water situation in the nation will improve. But if we wait for 15, 20 years and then attempt to reverse the problem, it will take a much longer time to turn around.

How would you explain the concept of 'River Revitalization'? Who are the stakeholders?

Sadhguru: My entire effort in this is to somehow marry science and politics.

All married people understand that when you marry, you have to make compromises – otherwise it won’t last! In any relationship, whether it is a marriage or the marketplace, both the parties must benefit otherwise it is not going to work.

So it is very important all the stakeholders benefit in this policy.

The first stakeholder is the river itself. The river flow should increase. All the life that is sustained in the river will naturally benefit from that. The next is the farmers and other communities which depend on the river for livelihood. They must benefit from this.

Allied industry must also benefit for them to invest in agricultural produce and infrastructure. Next is the larger community – those of us who live in towns and cities. Then comes the government and the local administrations. They must benefit in terms of taxes and revenue. Only then will this fall into place. This is what the draft policy involves.

The policy document proposes tree plantation for one kilometer on either river side. Out of this, wherever the land is government-owned, it should become forest, with native

and endemic vegetation – appropriate trees, grasses and shrubs. This need not be limited to one kilometer from the river. It can cover the entire area of the government land.

The rest of the land is in the farmers’ hands. It is not fair to ask the poor farmer to save the river or the nation or the ecology – it’s just ridiculous. So what we have evolved is an economic plan with a significant ecological impact. If a farmer shifts from cropbased to tree-based agriculture, his income can go up anywhere between three to eight times in five to seven years’ time by going for right selection of trees with efficient supply chain management. The farmer can live a good life and the nation’s soil and water will be taken care of.

If we demonstrate that this can be economically successful for a farmer, the government and administration will not have to enforce or implement anything. It will just spread by itself. Making it economically profitable and sustainable is the most important thing. This is not ecology versus economy – this is economics which sustains ecology. This is how it has to be approached.

Otherwise it is not going to work.

It is to ensure that the policy is comprehensive and takes into account all stakeholders’ interests that we have presented the draft policy in the public domain. There is a threemonth window during which it is open to suggestions and contributions from anyone. If someone has experience and wisdom about some aspect that we have not considered, we would definitely look at it. I invite everyone with the necessary expertise to give their technical and scientific inputs to strengthen the policy for better implementation.

What do you see as the key challenges to conserving, restoring, and rejuvenating rivers?

Sadhguru: There are many complexities involved in this. There are legislative challenges, there are legal challenges, there are social challenges and there are economic challenges. But one of the biggest challenges is that rivers do not respect state borders because they flow across the nation as they want.

The central government can make an overarching policy but the river flows in the geography of the states. Essentially, it is in the hands of the state to implement. This concurrence between the center and state has not been happening for the last seventy

“

It would be ideal if we evaluate the economic gains from (on-going river) interlinking projects and weigh them against the loss of natural resource capital, before embarking on new projects. years.

When I was in Puducherry, the honorable Chief Minister, Sri Narayanasamy, lamented “Sadhguru, when I was in Rajiv Gandhi’s government, we had a very similar plan but we could not get concurrence from other states.

They were so disparate that it did not happen.” I replied, “Sir, if you had done this twenty-five years ago, we could have done this with ten percent of the effort that we are putting in right now. But at least now you are here and it’s fantastic.”

December, 2017

7

INTERVIEW Do you support the proposed projects of river-interlinking and increasing water transport? Will they be beneficial or harmful in the long run?

“

It is important that the citizens of India give a resounding “Yes!”to river revitalization. It should be such a big a number that political parties that depend on people’s vote, will not forget it.

The Chief Ministers of all the sixteen states that I drove through are on board.

This is concurrence. This is something that we could not do for seventy years but our political leadership has matured today, where we are all willing to sit together, stand together and work together for a cause that matters to the nation.

Across the spectrum of political parties, every one of them are speaking in one voice and supporting Rally for Rivers. This is a wonderful development in the country because this was the big hurdle that we failed to cross so far.

source pollution can be handled by incentivizing adaptation of wastewater treatment technologies and heavy disincentivizing of polluters.

The use of chemicals for cultivation should also be avoided in the riverside areas. If our farmers are to get good yields and make a living out of agriculture, what is needed is not chemical inputs into the soil. What is needed is organic content. Soil will be healthy only if we can put back leaves from the trees

What are some of your proposed plans to ensure a 'nirmal' (pollution-free) and 'aviral' (uninterrupted) flow of rivers?

If you pay for your sewage, what goes into the river will be reasonably good water.This doesn’t take decades to fix.

Sadhguru: The draft policy looks at how a minimum environmental flow of water must be maintained in rivers till the sea coast. This flow must be sufficient for the flora and fauna in the riverine ecosystem. This minimum flow should be mandated for every river.

The draft also looks at how an effective implementation of an appropriate regulatory framework must happen, to control river pollution – both point source such as industrial sewage and non-point source such as agricultural runoff. Point

8

December, 2017

“

and animal waste into it. To call soil, soil, a minimum of two percent organic content has to be there in the soil. If you take away this organic content, soil becomes unfit for cultivation. In states like Punjab, Haryana, in Marathwada in Maharashtra, southern Tamil Nadu, northern Karnataka, and some parts of Andhra Pradesh, the organic content in the soil

is 0.05 percent. This is a sure recipe for the desertification of this land, which has provided food for us for thousands of years.

Soil and rivers are deeply connected. If we deplete our soil, we will also deplete our rivers.

What does the draft policy says about current river projects being implemented across India?

Sadhguru: The draft policy recommendation’s purview is majorly in increasing the river flow in the next 10 to 15 years. If this does not happen, there won’t be enough water for any of these projects to be relevant.

The nature of demand and supply management projects, such as dams and hydroelectric projects, are immediate and short-term solutions when we see it from the perspective of the country’s lifetime. The decision whether to go or not go for such projects should arise out of solid scientific studies with a consultation process including all stakeholders.

Environmental impact assessment studies must be conducted before the start of any such initiative even if it is has sound scientific background. This has been covered in the draft policy recommendation that has been made public.

Sadhguru: Whenever we look to redistribute water, it should be done in a very calibrated way. If it is needed somewhere for flood mitigation, it may have to be done. But thinking that all our problems will be solved if you link rivers is not true.

River-interlinking is based on the assumption that some river basins have “surplus” water supply while others have “deficit”, and by linking them, water supply can be more evenly distributed. From our interactions with scientists, we have learnt that the idea of a “surplus” or “deficit” basin is limited and does not take into consideration varying climatic conditions.

For example, the monsoons have been weakening over the last few decades in various parts of India and the rainfall in parts of the country is now happening for fewer days and often in very intense spells. The “surplus” basins may, in fact, face water stress due to these changes.

A few interlinking projects have already rolled out. It would be ideal if we evaluate the economic gains from these projects and weigh them against the loss of natural resource capital, before embarking on new projects. Any new proposal for interlinking must strictly be evaluated on the basis of scientific and environmental merit and long-term sustainability, rather than on the basis of emotions and politics.

And while assessing potential benefits, in the context of our tropical climate, we should account for the resultant loss of water via evaporation and ground seepage.

In India, rivers are most-

ly forest-fed. So bringing back the tree cover on either sides of the river is the only long-term sustainable solution to address water scarcity and reduce the impact of floods and droughts.

Rivers' natural flow has also been affected over the years because huge amounts of water are being diverted in canals, for agriculture and industries, etc. What are your thoughts about it?

Sadhguru: Agriculture in India is using up sixty to eighty percent of the water in the river. If we look at many other nations that are growing similar crops – with much better yields – they are using much less water.

Our policy recommendation strongly advises a shift to tree-based agriculture practices with implementation of micro-irrigation technologies. If we bring in the right kind of technologies and create the necessary humus on the land, the consumption of water will go down significantly, and that itself will make the river flow.

We must understand that the large dams were built when we were in a survival mode as a nation. In 1947, we were left with a country that had no means to live. The average life expectancy was thirty-two years. There was no industry, business, commerce – everything was destroyed when the British left.

For almost fifty years, we have done many desperate things while in survival mode. That happens in the life of a nation.

Unfortunately our populations multiplied too rapidly – not necessarily because of reproduction – but simply because the life expectancy improved, which is a wonderful achievement. But from thirty-three crores we came to hundred-and-thirty crores. So the pressure on

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW the land has increased. The land-population ratio is very bad in India. All these are the realities we have to work with.

So for the first fifty years we have been in survival mode. For the last twenty years, we have been in developmental mode. Now, a time has come – the Rally for Rivers is a turning point – where we have to shift to a sustainable mode.

What is the realistic time frame we should look at, for the revival of our rivers?

Sadhguru: If we do the right things for the next ten to fifteen years in a concerted way, then in the next twenty to twenty-five years, we will have an increase of anywhere between fifteen to twenty percent of the river flows.

Twenty to twenty-five years means four to five governments – going by the usual democratic process.

We don’t know which party will be in power after twenty years, but if we want to keep all of them focused on this, it is important that the citizens of India give a resounding “Yes!” to river revitalization. It should be such a big a number that political parties that depend on people’s vote, will not forget it.

The way to make your voice heard is to give a missed call to a number we have setup for this: 80009 80009. A missed call is your vote for river revitalization.

We have got over 12 crore missed calls so far – making this a landmark people’s movement in post-independence India. During the 30-day rally, I drove over 9300 kilometers, and the response from the people was phenomenal. There were 142 on-the-ground events and 186 one-on-one media interviews.

But I am asking for a minimum of thirty crore missed calls from the people of the nation is because thirty crore is about forty

EXPRESS WATER

percent of the electorate.

Usually, that’s how much it takes to win an election.

But the young people in the country should not stop at thirty crore. All of us are water drinking species, isn’t it? So everybody who consumes water must Rally for Rivers.

Would you say there is a need to make changes in our Water Policies as a nation, or the current policies are sufficient?

Sadhguru: There is a definitely a need for a national policy to treat our rivers as a national treasure, not as individual private property - as is being done right now. As I said above, water is a resource that has to be managed, and our nation has unfortunately not looked at this properly. An enforceable law to determine how we behave with our water bodies is a must, which takes into consideration the entire spectrum of preservation of soil, the many species of life and the water resource in this country. It can no longer be left to individual people to decide what they want to do or not do with our rivers.

Every year, we see droughts and depletion in water levels of rivers and lakes, and on the other hand floods are also a major concern. How should we balance our priorities?

Sadhguru: This cycle of flood and drought is because we are not able to hold the water in the land.

There is a very beautiful saying in the Tamil language, which was said hundreds of years ago. They said, “Kaveri should come walking, she should not run. If she runs there will be destruction.” This is the wisdom of the past. If we have to make her walk, we are not talking about putting up dams. If Kaveri is to walk, there must be substantial vegetation along

the river sides. If you take away all the vegetation water will run away.

In this country, the way our monsoons work is such that we have only an average of forty-five days of rain. What comes down in forty-five days, we are required to hold it in the land and slowly let it into the rivers. You and me cannot do this. Only large-scale vegetation or forests can do this. Where there is vegetation, where there is an enormous root system, and where there is a whole lot of bioactivity, when rain falls, it will percolate into the soil and will be held there, and slowly flow into the rivers.

This will reduce the effects of both flood and drought.

One thing that we tend to overlook is that floods every once in a few years is part of the natural ecosystem. Every river’s 100-year flood level has been marked and this area is meant for the flood waters to pass through. The reason there is a lot of damage and destruction during floods is because we have settled in the lands where the river is supposed to flood. And because of reduction in the permanent green cover in the river’s catchment areas, the impact of the flood on people is increasing.

The increase in frequency of floods is also a part of global climate change, and what we do as a country alone will not be enough to address this issue. This needs to determined action from leaders around the world.

Unfortunately, what I see right now is that we still don’t seem to be serious about handling the ecological disaster we are heading towards. We are not yet looking for solutions, we are only looking to slow down the disaster. If we want an effective solution to be implement in a short timeframe, we must make ecological solutions into a

“

An enforceable law to determine how we behave with our water bodies is a must.

business. If we make it economically viable, people will participate in it. As I said earlier, it should not be ecology versus economy – it should be economics which sustains ecology.

Finally, what are your thoughts on the current practices of Sewage Treatment and Wastewater Reuse? And how should the industries support the government?

Sadhguru: Pollution is a major issue that our rivers are facing, but I don’t see why these issues are not being handled yet. It just takes a stringent law to fix it in a matter of four to five years. There is no need for us to go and clean a river. If you stop putting pollutants into the river, it will clean itself in one flood season.

What is needed are laws and the necessary determination to implement them.

For example, today, water,

electricity and gas are metered and you pay for what you use. Why can’t we have a system where you pay for the sewage that comes out of your house or industry. The private sector can set up water treatment facilities and the law can mandate the minimum quality of the water before it is let out into the river.

A public-private partnership system needs to be established and run sustainably and efficiently. The way the roads in our country have been developed in such a short span of time is a case in point to show that such initiatives are possible.

It is just that these aspects have not been prioritized. If you pay for your sewage, what goes into the river will be reasonably good water.

This doesn’t take decades to fix. The necessary technology is already present.

What is needed is intent and commitment to execute.

December, 2017

9

INTERVIEW

WATER DIALOGUE With Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, IAS of 1996 batch is best known for his ability to successfully execute some of the most challenging, ambitious and prestigious projects in Maharashtra.

In his current avatar as the Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, he is responsible for the mega projects undertaken by MCGM, like the Costal Road Project, Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project, Solid Waste Management and several water supply projects. He is also responsible for ensuring safe drinking water to all the citizens of Mumbai, managing the city’s sewage system, property tax, octroi, all matters of finance and taxation of MCGM, etc. In conversation with Mayur Sharma...

10

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

INTERVIEW What is WATER for you?

Dr. Mukherjee: Water is one of the most abundantly available and most unusual substances present on our planet. One comes across water in different forms like rain, river, lakes, ice or sea, etc.

Though ¾ surface of earth is covered with water, most of it, say about 97% is in the oceans, which is dense with salts and not useful for drinking or irrigation. The remaining 3% water is in the form of glaciers, deep aquifers and surface water.

The readily available surface sources are less than 1% of water available on earth.

The association of human beings with water starts even before his birth, i.e. the embryo swims in it for nine prenatal months in the warmth of the mother’s womb. For that matter, the very life on this planet begins in the water. Every cell in human body has a fluid interior e.g. blood is 90% water, kidney is 82% water, muscles are 75% water, liver is 69% water and living bones are 22% water. As a physical entity, a living person is 71% water by weight. On an average, a person drinks about 5times its weight of water per year and in normal life span consumes about 30,000 litres of water. In essence, therefore, we can say WATER IS LIFE on this planet.

Please list a few challenges faced by you in managing the mega-city’s water & wastewater projects. How do you overcome the challenges in them?

Dr. Mukherjee: Managing water supply in a mega-city like Mumbai is 24x7 X 365 days job. Water supply in Mumbai is particularly challenging due to the high and dense population, the gap in demand and supply, the intermittent nature of its supply and the distance of its sources. Mumbai has

EXPRESS WATER

“

I am happy to inform you that we have been able to resolve all the issues of the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP) – and the project has begun.

a high density of slums, where it is very difficult to extend the piped network.

In addition, there are settlements on elevated terrains in the fag-end of the system. Almost the entire water supply of Mumbai is planned in such a way that the supply is by gravity, resulting in huge savings of power. Therefore, we have huge challenges of in-equitable distribution, contamination, poor asset life, difficulties in leak detection, and a high quotient of nonrevenue-water.

Essentially, these challenges are being overcome by reducing the demandsupply gap. The Middle Vaitarna Dam commissioned in 2015 has given us an additional 455 MLD (Million Litres per Day).

This was the 9th fastest RCC dam in the world and the fastest constructed dam in India. We augmented our sources by 265 MLD in the last two years by commissioning the 15.1 km Gundavli Kapurwadi Bhandup Complex Tunnel (the longest water supply tunnel in the country), the Modak Sagar Lake Tapping experiment (again, 2nd of its type in India and 3rd in the world), the commissioning of the Bhandup Water Recycling Plant (2015) and the Panjrapur Water Recycling plant (2016). This is almost equal to the water supply of the Tansa Dam, and was achieved without any negative environment impact.

We are in the process of upgrading our wastewater treatment facilities and plan to create about 15001800 MLD of tertiary treated water daily in the next 5 years. This shall be supplied for non-potable purposes and the potable water, thus freed, shall be made available for drinking purposes.

“

We (MCGM) are the first organization in the country to introduce the concept of “Open Technology Deliverable Based Contracts”.This has indeed opened up competition greatly and has also made the best and proven technologies available to us.

For fresh water, we are planning the Gargai Project (440 MLD), the Pinjal Project (845 MLD) and the Damanganga Pinjal River Link Projects. Thus, we have a holistic plan in place and its implantation has commenced.

I am happy to mention that we supply 165 LPCD of water daily to our citizens, i.e. the highest anywhere.

We have also commenced projects of leak detection and repair, contamination avoidance, equitable distribution, 24/7 water supply and the results are beginning to show. On the conservation side, we are focussing on leak-detection, reducing the non-revenue-water percentage, metering, improving the quality of water and educating people on the need to save water.

We have appointed a high powered committee to look into the issues of inequitable distribution.

Our Water Distribution Improvement Program also looks into these aspects.

What is your budget for the water & wastewater projects in current financial year? How do you plan to spend it?

Dr. Mukherjee: The general budget will mainly be spent on ‘Asset Renewal’ as replacement of old pipelines and reservoirs repairs; strengthening of transmission and distribution system by laying new pipelines and tunnels; refurbishment of existing pipelines by suitable internal lining and external corrosion resistant coating and re-construction of water treatment plants and refurbishment of old water treatment plants. Amongst the larger projects, we are planning to commence work of a conveyance system of underground tunnels and new pipelines to replace our existing old trunk mains.

Please tell us - about the current and upcoming big projects on water treatment & sewage treatment.

I am happy to inform you

December, 2017

11

INTERVIEW that we have been able to resolve all the issues of Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP), which was held up since last decade and project has begun. We have started work on Colaba WWTF (37 MLD), Vallabhnagar and Charkop pumping stations. CPCB has now finalized discharge standards. This year, we shall commence works of Bhandup, Ghatkopar, Versova, Worli, Bandra and Dharavi WWTFs. In addition to treatment, we have also commenced the process of making Mumbai 100% sewered.

The Mumbai Sewerage Improvement Program (MSIP) envisages 100% connectivity in the coming 5 years. Works of the same have also commenced.

On the fresh water side, we have finished planning of the Gargai, Pinjal and Damanganga Pinjal River Link Projects. Now we are in the process of seeking various regulatory clearances and approvals, and once all that is received, work shall start. We have also planned an underground conveyance system of tunnels to replace the age old trunk mains. Some of these works have commenced and some will begin in 2018-19.

What are some the latest technologies which are being in used in your projects?

Dr. Mukherjee: From a narrow viewpoint of technology selection, Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) for water supply were introduced in India by us. The 5500mm finished diameter water supply tunnel from GundavliKapurbavdiBhandup complex is perhaps the largest in world.

MCGM has used all the available technologies for water treatment plants like conventional settlers at the old WTP at Bhandup, tubular settlers in new WTP at Bhandup, hopper bottom/

12

December, 2017

flat bottom/ lamella at Panjrapur WTP and Dissolved Air Floatation (DAF) in the latest refurbished WTP at Vehar.

Robotic machines have been used for periodic reservoir cleaning.

However, from a wider standpoint of adopting best practices, we are the first organization in country to introduce concept of “Open Technology Deliverable Based Contracts”. Here, technology is not specified but deliverables are very strictly defined. All technologies which are able to achieve the same can compete and selection is by the best price criterion. This has indeed opened up competition greatly and has also made the best and proven technologies available to us.

Tell us about the current state of ‘water distribution network’ in Mumbai. What are your plans to make it a smart & sustainable 24x7 water supply network?

Dr. Mukherjee: The Water Distribution Network of Mumbai is quite strong hydraulically. Any water supply distribution network is ideally designed for 24hours (peak factor 1) and checked for 8-hours (peak factor 3). In Mumbai, originally system was designed for 8-hours supply and in course of time with reduced supply hours, the distribution system is strengthened to meet a higher peak (therefore lesser supply hours). Thus, with many areas currently having average 2-hours water supply (peak factor 12) do not require any major strengthening of distribution network when supply hours are extended to 24x7.

Leak management will be a crucial issue on conversion to continuous water supply. The pressure and flow data loggers with real time monitoring will be mandatory and the network is being equipped with

“

“The reduction in Non-Revenue-Water and 24x7 water supply will make the Mumbai water supply as one of the best water supply systems in the world.” flow and pressure regulating and measuring devices with real-time data transmission facility at distribution control centres.

You have recently mentioned about your focus on a “Water Distribution Improvement Program”. Why do you think it is so important to “prevent leakages and water loss”?

Dr. Mukherjee: The current estimated NonRevenue-Water (NRW) is around 22% and if the network is charged for 24x7, the NRW is likely to increase substantially.

Therefore, it is very important to manage leaks. In the current scenario, locating leaks by conventional (sounding) method is difficult due to various issues like supply times, traffic, low pressures, deeper mains and parking along the side strips of the roads.

However, the state-of-theart Helium method used in WDIP overcomes most of these hindrances.

Moreover, the flow & pressure regulating devices in the network will prevent unnecessary pressurization of the network and thereby will control the quantum of leak. All these aspects are covered under our “Water Distribution Improvement Program”.

You recently talked about ‘complete automation’ of water and sewage networks in the city. What is

the progress so far?

Dr. Mukherjee: The SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system was installed in MCGM in the year 2001. The ‘flow’ and ‘pressure’ from the source to Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and the Master Balancing Reservoir (MBR) to service reservoirs is being monitored 24x7 X 365 days in control centres.

Additional/ replacement of flow meters along with pressure recorders in primary (from source to water treatment plant) & secondary system (master balancing reservoir to service reservoirs) have been identified after gap analysis and tenders have being floated for the same.

In the tertiary system (service reservoirs to consumer end), H/W and T ward will be covered under pilot phase of WDIP and rest of the wards will be covered in phased manner.

Currently, around 1,500 million litres of wastewater is dumped into the sea without being treated.

In that light, how important will be the planned Rs. 2,020 crore project for city’s largest Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Malad?

The present Malad WWTF serves a population of over 25 lakh. It is located in CRZ I area and has a small footprint. It has only a facility of preliminary treatment, and hence need to be upgraded to the latest standards. However, though the Hon. High Court has given its go ahead for cutting the mangroves of the required footprint, and the CRZ clearance is received, we are awaiting the forest clearance and the land for replanting the mangroves.

Once these clearances are received, the work of this WWTF shall be taken up on top priority.

Looking at the possibilities of various internal and external threats, is water safety and security a concern for BMC? Dr. Mukherjee: There are no known threats to water sources of Mumbai. The sources are located in the remote areas amid forest and wildlife sanctuaries.

The transmission system is also having provision of inter-basin transfer with adequate connectivity and as such water security is maintained.

External threat is beyond mortal control, and wherever possible, surveillance and regular patrolling is in place.

However, that should not make anybody complacent. Fresh water is one of our scarcest resources and one needs to use it wisely as they say, save water, save life.

Finally, being the Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) of the city, what is your vision for the city and its water?

Dr. Mukherjee: We are working towards making the city water reliant and surplus. In addition, we are trying to augment our sources in an environment friendly matter. In fact, the 265 MLD water source which we have created over the last 2 years can be an example of all ULBs/ RLBs in the country. We are placing great emphasis in recycling of water and wastewater. On the distribution side, we are focussing on equitable distribution, supply of pure water - free from contamination, and water available round the clock. So my vision is as follows: Water Security, Water Safety and Water Conservation.

And I must add that the reduction in NRW and 24x7 water supply will make the Mumbai water supply as one of the best water supply systems in the world.

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

Endress+Hauser Installs EQMS at MIDC Ranjangaon’s Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) Mayur Sharma Pune ENDRESS+HAUSER HAS installed its innovative EQMS at MIDC Ranjangaon’s CETP. With this installation, E&M division of MIDC Pune has pioneered in the domain of environmental technologies with the application of EQMS system at government facilitated CETP of sub-division MIDC Ranjangaon.

Real time monitoring of these treatment systems helps in ensuring regulatory compliance and reduces the risk of effluents discharge. This EQMS based

process automation has provided the MIDC executives a novel opportunity to observe the remote plants in real-time and to guide the sub-divisional offices to efficiently execute their duties, as real-time monitoring alerts the engineers if concentrations of effluents cross the regulatory levels. Online monitoring leads to cost-savings by increasing the efficiency of treatment process.

The data captured from the instruments is collected at Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Sion and MIDC office at Pune. The necessity of capturing this data helps the government to regulate the quality of water which is defined based on parameters like Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological

Oxygen demand (BOD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Chlorine, pH and flow.

Contamination of ground and surface water can happen from several sources. In urban areas, careless disposal of industrial effluents and other wastes leads to poor quality of water. The CPCB directed MPCB to regulate various industry facilitators like Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for treating and monitoring industrial effluents in a web-based transparent manner. The treated water from November 2016 till date is 70 MLD litre cubes, which is used for irrigation by the farmers in the vicinity.

Dilip Singh Chauhan, the Executive Engineer at MIDC, Ranjangaon said, “It was easy to install the

“

EQMS and it has an extremely quick response time. The fact that by sitting at one place our engineers can monitor different levels of toxicity in water, that has been already treated, surely saves a lot of time and efforts. Till date, we have not faced any issues with the system as it has been working well, as per the standards.”

With the help of EQMS system, MIDC Pune has provided a transparent way to monitor and supervise the execution of CPCB and MPCB regulations in real-time with remote accessibility.

We can proudly conclude that our process automation has caused a paradigm shift in betterment of control and efficiency at all fronts.

Kailash Desai COO - Endress+Hauser

Progress Made on Adoption of National Water Policy in India EW Staff New Delhi THE NATIONAL WATER Policy (2012) formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR, interalia in India, advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through rainwater harvesting, direct use of rainfall and other management measures.

The National Water Policy 2012 has been forwarded to all

14

December, 2017

state/UTs and concerned central government ministries/ departments for adoption.

The Government of India has also circulated a model bill to all the states/UTs to enable them to enact suitable groundwater legislation for its regulation and development, which includes provision of rainwater harvesting. So far, 15 states/UTs have adopted and implemented the groundwater legislation on the lines of model bill. Also, Central Ground Water

Authority (CGWA) has been constituted under “The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986” for the purpose of regulation and control of groundwater development and management in the country.

CGWA has so far notified 162 areas in the country for the purpose of regulation of groundwater. CGWA has also issued advisories to states and UTs to take measures to promote/ adopt artificial recharge to groundwater/ rainwater harvesting. So far, 30

states/UTs have made rainwater harvesting mandatory by enacting laws or by formulating rules & regulations or by including provisions in their building by-laws or through suitable government orders.

As per CGWA guidelines, any user withdrawing groundwater for industrial/ infrastructure/ mining project has to obtain ‘No Objection Certificate (NOC)’.

Any withdrawal of groundwater without valid NOC from CGWA is liable to have penal action under Section

15 of ‘The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986’.Dilip Singh Chauhan, the Executive Engineer at MIDC, Ranjangaon said, “It was easy to install the EQMS and it has an extremely quick response time. The fact that by sitting at one place our engineers can monitor different levels of toxicity in water, that has been already treated, surely saves a lot of time and efforts. Till date, we have not faced any issues with the system as it has been working well, as per the standards.”

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

Grundfos Receives ‘India’s Most Trusted Company 2017’ Award

Mayur Sharma Mumbai Grundfos has received the ‘India’s Most Trusted Company’ award during a ceremony in Mumbai by the

Minister of State, Water Resource and Conservation, Vijay Bapu Shivtare.

The company was selected under the category of ‘India’s Most Trusted Pump Manufacturers’ by Media

Research Group (MRG).

The India’s Most Trusted Companies Awards 2017 is a listing of India’s 100 famous and fastest growing companies which have played a significant role in the success of the country, and have unambiguously unveiled themselves as the next set of game-changers serving through their various consumer-facing businesses.

With a spotlight on innovation, international scalability, differentiation and strategic investment to the Indian economy, this award

Xylem Reports Strong Revenue and Orders in Third Quarter 2017 Xylem generated USD 1.2 billion in 3rd quarter 2017 revenue, up 33% year-over-year including the impact of acquisitions, proforma organic revenue increased 5%.

And the global orders grew 6% organically.

Mayur Sharma New York XYLEM INC. HAS reported third quarter 2017 net income of USD 105 million, or USD 0.58 per share. The company delivered adjusted net income of USD 119

EXPRESS WATER

million, or USD 0.65 per share, in the quarter, a 20 percent increase over the prior year period, excluding the impact of restructuring, realignment and acquisition-related charges, and other items. Revenue in third quarter, including the contribution from Xylem’s Sensus business, was USD 1.2 billion, a 33 percent increase year-over-year.

Xylem now forecasts full-year 2017 revenue to be approximately USD 4.70 billion, up 24 to 25 percent, including growth from previously announced acquisitions and projected impacts of foreign exchange translation.

Xylem has combined its Analytics, Sensus and Visenti businesses effective second quarter 2017. As a result of this change, the company now reports the financial and operational results from these businesses as one segment,

which has now been named Measurement & Control Solutions.

Xylem’s water infrastructure segment consists of its portfolio of businesses serving clean water delivery, wastewater transport and treatment, and dewatering. Third quarter 2017 segment revenue was USD 520 million, a sevenpercent organic increase over third quarter 2016.

This growth reflects improved public utility demand across geographies globally as well as several significant treatment project deliveries. The industrial sector continued to strengthen as conditions improved in mining and oil and gas. Segment revenues in emerging markets grew 16 percent in the quarter, the second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Xylem’s applied water segment consists of its

celebrates the success of some of India’s fastest growing companies.

Commenting on this recognition, Ranganath N K, Managing Director Grundfos India, said, “At Grundfos, we strive to be among the industry leaders when it comes to finding ways of using new technologies to move and treat water and wastewater. Our communication is open and honest among ourselves and with the world around us. We put the facts on the table also, when it is not pleasant.

Therefore, to receive this award based on trust is a great acknowledgement of what we stand for”.

Around 500 leading Indian companies across the service and infrastructure sectors were evaluated by the International Brand Consulting Corporation, USA based on various parameters such as market share, innovation, workplace culture, leadership, business ethics, governance, corporate social responsibility and reputation as part of the selection process.

“

Our teams continued to execute well, delivering strong results across all business segments in the third quarter.As conditions in our varied end markets continued to improve, we generated solid growth and, in some cases, captured share, expanding the reach of Xylem solutions.

We delivered positive organic growth in each of our geographic regions, while continuing to deliver on our productivity initiatives.

Patrick Decker President & Chief Executive Officer, Xylem

portfolio of businesses in residential and commercial building services, and industrial applications.

Third quarter 2017 segment revenue was USD 354 million. The commercial end market remained strong across the U.S., Europe and China, while the residential business was particularly strong in China as demand for secondary water supply increased, as well as in the U.S. driven by promotional activity. This growth was partially offset by ongoing softness in agriculture, primarily in U.S.

Xylem’s measurement & control solutions segment consists of businesses in smart metering, network technologies, advanced data analytics and analytic instrumentation.

Third quarter 2017 segment revenue was USD 321 million.

The Sensus business delivered double-digit growth in the energy and software services sectors. The water sector revenues were down due to a strong year-ago quarter that included channel stocking of a new product and timing of current project deliveries.

December, 2017

15

IN THE NEWS

WABAG, NABARD & NGOS ink MoUs for Watershed Programs S Nagoor Ali Jinnah, Chief General Manager Represented NABARD, and WABAG represented by Mr. S Varadarajan, Director & Chief Growth Officer at the MoU Signing Ceremony

Mayur Sharma Chennai WABAG, A PURE play water technology Indian multinational and NABARD, the institution for agriculture and rural development in the country along with

three NGOs have entered into MoUs for implementation of watershed development projects under WABAG-CSR program.

Under these MoUs, WABAG agrees to provide grant assistance to three reputed NGOs amounting

to Rs.2.25 crores with matching contribution by NABARD, aggregating to Rs.4.50 crores. The proposed projects are widely spread out in Virudhunagar, Tuticorin and Dindigul Districts of Tamil Nadu state and will be implemented by reputed NGOs Social Education Economical Development Society (SEEDS), Vidiyel Trust and Centre for Improved Rural Health and Environmental Education (CIRHEP), respectively.

The objectives are enhancement of livelihood security, water conservation, prevent migration,

employment generation, long-term sustainability through community participation for maintenance of community assets like various water harvesting structures. This is a 4-year project that will be implemented at a cost of around Rs.4.50 crores covering around 9200 acres. Around 2500 households will be impacted on implementation of these projects.

Last year, WABAG tied up with NABARD for similar projects for a value of around Rs.5.00 crores including the matching contribution and the work in these two districts

Coupled with WABAG’s earlier tie-up with NABARD, this large scale intervention in the water stewardship covers 5 districts in Tamil Nadu and brings the areas under watershed around 20000 acres, benefiting over 7000 households at a total cost of around Rs. 9.50 crores. already commenced and making good progress.

With this, the total CSR investment of WABAG for NABARD watershed development projects aggregates to around Rs.4.75 crores.

WAPCOS Pays its Highest Ever Dividend of Rs. 42 Crore

EW Staff New Delhi UNION WATER RESOURCES, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari has received a dividend cheque of Rs. 42.13 crore from CMD of WAPCOS Ltd. RK Gupta.

He also presented bonus shares worth Rs. 30 crore to the minister. The dividend of Rs. 42.13 crore (inclusive of dividend tax) is the high-

16

December, 2017

est-ever since inception of the company.

With the issuance of bonus shares of Rs.30 crore, the company’s paid up capital has increased by 32.5 times (from Rs.2 crore to Rs.65 crore), during last seven years. Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said that in the field of major infrastructure projects, particularly in construction of dams and reservoirs, irrigation channels, water supply and sanitation, WAPCOS is

an established brand name in India and abroad. He said “I have been particularly impressed with the company’s pursuit of government’s goal of partnering with our friends in developing countries to build up their capacities through projects supported by India”.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Dr.

Satya Pal Singh said that WAPCOS is an important link between the ministry and state and union territories in the execution of projects supported by the union government. He said the company is also a major source of various surveys and reports on utilization of water resources, river basins studies, aquifer mapping, agricultural productivity, etc.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal in his address referred to various projects undertaken by WAPCOS in Rajasthan.

WAPCOS also signed an agreement and two MoUs on the occasion. The agreement was signed with the Central Water Commission, the Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar and the Water

Resources Department, Government of Jharkhand for execution of North Koel Reservoir Project on turnkey-basis as project management consultants.

The project is situated on North Koel River which is a tributary of Sone River finally joining the river Ganga.

The North Koel Reservoir is located in the most backward tribal areas in Palamau and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand State.

The project aims to provide irrigation to 1,11,521 hectares of land annually.

During the year 20162017, WAPCOS has achieved its highest ever gross income of Rs. 975.44 crore, profitability of Rs. 161.38 crore and secured new business of Rs. 1983.6 crore.

Net worth of company has reached an all-time high at Rs.469.6 crore.

EXPRESS WATER

IN THE NEWS

FICCI Honours Dow India as ‘Product Innovator of the Year’ Mayur Sharma Mumbai AT THE RECENTLY concluded FICCI India Chem Awards, Dow India emerged as the ‘Product Innovator of the Year’ in the chemical industry for its high performing innovation - DOW FILMTEC™ FORTILIFE™.

The FORTILIFE™ portfolio is part of an innovative approach to water recovery developed by Dow Water and Process Solutions, enabling recovery of up to

85% of liquid discharge, reducing energy consumption by up to 10% and reducing cleaning costs by 30-50% with an aim to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) at lowest cost of operation.

Based on water filtration technologies such as ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and ion exchange, MLD/ ZLD techniques are helping industrial users meet major challenges in wastewater reuse and high water recovery

Somil Mehta, TS&D Manager, Dow Energy & Water, Receiving the Award on Behalf of the Company from Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India

operations - with next generation innovations such as FILMTEC™ FORTILIFE™ RO

Dow RO Technology Provides Safer Drinking Water at Oman’s Largest Seawater Desalination Plant EW Staff Oman DOW WATER & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, was selected by SUEZ, a Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination plant design, construction and operations leader since 1969, to supply its advanced RO elements to desalinate seawater at the Barka Desalination Plant phase-4 (Barka IWP), located in Barka in South Batinah governorate of Oman. Located in the Middle East, one of the driest regions in the world, the new desalination plant has a capacity to deliver 281 million liters of safer drinking water per day, helping alleviate water scarcity in area and positively contributing to the security of water supply in country.

The Barka IWP Plant will become the largest seawater desalination plant in the Sultanate of Oman and will also be in the top 10 largest seawater RO desalination plants worldwide.

A consortium formed by SUEZ, Engie, ITOCHU Corporation, and WJ Towell & Co LLC is in charge of the

EXPRESS WATER

design, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of the Barka IV desalination plant under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis. The project is structured as an Independent Water Project (IWP) with Oman Power and Water Procurement Co. (OPWP) purchasing the potable water produced by the project under a water purchase agreement with a term of 20 years.

SUEZ is leading the design, construction and operation of the Barka IWP plant that is scheduled to begin commercial operation in April 2018. The Barka IWP plant will use more than 22,000 DOW FILMTEC™ RO elements.

“SUEZ is very proud that its consortium was chosen to design, build and operate the Barka IWP desalination plant.

The advanced reverse osmosis elements supplied by Dow will contribute in a significant manner to the performance of the plant to ensure sustainable access to water in one of the driest regions in the world,” said Marie-Ange Debon, Senior Executive Vice President in charge of the international division of

SUEZ. A key innovation in the RO system is the use of innovative DOW FILMTEC™ SEAMAXX™ seawater RO elements. The system design, using nearly 9,000 SEAMAXX elements, was selected by SUEZ as the most efficient solution to minimize total water cost for project. The SEAMAXX elements were launched in the market in 2014 and it features, since then, the highest water permeability available in seawater RO product market.

“Reverse osmosis is the most widely used desalination technology, and energy consumption is a key factor in operating costs of such systems,” says Alexander Lane, Commercial Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India with Dow Water & Process Solutions, “DOW FILMTEC™ SEAMAXX™ RO elements provide advanced seawater desalination RO technology and are designed for the lowest energy consumption available from seawater RO elements. The technology helps facilities minimize operating costs, reduce capital costs and maximize efficiency. We look forward

enabling ongoing performance improvements.

“We take pride in being

recognized for our efforts to weave sustainability in manufacturing in the country. This win clearly shows manufacturers’ shift in perspective towards sustainable solutions and will encourage us to innovate further, to meet the needs of local market”, said Sudhir Shenoy, CEO, DOW India.

The award ceremony was attended by Vijay Rupani, CM of Gujarat, and Ananth Kumar, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers from Government of India.

Amalgam Biotech Wins Excellence Award 2017 for Environmentally Sound Management of Toxic Chemicals

Ashutosh Vadanagekar (MD) and Anurag Kumar Jha (Business Head) Receiving the Award from Environment Activist Dr. Vandana Shiva

Mayur Sharma New Delhi AMALGAM BIOTECH, A division of Amalgam Engineering, has been honoured with the Aqua Foundations Excellence Award 2017 under the category of ‘Environmentally Sound Management of Toxic Chemicals in the Industrial Sector’.

The Aqua Excellence Awards are the highest awards given by Aqua Foundation to its members, stakeholders and contributors in the field of water, environment, energy, earth sciences, atmospheric sciences, planetary sciences,

pollution control and sustainability solution.

On behalf of Amalgam Biotech, the award was received by Ashutosh Vadanagekar (Managing Director) and Anurag Kumar Jha (Business Head).

Amalgam Biotech received this award because of its revolutionary product “Bacta Cult” - a bio-culture with superbugs bacteria to remove water pollution. It is used in the industries for Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), residential colonies for Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), polluted lakes and in river cleaning.

to collaborating with SUEZ and integrating this technology in the Barka IWP

plant to help increase the potable water supply in Oman.”

December, 2017

17

IN THE NEWS

ANDRITZ to Supply Irrigation Pumps to India These vertical volute pumps feature low energy consumption, achieved due to their very high hydraulic efficiency of up to 90%.

EW Staff Hyderabad INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY GROUP ANDRITZ has received an order from

Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), Hyderabad, India, to equip three pumping stations with a total of 27 vertical volute pumps near village of Kaleshwaram in Telangana state. The order value is more than 60 million euros.

Start-up is scheduled for June 2018.

One pumping station conveys 660 cubic meters of water per second from the Pranahita River and then through other pumping stations into a reservoir. This reservoir will ensure a sustainable supply of water for agricultural irrigation in the cities Karimnagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Nalgonda, and in the Ranga Reddy district.

ANDRITZ’s vertical volute pumps feature low energy consumption, achieved due to their very high hydraulic efficiency of up to 90 percent.

Proposal for Singapore’s Fifth Desalination Plant Awarded to Tuas Power-STM Consortium EW Staff Hyderabad PUB, SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL Water Agency, has selected Tuas Power Singapore Technologies Marine Consortium (TPSTM) as the preferred bidder for Singapore’s fifth desalination plant, to be located on Jurong Island. As preferred bidder, TP-STM will form a concession company to enter into a Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) with PUB. The WPA will take full effect once all agreements have been finalized and executed, and concession company achieves financial close.

The desalination plant on Jurong Island is expected to commence operations in 2020 and will add 30 million gallons (MGD) or approximately 137,000 cubic metres of water per day to nation’s water supply. The seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plant will be co-located with Tuas Power’s existing Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex to derive synergies in resources such as seawater intake and outfall structures, and energy from the in-plant generation facilities.

In February 2017, four prequalified applicants were invited to submit their pro-

posals for desalination plant. These applicants possessed suitable land for the plant, and demonstrated synergies with co-located facilities on Jurong Island. Of these, eight bids were submitted by three applicants, namely TP-STM, Keppel Infrastructure Holdings and Sembcorp Utilities - SUEZ International Consortium. At a first-year price of USD 0.91 per cubic metre, TP-STM offered the most competitive tariff among three bidders. It will supply desalinated water to PUB over a 25year period from 2020 to 2045.

The desalination plant on Jurong Island is PUB’s seventh Design-Build-OwnOperate project between PUB and the private sector.

The first six are the 30 MGD SingSpring Desalination Plant, the 32 MGD KeppelSeghers Ulu Pandan NEWater Plant, the 50 MGD SembCorp NEWater Plant, the 70 MGD TuaSpring Desalination Plant, the 50 MGD BEWG-UESH NEWater Plant and more recently, the 30 MGD Keppel Marina East Desalination Plant which is currently under construction.

Desalinated water is one of PUB’s Four National Taps, a long term water supply

“

Desalinated water is a key part of Singapore’s water supply portfolio.

As a weatherindependent source,it strengthens the reliability of our water supply against droughts.This fifth plant is part of our plans to expand desalination capacity to meet up to 30% of our future water needs in the long term.

Young Joo Chye Director of Engineering Development and Procurement, PUB Singapore

strategy to ensure a robust and sustainable supply of water for Singapore. The other three sources are water from local catchments, imported water from Johor and NEWater.

Desalination currently meets up to 25% of Singapore’s water demand. The third desalination plant is expected to be completed in Tuas by 2017, and the fourth in Marina East by 2020.

LANXESS Listed in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Europe and World Mayur Sharma Mumbai SPECIALTY-CHEMICALS COMPANY LANXESS has been listed again in two Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. LANXESS will again be part of Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI). The group has also been included for the sev-

18

December, 2017

enth consecutive time in Dow Jones Sustainability Index World. The composition of this sustainability index, which is recognized throughout the world, is determined once a year on the basis of financially relevant environmental, social and governance factors.

Among other achievements which LANXESS highlight-

ed this year one was the improvement in emissions and water consumption as well as in the area of personnel development.

Hence, LANXESS ranks among the top ten percent of chemical industry.

“We have firmly anchored the principle of sustainable development in our corporate strategy. To

Matthias Zachert

be listed again in these important indices is a confirmation of our exceptional engagement in this area”, said Matthias Zachert, CEO, LANXESS. The DJSI is compiled through collaboration between S&P Dow Jones Indices, and RobecoSAM, an asset manager in sustainability investments.

EXPRESS WATER

MOVEMENTS International Water Association (IWA)

Endress+Hauser

Dr. Stephan Bross

Kala Vairavamoorthy

Internationally recognized water resource management expert, KALA VAIRAVAMOORTHY, has been appointed Executive Director of International Water Association (IWA).

He will be based in the IWA’s Global Operations Office in The Hague, Netherlands.

Vairavamoorthy has a particular interest in urban water issues, combining a strong engineering background with practical international experience. He has a strong international profile working closely with the World Bank, African Development Bank, UNHabitat, Global Water Partnership and European Union. Vairavamoorthy is joining IWA from International Water Management Institute (IWMI), where he was Deputy Director General for Research. Prior to IWMI, Vairavamoorthy was the Founding Dean of Patel College of Global Sustainability, and a tenured Professor in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of South Florida.

KSB Aktiengesellschaft DR. STEPHAN BROSS has joined the board of management of KSB Aktiengesellschaft.

The supervisory board of

EXPRESS WATER

Frankenthal based pumps and valves manufacturer has appointed the Hamburg-born engineer to Board of Management, which now has four members. He will be responsible for Technology. After completing his doctorate in mechanical engineering, Stephan Bross joined KSB in 1993, where he held positions in Research, Design, Engineering, Development and Product Management.

Xylem Inc.

ENDRESS+HAUSER, the Switzerland-based instrumentation and process automation company has announced the appointment of KAILASH DESAI as its new Chief Operating Officer for India. He has been promoted to this position and will take charge of the India business. In his stint with Endress+Hauser since 2003, he worked in various management roles focusing on marketing and sales, while also gaining experience in human resources and the projects business. Following an assessment of more than 100 applicants for the job (including both internal and external applicants) Kailash Desai, Sr. Vice President-Sales was finally selected and appointed by the Endress+Hauser Group Executive Board.

Kailash Desai complet-

EXPRESS WATER EXCLUSIVE Colin Sabol

Xylem Inc has named COLIN SABOL as Xylem Senior Vice President and President of Sensus & Analytics. He succeeds Randy Bays, who will move into an advisory role with a focus on Xylem’s global manufacturing operations.

Both will report to Xylem President and CEO, Patrick Decker.

Mr. Sabol is Chairman of Xylem Watermark, the company’s corporate citizenship and social investment program. As previously announced, Xylem has combined its Sensus and Analytics businesses and now reports the financial and operational results from these businesses as one segment.

Express Water: What are your short-term and longterm goals for Endress+ Hauser India, as its new COO? Mr. Desai: We will be calibrating a new technology at the plant under which new products related to Flow, Level, Pressure and Temperature products will be introduced to mitigate the requirements across India. This will eventually lead to increase in capacities of the plant in Aurangabad as well as our increased presence in all the sales offices across the length and breadth of the country. Our focus market expansions will be in the North Eastern region of India, South India (Bangalore and Hyderabad) and North

Kailash Desai

ed his studies with a Bachelor of Engineering (Instrumentation) and received a post graduate degree in Marketing Management.

Having gained experience at Pepperl+Fuchs and Emerson Process Management in India, he then joined Endress+ Hauser based at Aurangabad as Marketing Director-Southeast Asia in October 2003, where he was in-charge of product marketing for India and Southeast Asia for five

years. Later in October 2008, he was transferred to Endress+Hauser (I) Pvt. Ltd. and was based out of Mumbai as Head of Projects and then was smoved to the senior level as Vice PresidentMarketing until July 2014.

Vivian Alfred, VP, Human Resources says, “This internal succession plan clearly elucidates the top management’s commitment on engaging, developing and growing key potential talent within the organization pipeline.”

India (Delhi and Chandigarh). Our existing work experience in water and energy management will allow us to work seamlessly with civic bodies to make Smart City projects more efficient. We are also tapping other key-sectors like F&B, Pharma, and Oil & Gas to name a few. We already have around 6,000 patents and shall get few more added to the list as we strongly believe in providing innovative product line to Indian market which is the key differentiator in our line of services.

Endress+ Hauser in the year 2015 alone got 270 new patent applications which in itself is a new record - our own patent department in the USA protects new technologies abroad.

and opportunities during 2017-18?

Express Water: What will be your biggest challenge

Mr. Desai: It has been two decades that we are present in the India market, the scale of activity has increased dramatically and it was clear to the quality pundits that automation is a far better choice in terms of quality, productivity, efficiency and standardization.

Endress+Hauser is looking to double its India revenue to Rs. 800 crore by 2021, through Smart Cities related work. The government is upgrading cities for which they require world class automation systems that can be easily integrated with the existing technology format. We are constantly moving towards the direction of ‘innovation’ and believe in delivering the best as per the demands of the Indian market.

December, 2017

19

PRODUCTS and operational safety is increased through integrated containment optimal e.g. for aggressive chemical applications.

VSX - Vogel Software GmbH

GF Piping Systems Danfoss Danfoss has launched a new generation of popular iSave 21 ERD for smaller SWRO plants. Improved reliability, design flexibility and high efficiency are some of the features of new iSave 21 Plus. In response to the ever growing demand for energy savings in smaller SWRO plants, Danfoss has developed next generation iSave 21 energy recovery device for onshore and offshore applications. The highly efficient iSave 21 Plus saves up to 60% on energy bill and is easily built into existing SWRO solutions to obtain savings right away.

Flowrox Oy

The brand-new software Spaix 5 developed by VSX for selection and configuration of centrifugal pumps is now available.

ELGEF Plus branch saddle system Topload for large dimensions up to 2000mm

by GF Piping Systems now offers an even safer installation. The integrated pressure testing connection for outlet dimensions d160 and 225 mm offers possibility to perform a pressure test of branch saddle before tapping of main line and therefore a safe and cost effective installation. GF has added the feature of integrated pressure testing interface to its Topload branch saddle system for large dimensions with outlet dimension d160 & 225 mm.

Grundfos Pumps India Grundfos

Flowrox is introducing Packaged Pumping Systems™, an engineered pump package equipped with simple site connections, manufacturer recommended auxiliaries, and piping arrangement to meet the needs of demanding flow control applications in variety of industries. They are an answer to industry demand for faster, simpler and safer installations. They guarantee accurate and repeatable flow while reducing maintenance time and cost. Onsite

20

December, 2017

India

has

launched its new range of Hydro MPC Pumps with IE5 Motor. The Grundfos Hydro MPC booster systems are of very high standards and combining this with the IE5 motor, which is integrated with a frequency converter, connects accumulated pump experience of Grundfos into dedicated control software. This combination of pump and customizable software optimizes system’s perform-

In addition to functional enhancements, new version particularly shines when it comes to newly designed user interface, its intuitive operating concept as well as increased performance. The software solution can be easily integrated into an existing IT environment by using special interfaces. This allows application to be embedded in an existing environment in order to link the Spaix data with customer- and sales-specific data.

ance for any load point, delivering an unsurpassed reduction of energy consumption. IE5 Motor helps in energy conservation of up to 7% and a reduction in the payback time of these controlled pumps.

HWM - Halma HWM has launched its

GPRS-based COMLog range of AMR products, along with a range of radio logging devices. COMLog offers businesses, asset managers and service providers a cost-effective way to manage water and energy consumption, reduce costs and cut carbon emissions. The logger uses latest integral GPRS technology to provide rapid data transmission at low cost. Featuring a tough ABS plastic enclosure, COMLog is fully sealed and IP68rated.

While installing and using, automatic softener equipment complements well with existing plumbing and electrical setup of user. It can be used in water treatment in housing societies, hotels, shopping malls, and corporate parks, water treatment for laundries in hotels and hospitals, pretreatment for RO plants and water treatment for boiler feed and cooling towers.

Xylem Xylem has unveiled new series of smart dewatering pumps under its Godwin brand. With advanced levels of monitoring and control,

LANXESS LANXESS has announced a significant addition to its LewaPlus Software suite of reverse osmosis (RO) and ion exchange (IX) sys-

Ion Exchange (India) Ion Exchange has introduced Zero B Auto Soft water softeners. An automatic softener valve, a special softener resin, a media holding vessel and a salt holding tank are key components of this softener.

treatment technology, helping system designers bring their water treatment footprint closer to zero liquid discharge (ZLD) or minimum liquid discharge (MLD) goals. The CCRO process now available for modeling in LewaPlus offers recovery rates of up to 98%. The new software module was developed cooperatively by LANXESS Sybron Chemicals and Desalitech, Inc.

tem dimensioning capabilities. The new module provides system modeling with Desalitech’s Closed Circuit Reverse Osmosis (CCRO) technology and enables dimensioning of RO systems using latest available water

and efficiency, Godwin NC150S Dri-Prime Pump is the first in new Godwin S Series. The NC150S features Godwin Field Smart Technology (FST), the firstin-industry telemetry and wireless technology that provides smart remote monitoring and control of pump from any smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Cellular and satellite connectivity and GPS, enables tracking, monitoring and control of pump in real-time, wherever it is located.

EXPRESS WATER

COVER STORY

WATER LEADERS

WATER LEADERS Leaders from water community share their thoughts on the challenges water sector is facing and chalk out their roadmap for all the stakeholders.

EXPRESS WATER

December, 2017

21

COVER STORY

Let Us Fill the Cup that can Quench By GURUDEVSRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR FOUNDER, THE ARTOFLIVING For people, water is God and there is no divinity without water. It is imperative that we protect and maintain natural sources of water such as ponds, lakes and rivers.

22

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS TO SAY THAT there is a water crisis in the world today is to grossly understate a looming global catastrophe. Earlier, the world used to discuss the global water crisis in terms of access to drinking water.

Today, it’s no more about just drinking water. With drought in water-rich countries, water rationing in developed cities, flooding in unlikely places and frequent hurricanes, the global water crisis is no more confined to just scarcity.

The situation isn’t any better in India. A growing population, rapid urbanization and industrialization, with mismanagement of resources and a lifestyle that requires significantly more water are leading the country towards a water disaster. Over 54 percent of the country is under high

water stress and most of our water bodies are either drying up or are grossly polluted. Add to it, the crisis of depleting groundwater.

More than half of India's groundwater wells are drying up while over 60 percent of irrigated agriculture and 85 percent of domestic use are dependent on it.

Also, India’s groundwater is being progressively contaminated owing to a lack of proper waste treatment system and rising use of hazardous pesticides and fertilizers.

The good news is that practical and effective ways of solving the huge problem plaguing the country aren’t very hard to find. We just to need to look at the problem in a holistic way. In the summer of 2016, I visited Latur in Maharashtra. It was the fourth consecutive

year of failed monsoon and the whole landscape was parched. Everywhere in the city, one could witness water tankers sent in by the state government and various civil society organizations. Special trains were made to run to bring in water from as far as Rajasthan. Fearing violence, the district administration of Latur district imposed prohibitory orders on gatherings of more than five people around storage tanks.

It was then our volunteers decided to initiate the project of reviving the Manjara river. The volunteers, through their hard work and collaborative efforts, brought together local villagers, civil societies, local government, corporate agencies and technical experts to exam-

ine the situation, create a holistic scientific plan and then undertake immediate action.

Working day and night, the diverse group of volunteers accomplished the task, which would have normally taken over nine months, in just three months. Thanks to the project, the area received record rainfall and there was water in the River Manjara after five long years. Today, even fish have returned to the once dry river. With support from community, donors and the local government a forest of native trees such as Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Mango, Jamun and Jackfruit is being created along the banks of the river.

Since 2013, The Art of Living is actively engaged in reviving thousands of water

bodies and drying rivers across India. Thirty-three rivers in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are being rejuvenated with support from scientists, civil society, corporates and the government.

These efforts have started showing highly encouraging results. Communities in these regions have witnessed significant improvements in groundwater levels. Wells, which were dry for many years, are now filled with water, and farmers who were facing low yields and contemplating suicides are now more confident of a better life with rising income levels. In some areas womenfolk no longer have to walk long distances to fetch potable water.

Systematic and scientif-

River Terna in Maharashtra, Once Parched and Dry, Successfully Rejuvenated by the Art of Living

EXPRESS WATER

December, 2017

23

COVER STORY

Dr. Lingaraju, National Director of Art of Living's River Rejuvenation Projects Educating Local Villagers About River Rejuvenation

ic plans were drawn up to rejuvenate the rivers. Our strategic multi-dimensional approach includes building recharge structures, undertaking extensive afforestation focusing on native species, and training the local farmers on sustainable agriculture. A team of geologists, hydro-geologists, environmentalists, remote sensing experts and agriculturists is working alongside community leaders from rural parts to make clean water available and make the rivers perennial.

Local communities are getting increasingly aware of this challenge and adopting ways to wisely use water and undertake waterefficient farming practices.

Energizing, empowering programs to build youth and community leadership stand at the core of these efforts and is one of the keys to the amazing results we are witnessing at the grassroots.

Water is the very basis of life. Nearly, 70% of our body is made up of the

24

December, 2017

water element. Water is present everywhere. You find it when you dig deep into the earth and also as clouds up in the sky. It is also present in the atmosphere as vapour. We cannot imagine a world bereft of water. There is a saying in Sanskrit - “For people, water is God and there is no divinity without water�. It is imperative that we protect and maintain natural sources of water such as ponds, lakes and rivers.

In ancient civilizations across the world, it has been a tradition to maintain and revere water bodies, especially in this country.

Earlier, a king's greatness was often measured in terms of the number of ponds he built. Till the recent past, India had elaborate systems to manage its water resources. In South India, every village would have an interconnected series of irrigation tanks that would store water and recharge the water table. Each temple would inevitably have a pond, which in times of

drought would act as the source of drinking water.

This whole system was developed by the local rulers, and was owned and maintained by the local communities.

Today, this feeling of ownership of natural resources has ceased to exist. We need to restore this sense of belongingness with nature. It is important to make sure that our rivers are kept clean. We must refrain from throwing things into the river in the name of religion. We must avoid all rituals that pollute our environment.

We need to make conservation of nature a national movement and revival of rivers to become a national priority. It’s heartening that the government is undertaking many efforts and devising new policies to revive the rivers. One of these plans includes interlinking the rivers across the country.

While there are many advantages of interlinking rivers, such as better management of river waters and avoiding floods, one of the disadvan-

tages is that sewage, industrial waste and other pollutants dumped in one river can travel to all the other rivers as well. So before linking rivers, water should be tested for pollution and care should be taken that no waste is dumped and no drainage is let into these rivers.

Over the last few years the central government has also laid special emphasis on natural resource management under MGNREGA. The Prime Minister himself has been driving the Namami Gange project to revive the river Ganges.

However, projects like the Namami Gange or community driven schemes like MGNREGA will be successful only if other stakeholders join in. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu we have successfully supported the government in community building and such projects have provided employment to over 30,000 people.

Similarly, many state governments are working to undertake extensive afforestation initiatives.

While it is beneficial to plant trees in the catchment of the rivers, the right and water-friendly plants need to be chosen. Else it could backfire as it happened with the case of massive acacia plantation across India. Though acacia, which is not a tree of this land, grows fast and gives quick green cover, the tree absorbs a lot of water.

Soon after planting these trees, it was found that the groundwater was getting depleted.

What we need is a national water management agenda that is scientific and holistic in its outlook. Civil society, corporates, scientists, academicians, artists, students, farmers, NGOs and each and every one us will have to become a part of the agenda. The biggest pollutant in the environment is man's greed. The feverishness for petty gains blinds us to the reality that this whole earth is one organism and the rivers are its lifelines. Our lives can only flourish when these lifelines are healthy.

EXPRESS WATER

COVER STORY

Evolving Purposes of Hydraulic Modeling in the Water Sector in India By PERRINE PARROD SENIOR PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, BENTLEYSYSTEMS The key challenge is to supply enough clean water to the ever-growing population in a reliable and continuous way.

This can only be delivered with adequate water infrastructure that is reliable, efficient, and sustainable.

26

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS INDIA IS NOT running out of water - the key challenge is to supply enough clean water to the ever-growing population in a reliable and continuous way. Although there has been a 24 percent increase in improved water source, or the percentage of a population with water access, since the 1990s, this data does not test whether the water is safe [source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation]. This can only be delivered with adequate water infrastructure that is reliable, efficient, and sustainable.

Existing Urban Areas: Unreliable Water Supply

NJS Project: Location of Mains to Rehabilitate

Intermittent water systems often lead to health issues, because during non-supply hours, dirty water can enter the empty pipes, highly increasing the risk of contracting diseases from contaminated water.

Many organizations are using hydraulic modeling to transform intermittent systems into continuous systems. In the state of Maharashtra, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran used Bentley’s WaterGEMS software to improve various water systems across the state, transforming them to 24x7 systems.

Using WaterGEMS, the engineers evaluated the existing water system, which enabled them to understand the current water network behaviour and assess its response to proposed changes, from pipe replacement and water system expansion to operational aspects such as water loss and energy usage reductions.

The city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh had an intermittent water supply, with pumping stations operating a few hours, twice a day.

The Agra Water Supply Project will deliver a contin-

uous supply of treated water. Undertaken by NJS Engineers for Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, the project includes construction of a 144 million-literper-day water treatment plant, sedimentation tank, and 130-kilometer transmission pipeline.

Rehabilitation and repair of two water treatment plants, overhead tanks, clear water reservoirs, and distribution networks were also planned. WaterGEMS was used to develop a hydraulic model for existing, intermediate, and future water supply zones. The model was used to evaluate network flow, capacity, and pressure; plan system rehabilitation, improvement, and expansion; monitor nonrevenue water; and develop efficient operational strategies.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra provides intermittent water supply service to 3,50,000 houses via about 3,500 kilometers of pipeline, five treatment plants, and 68 elevated storage tanks. To reach the goal of 24x7 water supply, the municipality embarked on a public-private project

EXPRESS WATER

comprising a five-year design and execution phase and a 25-year operation and maintenance phase.

Carried out by Orange City Water India, the INR 3.7 billion project had to contend with the limited capacity in the available elevated storage tanks. WaterGEMS was integrated with AutoCAD and ArcGIS to provide upto-date data for citywide hydraulic modeling. The Bentley software allowed the team to analyze various scenarios, including phasing in intermediate goals for equitable supply until continuous water supply can be achieved.

nodes for 1,00,000 people each, Navi Mumbai was hailed as a model planned city.

However, rapid migration and unsustainable population growth led to deteriorating public services and infrastructure in the 344-square-kilometer area.

NMMC undertook a USD 411 million planning initiative to improve and augment the city infrastructure and provide a sustainable environment for its 2.8 million citizens. The integrated approach included a development plan with optimized lifecycle costs.

Bentley software products enabled planning for transportation, water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, and stormwater system improvements: • The base map with existing assets and utilities was prepared in MicroStation.

• WaterGEMS, HAMMER, and SewerCAD were used for project design and estimation.

Overall, this integrated approach resulted in efficient planning and execution of the project, and the results were visible in

Patterned after Dubai’s Media City and Qatar’s Energy City, the INR 15 billion mixed-used development called Mega City in Panvel, will create a sustainable satellite township on 1,400 acres.

Frischmann Prabhu was retained to plan and design the water supply system to serve a population of about 450,000. WaterGEMS was used to perform hydraulic modeling of scenarios involving various system constraints and to determine pipe diameters for different pump hours and water tank levels.

The water supply scheme sources water from a government authority pipeline, transports the water to a master balance reservoir, and pumps the water to three elevated ground service reservoirs at different elevations and distances from the master balance reservoir.

As land is acquired for the development of Navi Mumbai International Airport in Maharashtra, landowners are being offered developed parcels on a 224-hectare section adjacent to National

New Urban Areas: Fast Growing Population With urbanization happening at a fast rate in India, jumping 2.63 percent from 2001 to 2011, according to India’s census, adequate water infrastructure must keep up with the new development.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) faced an ongoing challenge in fulfilling the vision for a twin city intended to alleviate congestion in Mumbai.

Developed in the 1970s with 20 self-contained

Frischmann Prabhu Project: Pushpak Model Overview

increased tax revenue, reduction in operation and maintenance costs for the utilities, better transport planning, reduced non-revenue water, and improved citizen satisfaction.

Highway 4-B. City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) designed the INR 120 million water supply network for the area, which is part of the Pushpak Node.

December, 2017

27

COVER STORY Selecting the correct pipeline diameter will help to prevent network head loss under various operating conditions. CIDCO generated scenarios in WaterGEMS, which helped the team to plan the network in less time.

Upon completion in 2019, the Pushpak Node will be an affordable residential hub in a desirable location near the airport.

Rural Areas: Lack of Access to Potable Water Despite India’s fast urbanization, 67 percent of the population lives rurally and only 16 percent of households have piped water.

The Government of India’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation has started to meet this challenge

28

December, 2017

through the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). Its Strategic Plan for Rural Drinking Water, 2011-2022, helps operationalize the NRDWP, striving to provide 90 percent of rural homes with piped water and 80 percent with household taps by 2022. Consequently, it is not surprising that many projects are erecting a necessary water infrastructure to improve rural life.

An example of similar project is the Medchal Distribution Network project that will provide safe drinking water for 104 villages in Medchal, a northern suburb of Hyderabad, Telangana.

The water distribution network which is being constructed will comprise 264 kilometers of pipeline and three break pressure tanks.

Telangana Rural Water Supply and Sanitation is responsible for conceptualization, design, construction, and maintenance of the entire network.

WaterGEMS helped the company design the network quickly, shortening the time leading up to construction. Bentley software helped the project team evaluate various scenarios and choose the optimum design. The models also reduced the time required for approvals by the Government of Telangana.

Fifteen villages in Sivaganga District will have a safe supply of drinking water for the first time when construction of the INR 2 billion water supply network is complete.

Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board) implement-

ed the project under a Government of Tamil Nadu mandate to provide water supply and sewerage facilities in the state.

TWAD Board used WaterGEMS extensively during the design phase of

this project, which called for a water supply network that covers a 100-kilometer area. WaterGEMS not only helped ensure the accuracy of the design but also saved up to 100 resource hours in design time.

TWAD Project: Model of the Sivaganga District Water Network

EXPRESS WATER

COVER STORY

Need to Unlock Wastewater’s Potential By RAJIVMENON MANAGING DIRECTOR, BLACK & VEATCH INDIA The world over, water and wastewater have historically been treated - literally and conceptually - separately.

India is no exception.We need to take the waste out of wastewater, in every sense, and recognize wastewater for the resource it is.

30

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS INDIA'S ALL WATER RESOURCES are under pressure.

Urbanization, changing rainfall patterns and increased affluence – water use rises with wealth – are all affecting the balance between supply and demand. Recent media reports suggest that an investment of USD 291 billion is needed to ensure supplies.

There is no silver bullet to fix this. Anyone proposing simplistic answers has not understood the complexity of the problem.

There is, however, an overarching change which – if adopted – will help us take some significant steps forward.

The world over, water and wastewater have historically been treated – literally and conceptually – separately. India is no exception. This needs to change. We need to take the waste out of wastewater – in every sense – and recognize wastewater

for the resource it is.

With advanced treatment, wastewater becomes a source of water for potable and non-potable use. Wastewater recycling is being adopted in areas traditionally seen as water scarce: Australia, the Southwestern United States; and also in less obvious countries such as the UK and Singapore.

Although it has abundant rainfall, Singapore has a small landmass compared to its population. This affects the ability to impound surface water, so water recycling provides an effective buffer for traditional supplies. The island state is leading the way in water recycling strategy and technology.

The NEWater programme currently meets circa 30 percent of Singapore's water needs, this is set to rise to 40 percent by 2020.

With reservations, understandable but overstated, regarding the use of

recycled water for potable applications; using treated wastewater for non-potable applications is a good way of introducing the concept of reuse.

The government is currently seeking to stimulate this by creating a market for treated wastewater.

Developments include a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Railways to adopt reused water for cleaning rolling stock and other nonpotable uses. In addition, it is now mandatory for power plants to buy treated wastewater from sewage treatment plants, where the two plants are within a 50kilometre radius of each other. This is significant when we consider that, typically, 2,650 litres of water per MegaWatt hours (MWh) are needed for coal fired generation; and that coal accounts for more than 75 percent of India's energy mix.

This brings us to the

nexus of water and energy, and another reason to stop viewing wastewater as waste, but instead as a resource. Wastewater is an abundant source of energy.

Advanced digestion of sewage increases the amount of bio gas produced as a by-product of the treatment process. The biogas can be used as fuel for combined heat and power engines (CHP) - the energy from which can be used in the treatment process or exported to local power grids. At a time when the government is keen to cut pollution from thermal power stations, and improve energy security by reducing oil imports, we welcome the generation of energy from biogas as a component of many new wastewater treatment projects under construction or being tendered in India.

Performance of the latest generation of CHP systems is being enhanced significantly with the use of

smart technology. The CHP component of our ASSET360 data analytics tool extracts and displays important system performance information and directs action to help operators make timely and accurate decisions about their CHP systems.

This type of technology allows, for instance, the creation of automatic and custom user-defined charts to give instant access to real-time and historical performance. Such tools also convey system economics relative to financial goals, and allow users to visualize real-time performance of the digestion process relative to energy production.

Smart analytics also help operators better manage challenges. The impact of potential problems can be calculated, allowing priorities to be established and a hierarchy of interventions identified. This facilitates transparent discus-

Advanced Digestion Allows Wastewater Treatment to Generate Power

EXPRESS WATER

December, 2017

31

COVER STORY

Recycling Turns Sewage from Waste to Water Resource

sion between engineering, operations, and maintenance staff, and enables action planning.

Environmental protection is another area in which wastewater should be seen as a resource.

Treating wastewater to secondary standards prior to discharge to the environment has multiple benefits.

In the first instance, such treatment prevents pollutants entering water bodies.

According to the Union Water Resources Ministry, 70-75 percent of the pollution in Ganga is due to municipal sewage, with the rest coming from domestic refuse, industrial effluent and other sources.

Secondary treatment will prevent municipal sewage, and many types of industrial effluent, from adversely affecting the rivers, lakes or steams into which treatment works discharge, thereby also preserving the aquatic life/ natural heritage including the unique dolphins of Ganga.

By returning processed water to the environment, wastewater treatment also increases flows in the water body, thereby reducing the concentration of existing

32

December, 2017

pollutants, and increasing the amount of water available for abstraction, a problem common to many perennial rivers in India.

This is vital when so many surface water bodies experience periods when there is insufficient volume to meet the needs of communities, agriculture and industry.

With additional steps, the secondary wastewater treatment can also unlock wastewater’s potential as a nutrient source, in particular phosphates, for use in fertilizer. This gives farmers a renewable alternative to untreated sewage fertilizer which, during heavy rain, will pollute run-off flowing into water bodies. High concentrations of any fertilizer in run-off can affect water quality; but the point here is that we need to think of wastewater treatment works as resource recovery plants, not centres for waste disposal. This is where the challenge becomes opportunity.

While these sorts of projects and programmes are not cheap, they represent a great return on investment for communities, industry and the environment. We

see this being realized by government in the form of initiatives such as Namami Gange which - as we have seen recently in successful bids for wastewater treatment projects in Varanasi and Haridwar - is encouraging innovative hybrid public -private partnership tenders.

Smart tools to gather and analyse data from treatment plant will help ensure our investments are targeted efficiently. More data, better data and -

most importantly - better data analysis, provide the insights to ensure that plant is operating at optimum efficiency. For example our data analytics tools allow asset performance data to be combined with external data such as energy tariff information, to identify the lowest cost of operation.

In addition, the tool is able to predict failure, by identifying an underperforming pump, for example, enabling the preventative

maintenance to be undertaken - at a time which minimizes services disruption.

A tool to analyse multiple data points from wastewater pumping stations is able to accurately predict the risk of pollution incidents. This use of smart technology is at the heart of risk-based asset management programmes; and central to evidence based decisions for future investment plans.

Smart technology also has a role in preserving strained water resources.

Currently 40-50 percent of the water entering India’s distribution networks is lost. This is due largely to leakage and illegal connections. As well as wasting a precious resource these losses are also non-revenue water, for which the utility is unable to recover the costs of treatment and supply.

Smart metering is a highly successfully way of identifying accurately how much water is being lost, where leaks are occurring, and the location of unauthorized connections to the distribution network. This information helps preserve a stressed natural resource and increase the income available to invest in water infrastructure.

Smart Metering Shows Where and When a Network is Losing Water

EXPRESS WATER

COVER STORY

Revival of CommunityWater Bodies for Sustained Future By M.P.VASIMALAI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DHAN FOUNDATION

In many ways, tanks are very similar to endangered species.The conditions are deteriorating year by year, because of many factors and reasons.

INDIA, WITH ITS 17 percent of global population and with only 4 percent of fresh water resources is waging a fierce battle on meeting continuously increasing water demand with available water supply.

The importance of water conservation by every citizen and the State is very vital as of now, the effects of climate change, poor governance, lack of community ownership and participation, either limited or no plans on river basin specific, the “bottom-up approach” make the demand on water a finite source more challenging. It is also vivid from Sustainable Development Goal 6 which relates water and improved sanitation, reducing water pollution, improving water demand management and making sustained water use. From grassroots’ experience over the two and half decade working on improving livelihoods of small and marginal farmers, women and landless across 20 river basins in six states in India, the insights and learning on water commons, the readers would get benefitted more.

Tank is a Micro-Basin India has many historical evidences on irrigation structures, systems and management, almost from 8th century AD onwards.

They captured India’s long history of human interventions in the management of village water bodies. One

34

December, 2017

such intervention is an irrigation tank. A tank is a simple earthen banked rainwater harvesting and storage structure, designed by the early settlers using their indigenous wisdom and constructed with the generous support of native rulers and chieftains. The topography of Deccan Plateau provided a good base for locating these innovative water bodies.

Irrigation tanks are simple technological innovations developed by those people to accommodate their primary needs and adapted to the distinctive Indian climate – intense monsoons followed by protracted droughts.

“Tanks need to be thought of in terms of a wide complex of natural resources, physical facilities, land use patterns and managerial institutions.

The tank is not simply an irrigation system that starts from the reservoir down. It is also a collection point for run-off from the catchment area, pond for pisciculture, source of silt for fertilization and construction material, a recharge structure for local groundwater, a location for cultivation on common lands, a source of drinking water for livestock, and finally, an irrigation system for crops. To help keep in mind this multiplicity of uses which spans the administrative ambit of several government departments, it is useful to think of tank complexes as

basins rather than tanks, which too often connote only the direct surface irrigation aspects of these systems.”

Even now, the tanks in South India and Ahar-Pyne System in Magadh region have very high relevance in practicing the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). As per minor irrigation census (1994), there exist 5,00,000 irrigation tanks in the country; of which 1,50,000 tanks are located in the Deccan Plateau covered by South Indian States. Similarly, there are over 20,000 Ahar-Pyne System linking rivers in South Bihar and parts of Jharkhand in Ganga Basin.

These irrigation tanks are situated in sequential chains (cascades) with the slope mildly dipping towards the Southern coastal plains in the Deccan Plateau. As a result, the rainfall runoff flowing from a sub basin and/ or watershed is effectively impounded and harnessed for multiple uses with irrigation being the major user.

Conserve Tanks for Future Humanity In many ways, tanks are very similar to endangered species. The conditions are deteriorating year by year, because of many factors and reasons. The decline of tank irrigation since 1960s from 35% of Net Irrigated Area to 20% of Net Irrigated Area, decline of

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS Ahar-Pyne system led to reduction of Net Irrigated Area over 20% and economical assessment of erstwhile planning commission about INR 500 Million revenue loss in lieu of decline of area under production in tank command showed the structural deficiencies and indifferent maintenance by all concerned.

One could notice under the present policy of the government, some thrust is being given to conservation of irrigation tanks/ Ahar-Pyne systems and for their sustainable use. From introduction of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act, the asset building in rural area by implementing deepening works in rural area on water bodies including tanks,” Mission Kakhatiya” of Telangana G o v e r n m e n t ,” K u d i Maramathu scheme” in Tamil Nadu State, World Bank aided Community Tank Improvement Projects in Southern states of India brings out the good policy climate; but the programmes and schemes fail miserably in implementation mainly because of absence of community ownership and institutional mechanisms, missing partnership with the non governmental organizations in the programmes.

Historically, desilting of the tank bed has been an activity undertaken by the farmers for development of agricultural lands because of the nutritive value of silt. Apart from the others, the village communities have been using tank silt for brick making and house construction also.

With the advent of the modern chemical fertilizers, because of their easy availability and immediate effect on the crops, farmers have given up the desilting activity. Presently desilting has become a

EXPRESS WATER

rare event in the village tanks.

Due to the Tractorization in the villages, the bullocks and carts have also vanished from the scene, which ultimately led to total stoppage of desilting by the farmers. The silt application at the moment has become another commercial - paid up input by a farmer undertaken through tractor operators.

The volume of desilting should be the volume of additional storage required to provide for two or three additional irrigations for the entire crop area and to strength the tank bund to the prescribed design standard. Top soil with nutrient content should be allowed for farmers to take and apply in their farm without hurdles. Desilting should be planned with through the local farmers’ association and gram panchayat and implemented through them only as a Demand Driven Program.

Conserve Tank Systems as Living Heritage We consider that the neglect of tanks will become a source of deprivation of all those benefits accrued by the tanks quite soon.

Sooner or later, the village communities have to address these issues also.

They will affect not only the irrigation use but the entire ecosystem and agri-biodiversity as well.

The cost of redeeming such a situation will be great. In many ways, tanks are in such a situation which is very similar to the endangered species of and animals and birds. So, to conserve these precious water bodies as a national heritage and declare them as living eco-system, a long-term sustainable mission should get launched by the state.

Tank Development and Ahar-Pyne Development as a Unique Mission Around 20% of the area under irrigation in south India depends on tanks directly. Ahar-Pynes in Magadh region also function similar as that of tanks in South India. Also, the most part of well irrigation depend upon the tanks as important source of their recharge. The surface water bodies like tanks become a must to the survival and very existence of these wells in the tank systems of the South Indian plateau regions which is endowed with hard rock geological formations. It is proved beyond doubt that the ground water in hard rock areas is scarce, precious and costly and will be extinct soon unless it is recharged through the surface water bodies such as tanks. A comprehensive and a time bound plan for the development of tanks therefore becomes an imminent and immediate task considering the decline of tank systems in most parts of south Indian peninsula.

Revive Drinking Water Ponds in the Coastal and Ground Water Contaminated Area In India, most of the drinking water programmes are Ground water based as all we know.

Fluoride and Arsenic are the two main contaminants in groundwater present naturally in India, causing a set of health symptoms known commonly as Fluorosis and Arsenicosis respectively. More than 62 million people spread over the 16 states of India, namely Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam are

affected by fluoride endemicity (Geological Survey of India). The ground water salinity is of two types - coastal salinity due to sea water ingress in coastal area and Inland salinity due to processes other than the sea water ingress. The occurrence of inland salinity may be due to over-exploitation of ground water, characteristics of aquifer or some other reasons.

In the rural parts of coastal districts drinking water ponds, termed locally as “ooranis” still continued to be the primary and preferred source of drinking and domestic water needs, since these areas have no rivers to supply drinking water. Also, the ground water is saline.

Traditionally, the Village Assemblies built the ooranis, for many decades, ooranis have been neglected and now they are in disrepair.

But the water supply systems (over-head tanks and hand pumps) provided by the Government agencies in these areas are not successful. Although the professionals and Govt. agencies have not accepted ooranis as a safe source with respect to the general health standards, people consider them the best available source and they have built immunity by drinking the water from Oorani. Domestic water supply from the rehabilitated ooranis outscores the other sources in taste, access, adequacy, availability and convenience. In order to ensure clean drinking water, the rehabilitation of drinking water/ domestic ooranis with the provision of filtering mechanism is taken up with peoples' participation would provide water security for meeting drinking and domestic needs.

Time for Taking up Promising Approaches “Green River”, an emerg-

ing concept of ecological restoration of rivers and water basins in a decade’s time frame would see vital and resilient communities in bio-diverse, well-functioning eco-systems providing health livelihoods for all living beings. To make Green river in to reality, few given pathways could be highly important and relevant for action.

• An integrated tank development approach including revival surface water ponds in their vicinity towards developing tankfed agriculture and complimenting clean drinking water in a given area will be more beneficial than a compartmental approach.

This approach would mean that tanks are considered as resource complexes which have feeder channels from their catchments, tank structures such as bunds, sluices & weirs and surplus courses draining excess water to the downstream tanks and tank command areas. All these components should be treated equally for any development on tank complexes.

• Also, developing/ rehabilitating a chain (cascade) of tanks give higher benefits and returns than rehabilitating an individual or isolated tank. This cascade approach becomes hydrologically more productive by means of retaining and saving more water, economically more beneficial by providing higher economical returns through improved production and sociological benefits by providing an opportunity to several farmers’ associations to come together in a given administrative location for their management.

• Renovate drinking water ponds with fence around by involving community in the groundwater scarce area and saline aquifer area in the country.

December, 2017

35

COVER STORY

Water Conservation It’s Time to Save!

By KAILASH DESAI CHIEFOPERATING OFFICER, ENDRESS+HAUSAR INDIA In India, cities having population of one million people require 210 liters/day water per capita, while they receive a supply of 25 liters/day per capita owing to water loss due to leakage - of which 35% is even difficult to track.

36

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS WATER IN INDIA is profoundly interlinked with the tradition of country having social and economic undertones. Reckoned as second most populated country in the World with over 1.2 billion people, India’s natural resources are under tremendous pressure “Water” being the most vital amongst them. Increasing population has decreased the per capita water availability from 2,309 cu m in 1991 to 1,588 cu m is it 2010? If taken into account the projection of population growth by 2025 the per capita water availability can further decrease to 1,000 cu m leading to a situation called water scarcity.

At present, India does not fall under the category of “water scarce” nation, through it would be truly stated as a “water stressed” nation. Many towns and villages in various parts of the country are fighting with water stress, and ironically those areas where water is available, quality of water is a serious concern.

The rapid growth of Indian economy filled by higher purchasing power, life style changes and increase in urban population are increasing the challenges to the depleting water resources. This situation is further aggravated by unfriendly climatic conditions like the rapid decline in the Himalayan glaciers & snow fields, increasing drought condition and flood condition spread across the country.

As per report by ASSOCHAM and Skymet weather services, with prominent upsurge in the number of hot days and day and night temperature, India is drying out marked by persistent moisture shortfall condition interpreted into Latur like water crisis, The report states that nine states are reeling under drought and it is also reported that there is an

EXPRESS WATER

increase in the means annual air temperature in many regions of country.

So, what does this mean?

Will there, be a shortage of water?

The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has conducted a survey and the findings are scary. It is seen over the years that most of the cities in India do not have 24*7 water supply and the coverage of sanitation has increased but resource sustainability has weakened.

Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Scenario Non-Revenue Water (NRW) - is defined as the difference between the amount of water put into the distribution system and the amount of water billed to consumers. NRW is a good indicator for water utility performance, as high levels of NRW typically indicate a poorly managed water utility. In addition, published NRW data are often problematic, suspicious, inaccurate, or provide only partial information. The causes of NRW, such as leakage due to ageing pipes, theft through illegal connection, and tampering with meters, are major impediment to effective use of water. The water management skill sets need to be upgraded in India. Wastage of water at various points can be reduced as city development and regulations

department have not been able to keep required pace with population growth and urbanization which has resulted in increased wastage of water, and this has raised the demand for better waste water management. Waste water management today, is of paramount importance.

Japan’s average nationwide NRW, at less than 10%, is remarkable low by global standard which are signs of prosperity. The Japanese are meticulous in completing their projected work as they believe in technology advancement and diligent approach to job. In our country, cities having population of one million people require 210 liters/day water per capita, while they receive a supply of 25 liters/day per capita owing to water loss due to leakage of which 35% sometimes is even difficult to track. Successful utilities actively address NRW by controlling physical losses, ensuring quality DMA metering, customer meter accuracy and making all efforts to keep the number of illegal connections nil.

Taking these measures can boost revenue by increasing the amount of water that can be billed while reducing wastage. This increases profitability and improves the return on investment, which the utility can then reinvest retained earnings and improve its productivity.

Targeting 24*7 Water Supply In the recent Union Budget 2017-18 there were various policy initiatives introduced such as UDAY, amendments in National Electricity Act, new solar RPO target for states, bio fuel policy, small hydro policy, offshore wind policy, and new hydrocarbon policy. These would in a way help boost the ecosystem and have the ability to attract global investors to India. On the other side we regularly read about water mismanagement and clashes over water resources between states, I see then next wars, if it happens will be fought for the ‘water’. Reforms are required and the focus should be to reduce nonrevenue water, groundwater exploitation and steps should be taken for waste water controlling,

Recycling and Reuse of Waste Water There are cities which are not serious on water conservation/ management which is resulting in increase of water shortage.

Some of the recent initiatives by the Government instilling hope are - 100 smart cities project, the National Mission to clean Ganga and the total sanitation program.

The integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) in 2015 created a new agenda and approach

for efficient water management in the country. The best part of this initiative is (it is not a perspective model but process that invites cities) to adjust their current planning and management practices, technology advancement for water management.

I, strongly believe that the country’s engineering technical community needs to come together and form a panel, stand united in order to break “silos” between old and new technology, understand the need of their respective city and focus on - reducing water wastage and providing standardised drinking water to the citizen.

The natural water resources, storm water/ rainwater catchment system as a potential source need to be conserved and maintained aptly to take care of future water requirements. This is possible by introducing new age technology which would help conserve natural resources.

Today, the world is keeping a close eye on India as they would like to see how it can translate words into actions as well accelerate the reform momentum for more sustainable and comprehensive growth. Let us all come together to build green infrastructure for our country, let us reduce, recycle and reuse water.

Endress+Hauser Installations of Flow Meter in Pune

December, 2017

37

COVER STORY

Water - Reflections By EDDYMOORS RECTOR, IHE DELFTINSTITUTE FOR WATER EDUCATION Understanding true value of water requires an integrated approach, where engineering meets socio economics and then the resulting proposal/ evaluation becomes much more attractive to investors, both public and private.

38

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS I ENTITLED MY recent Inaugural Lecture as Rector of IHE Delft, ‘Water – Wrestling with Wicked Problems’. A wicked problem refers to a complex problem for which there is no simple method or solution, and every attempt can matter, because it affects the things people depend on.

We know that water is life and so the first part of this column looks at what is at stake, particularly in India, when it comes to water problems. Then, on a more positive note, I will discuss the way forward and in particular what IHE Delft, as a UNESCO institute and part of the UN Water Family, is contributing to achieving the SDGs, including through our work in India.

The first ‘pool’ of water is surface water and how it is affected by climate change and the impact of mankind on water quality. Changing snow melt as well as rainfall patterns are affecting the location and timing of water availability. This, in combination with increasing water demands for food production and other activities, increases the pressure on this scarce resource. The scarcity is further aggravated by the declining quality of most water bodies.

The second ‘pool’ is groundwater and increasingly the problems caused by ingress of saline water.

Examples are the lowering of the groundwater table in large parts of India as well as the decline in water productivity of the springs in the foothills of the Himalayas. In coastal areas, the increasing saline water intrusion, due to a combination of reduced river discharge as well as rising sea levels, is causing serious problems, on top of the already existing water quality issues in, for example, the back waters in

EXPRESS WATER

Kerala.

The third is new water.

“New” water refers to treated water, being either saline water or wastewater.

It is a valuable source of water in water scarce areas, but it is not without its problems, including health. There are also environmental issues related to it, such as brine disposal, which, among many other water issues, we at IHE Delft are working on.

Increasing water productivity by technical solutions such as drip irrigation or reuse of water, is one way to tackle the issue of water scarcity. However, acceptable sustainable solutions are most likely to be found in a more socioeconomic holistic approach.

Preventing conflict and transboundary water disputes is of growing importance, as water becomes ever scarcer. India is no stranger to this subject, particularly at local levels (state and district). IHE Delft runs Master’s courses on this topic as well as training diplomats and government officials on how to negotiate equitable access, with an optimum outcome being a treaty between involved parties.

Water has been taken for granted for too long and now this basic resource is starting to be valued, as it should. Understanding the true value of water requires an integrated approach, where engineering meets socio economics and then the resulting proposal/ evaluation becomes much more attractive to investors, both public and private.

The Way Forward As an Institute, IHE Delft has the mission “to contribute to the education and training of professionals, to expand the knowledge base through research and to build the

capacity of sector organizations, knowledge centres and other institutions active in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure in developing countries and countries in transition”.

As part of this exercise, the Institute educates and informs decision-makers to make better informed, substantiated decisions.

One discipline which is experiencing rapid growth is water accounting, because decision-makers need to have reliable, independent and open access data. Combining remote sensing and in-situ data, information is collected, that can then be used for monitoring purposes (e.g. how a country or region is progressing towards implementing the water related SDG) as well as water governance and water allocation.

Another area of great interest at IHE Delft, is sustainability of water resources. For example what is the impact of hydropower, itself an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, or other reservoirs on environmental flow? The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also play a role. For example, creating more water storage facilities for irrigation to achieve the food related SDG may hamper environmental flow which is an integral part of the sustainable water SDG. The challenge is how to create solutions without creating wicked problems, or at least minimizing them.

In India, to try to develop solutions more quickly and effectively, we are trying to increase our collaboration with government bodies, other institutions, as well as private companies. We are currently in discussions to open a Water Institute in conjunction with a leading university in India and we are involved in a number of

projects. These include: Local Treatment of Urban Sewage and Streams for Healthy Reuse: This project will demonstrate a novel, holistic (waste) water management approach for the recovery of water, energy and nutrients from urban wastewater. Innovative but proven robust technologies, will be incorporated in a modular pilot treatment plant along the Barapullah drain. LOTUS-HR will lead to the development of reliable technologies, tools, models and approaches for local stakeholders, enabling market development for water reuse strategies and solutions for other Indian mega cities.

www.wateraccounting.org) As part of this project the WA+ team of IHE-Delft will: a) prepare water accounts for two river basins in Madhya Pradesh (Kali Sindh and Wainganga), and one in Karnataka (Tungabhadra), b) provide training of Water Accounting and openaccess Remote Sensing to relevant governmental organizations and local universities, and c) provide recommendations based on water security diagnosis.

In addition, IHE Delft is providing Capacity Development in Water Accounting Plus (WA+) and associated tools for Central Water Commission, India.

Water Accounting in Selected Asian River Basins Pilot Studies in India:

Strategic Basin Assessment of Brahmaputra Basin, Funded by the World Bank

Various national water resources assessments and plans are underway, or have been completed recently to reflect to support a year-round clean and affordable water supply. The quality of these water resources plans depends on adequate input data, which is not always available. Water accounting provides a coherent and consistent methodology that quantifies hydrological processes, water storage, base flow, and the distribution of water to various competing sectors. It also considers the consumption of water and the benefits and services including ecosystem services - that result from that consumption, including the return flow of non-consumed water. A water accounting system based on open access earth observation satellite data for complete river basins - including transboundary basins - is being piloted in this project: The Water Accounting Plus system (WA+,

We run a number of tailor-made training courses, including IWRM (Integrated Water Resource Management) training course for Karnataka water engineers and crop water productivity for improved investment and management of Asia’s irrigation and waters basin. This includes a demonstration of SEBAL, one of the first and most widely recognized and used models to “map” evapotranspiration using satellite images, especially in agriculture.

In conclusion, I have a strong affinity to India, having lived and worked in Mumbai for a while and made many trips to different regions. For IHE Delft, the Institute is and always has been an important country. We have 500 alumni there, many of whom are in positions of responsibility and decision-making. We hope to collaborate with many Indian partners over the next few years to try to tackle, together, some of your wicked water problems.

December, 2017

39

COVER STORY

Driving Toward a Solution for India’s Rivers By SADHGURU FOUNDER, ISHAFOUNDATION

People think that because of water there are trees.

No, because of trees there is water.

40

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS MY ENGAGEMENT WITH nature is not as an ecologist or as an environmentalist. I am not a scientist of any kind. My engagement with nature is as life. Right from my childhood, I’ve spent more time outdoors than indoors. From the age of 12 to 17, every day I swam in Kaveri. And when I was 17, I rafted down Kaveri from Bhagamandala to Mysore on four truck tubes and twelve bamboos. Even now it is difficult to keep me indoors!

My experience of rivers, of water and of nature is not by study, but simply by observation. I have spent weeks on end by myself in jungles, living off the jungle with no external support.

There is nothing special in this. Every other creature in the world does this. I have never separated myself from nature. I see myself and everything else as just an element of that.

Soil & Water Are Not Commodities Your body is just soil and water sitting here. Most people don’t get this point until you bury them. When we are buried, we all understand that we are part of the soil. It is because we have some mobility right now that we can’t believe that we are part of the soil.

If we were rooted like a tree, we would understand this very clearly.

Like the soil, water is also not a commodity. It is life-making material. The human body is 72% water.

You are a water body. And on this planet, rivers are the water bodies with which we have the closest relationship. But if you look at our rivers today, they have suffered drastic depletion.

Many rivers that have been perennial for millions of years, are turning seasonal in just two generations. And they are going to deplete faster in the coming years.

Some of the major rivers

EXPRESS WATER

have shrunk by 60%. Rivers like Krishna and Kaveri do not touch the ocean for three-four months of the year. The issue is not limited to a few rivers. Across the country, most of our rivers are drying up.

Many people in the country have a certain mentality that status quo is a solution. Status quo is not a solution. Status quo means you are resigning yourself to your present predicament, whatever it is.

When it comes to our rivers, our water bodies and our soil, you may think the situation is status quo, but nature doesn’t think so. As far as nature is concerned, a serious depletion of soil, water and other life-making material is happening.

In this country, before the 1950s, we had famines that killed in millions. When the horrendous act of Adolf Hitler killing six million Jews was unfolding in Europe over a period of six to seven years, in just twoand-a-half months, 3.5 million people were killed in the Bengal famine in 1943.

For fifty years, we have avoided another famine.

But now we are once again driving ourselves into the same place.

People may not die in such high numbers today but there will definitely be serious disruption of life.

Once there is no water in the villages, you will have an exodus. You will have people camping in your city, in the streets, all over. If you try to do anything with them, they will get violent.

The civil strife that we could be faced with in the next 30-40 years is immense.

This is not about trying to paint a doomsday picture. We are clearly driving in a certain direction, and if we don’t change our direction now, we will inevitably go towards certain situations. In the last four years, our pulse import has gone

up by seventeen percent.

We are a country which consumes a huge amount of pulses, but we are not able to grow them anymore because there is no water.

Most of these crops are rainwater irrigated, but the rain is not dependable anymore. There was a time when farmers used to know which day it will rain without any meteorological department, but today you have no clue when it will come, so how will you know when to plant?

Reviving Our Rivers One fundamental reason for the depletion of our rivers is that there is not enough vegetation on the land. In order to feed rivers, the soil around them needs to be wet. Most of our rivers are forest-fed. When the land was covered by rainforest, precipitation gathered in the soil and fed the streams and rivers which then were in full flow.

If there is no forest, there will be no river after some time. This must be understood: people think that because of water there are trees. No, because of trees there is water. So our rivers need sufficient green cover all along their course.

But this is not going to happen with volunteer enthusiasm. You and me planting a few million trees – the time for that is over.

We should have done that

forty years ago. Now we need an enforceable policy which will determine how we should live around our water bodies, what we should do and what we should not do.

For this, we have come up with a draft policy recommendation put together by a panel of experts and scientists. The solution is that for a minimum of one kilometer on either side of the river and half kilometer for tributaries, we plant native, endemic vegetation.

Wherever it is government land, we create a forest in the entire area – not just restricted to a kilometer. Wherever it is farmerowned land, there needs to be a shift to tree-based agriculture. This will also result in more than doubling farmers’ income.

If we implement this properly in the next eight to ten years, you will see the flows in the river can go up by fifteen to twenty percent in the next 15 to 25 years.

But if we wait for 15, 20 years and then attempt to reverse the problem, it will take a very long time to turn around. This is not activist talk, this is proper science.

This is a responsibility that we owe to the future generations. As a generation of people, we have caused the maximum damage. As a generation, even if we can’t fix everything, at

least we must drive in the right direction towards what must be done.

As a step towards this, for 30 days from September 3 to October 2, we conducted the Rally for Rivers, where I personally drove across 16 states and over 9300 kilometers, with 142 events across the country, to make a strong pitch for saving our rivers.

We have presented the draft River Revitalization Policy to the union government, state governments, various experts and the media. It is also available for public download and there is a three-month window during which we welcome all technical and scientific inputs to further strengthen the policy.

After this, there is a lot of work to turn this into a policy and put it on the ground.

We will pursue this on various levels and try to support the government.

Wherever they find loopholes and they don’t have the time or energy to fill in those loopholes, we will step in.

If we can arrive at a common policy and start the implementation, it will be a huge and successful step for the future of our nation and for the wellbeing of generations to come.

Note: Visit RallyForRivers.org for more information on how you can participate and get involved in Rally For Rivers – a nationwide campaign to revitalize our rivers.

December, 2017

41

COVER STORY

Deploying Small Water Enterprises to Provide Safe Drinking Water Access to Rural India By POONAM SEWAK VP- KNOWLEDGE & PARTNERSHIPS, SAFE WATER NETWORK It is in India’s rural communities where an imminent need is felt: only 43% of rural habitations have piped water supply, which covers just 54% of population.

42

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS WE ALL WISH for a world in which safe, affordable water is available for everyone. This sentiment is the driving force behind the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.1, which aims to “achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” by 2030.

However, 2.1 billion people around the globe lack access to safe water. The World Bank estimates that, at current spending levels, 4.5 billion people will be in need of safe water by 2030 - a number that will account for more than half of the world’s projected population.

These estimates are all the more exasperating when we realize that, though there may be enough fresh water on the planet to achieve SDG 6.1, various obstacles stand in the way of the significant progress that must be made in order to ensure safe water globally. As a result, millions of people are affected each year from diseases related to inadequate safe water supply.

These issues become more pronounced when we consider a country like India, which is home to 1.32 billion people - approximately 18 percent of the world’s population. India has four percent of the world’s freshwater resources, but this water is unevenly distributed (both spatially and temporally).

As a result, an estimated 38 million people annually are affected by waterborne diseases, and approximately 4,00,000 deaths can be attributed to contaminated water each year.

Inadequate access to safe drinking water impacts the health and economic well-being of the country as a whole, but it is in India’s rural communities where an imminent need is felt: 43 percent of rural habitations

EXPRESS WATER

have piped water supply, which covers 54 percent of the population (at 40 litres of water per capita per day). Yet still, the 2011 Census of India estimates that 138 million rural households in India approximately 690 million people - lack access to treated piped water. India ranks 120th out of 122 nations for its water quality, and 133rd out of 180 nations for its water availability.

India has achieved unprecedented progress in providing water access to communities through a number of innovative government initiatives designed to satisfy the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (predecessor to the current Sustainable Development Goals). Access to basic water supply facilities has been provided for many, through a combination of piped water systems, protected wells, hand pumps, and other means.

The challenge that India’s government now faces centers on achieving India’s 2030 vision for affordable, equitable, efficient, and sustainable piped water supply for all - referred to as Har Ghar Jal (water for every home). India aims to provide 70 litres of water per capita per day using sustainable sources, while ensuring sustainable services. This requires covering operations and maintenance costs from revenue so that high-quality water can be provided on an on-going basis to a growing rural population.

To meet the government’s water goals, an additional investment of nearly INR 5,00,000 crores in infrastructure alone will be required. In addition, the country will need to achieve: a reduction in coverage slippages; an improvement in water quality; an alternative to dependency on ground-

water; and coordination among various government bodies.

Based on India’s 20172018 budget, however, an insufficient sum of INR 5,000 crores is allocated to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. As we move toward the 2030 goal which includes an interim target of piped water for 95 percent of households by 2022 - the country’s approach regarding water access and availability must be re-evaluated.

In recent years, the public and private sectors have been looking to small water enterprises - decentralized, locally owned and operated water supply systems that provide affordable, reliable, safe drinking water on a sustainable basis - as an opportunity to meet the need where large infrastructure is inappropriate or cumbersome, and where coverage slippage is an issue. There are currently an estimated 30,000-35,000 small water enterprises across India, and many more are needed.

The small water enterprise approach can be a complementary solution for areas where piped water is unavailable or insufficient, and offers an affordable approach to reach those in need.

Research suggests that, even among low-income populations, consumers are willing to pay INR 5 per 20 litres of safe water. This willingness to pay implies that the market-based approaches can be viable as long as affordability is taken into account.

(According to the United Nations, water tariffs that do not exceed three percent of household income is considered affordable.)

Guided by Government of India policies, Safe Water Network provides a safe and affordable drinking water solution through

iJal Equipment (Photo Credit: Suzanne Lee)

small water enterprises that operate under the brand iJal. These iJal stations serve as communitylevel treatment facilities that produce water in adherence to national standards. The stations provide equitable and inclusive safe water to communities for drinking and cooking at affordable prices. Using reverse osmosis water treatment technology, each iJal station features a remote monitoring system that allows for real-time tracking to monitor water quality and system performance. Stations are built only after Safe Water Network has received approval from local governments, and local residents are trained to operate and maintain the plant and interact with consumers.

Equipped with an inventory of spare parts, skilled technicians provide support in maintaining and repairing the stations to keep downtime below two percent.

Operational sustainability is matched with financial sustainability: the Safe Water Network model is designed to provide incentives and capacity-building throughout the value chain so that the stations can function reliably and continuously, funded by consumer water fees.

Recognizing the enormity of the challenge in India and around the world, Safe Water Network has been focused on demonstrating

a proposition that can be replicated and scaled up by others. With more than 200 stations (primarily in Telangana) reaching more than 7,23,000 people, Safe Water Network’s operational footprint in India is a compelling argument for the potential of small water enterprises.

The success of small water enterprises in India is proof that this approach can help bridge the safe water accessibility gap. iJal stations have positively impacted lives in communities throughout India by providing safe and affordable drinking water, improving quality of life with fewer incidences of waterborne diseases, and increasing workdays and schooldays as a result.

At a capital expense of INR 1,100 per capita, or a total cost of INR 75,000 crores, small water enterprises could provide sustainable safe water access to 690 million people in rural India - and ensure that future generations achieve the economic opportunity that safe water and good health provide.

Armed with this evidence, it is now up to sector stakeholders to work together, in alliance, to catalyze the scale up of small water enterprises. In doing so, we stand to realize a healthy future for India and the world - one of equity, inclusiveness, and sustainability.

December, 2017

43

COVER STORY

Indian Water Sector On the Crossroads By SUBHASH SETHI CHAIRMAN, SPMLINFRALIMITED Water scarcity in India is a manmade problem.

Mismanagement of water resources caused the current crisis resulting in millions of Indians having no access to clean drinking water.

44

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS

240 MLD STP, Ahmedabad

INDIA IS COMPETING with large developed economies in the world and its economic growth is expected to hovering around 7-8 per cent in next few years.

Despite being one of the major economies in the world having about 18 per cent of global population, it only contains 4% of the world's fresh water resources, which are also declining in terms of supply and quality. Drinking water was once considered safe in India, but today providing nearly 1.35 billion inhabitants with access to safe drinking water is a difficult challenge. The alarming rate of depleting groundwater sources and rapidly polluting surface water requires immediate and focused attention by all stake holders.

Scarce Resource India is facing the challenge of rapidly growing water demand, driven by ever increasing population, firm economic growth, faster trends of urbanization and increased industrialization activities. The water scarcity problem is not only a result of quantitative or qualitative shortage but also a consequence of inefficient use and poor water management. The 2030 Water Resources Group has calculated that India’s water demand will outstrip supply by 50 per cent by the year 2030. A significant challenge faced by India; therefore to increase

EXPRESS WATER

conservation of water across operations and geographies.

India’s major dependence on groundwater has resulted in over-extraction which is lowering the water table and adversely impacting drinking water supply.

India is the world’s largest user of groundwater that extracts more than any other country in the world and accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the world’s extracted groundwater.

Since 1980s, its groundwater levels have been dropping considerably. World Resources Institute has ranked India at 41 in global water stress rankings of 181 countries and among the second high-risk nations.

The water stress is extremely high in the north-western region where levels have plunged from 8 meters below ground to 16 meters.

Parts of northern region including Delhi face serious water shortages every summer. A decade-long study of wells in Maharashtra shows that 70 per cent of them have declining groundwater levels. Much of the water extracted from the underground sources is nonrenewable as the recharge rates are much lesser than the extraction rates.

Central Water Commission said that India’s major dams were at just 27% of their capacity and 91 reservoirs were 30% below last year’s levels.

Groundwater and surface water is under high risk

from both agricultural and urban uses. Declining rates of natural replenishment are threatening the sustainability of aquifers in the Indo-Gangetic basin, which constitute one of Asia’s most densely populated and agriculturally productive regions.

Contamination Issues India’s groundwater sources are not only overexploited but also contaminated. The deep-level groundwater is contaminated by sewage, fluoride, arsenic, and uranium. Incidence of arsenic contamination has doubled between 2013 and 2016, as measured by number of affected habitations.

Water Aid, an international organization working for water sanitation and hygiene finds that an alarming 80 per cent of India's surface water is polluted.

Central Pollution Control Board estimates that 75-80 per cent of water pollution

by volume is from domestic sewerage, while untreated sewage flowing into water bodies including rivers have almost doubled in recent years. India has just about 270 sewage treatment plants and most of them are performing under their capacity due to poor infrastructure support and lack of funds with local utility bodies. It is estimated that due to lack of sewage treatment facilities, more than 62 per cent of total sewage is discharged directly into our rivers and other water bodies and further polluting the already limited water resources.

The World Health Organization finds that about 1.6 million people die every year from water borne diseases due to lack of safe drinking water and basic sanitation. 90 per cent of them are children under the age of 5, mostly in developing countries including India. Safe drinking water is a basic requirement and millions of people in India have no access to any source of drinking water.

Water and Smart Cities In India, the smart and future cities will face major challenges as far as water demand supply management is concerned. The challenges will revolve around water supply, wastewater management and drainage services in the city.

With the growing importance of cities in the Indian economy, water crisis has the potential to impact not only public health but also country’s economic development. This threat will multiply with the growth of water-intensive industries and high levels of industrial pollution affecting water bodies and aquifers. With rapid population growth, United Nations estimates that India will become the world’s most populous country by 2024. With a number of planned smart and future cities; increased demands for food and energy and consistent poor management of water resources, the water stress will be worsening in urban regions where groundwater is already overdrawn.

Key to meeting these challenges requires planned efforts in many ways in which water use, future needs and sustainability with treatment and reuse could be addressed. To ensure optimal water supply and demand management in future cities where freshwater sources may be insufficient to keep pace with population growth, prudent will be to use water more efficiently and cut overall demand. Above and below the ground infrastructure needs careful assessment and revamp in line with the growing demand. Future planning

200 MLD WTP, Surajpura

December, 2017

45

COVER STORY will depend upon efficiently handling of entire water cycle using modern technologies and best practices.

At the same time, it will be essential that necessary technologies, capabilities, processes and practices are made available on the required timescale.

Water Technologies The global innovation in water technologies will help in countering water scarcity issues and support utilities with sustainable water management services. The inventive technology has made significant breakthroughs in water supply and distribution, drip irrigation, desalination, waste water treatment, automation, asset management, metering and other aspects of water management.

Innovations such as affordable desalination plants are need of the time in water stressed states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan which are investing in such projects for creating drinking water through desalination plants.

Technologies for treating water have also advanced significantly over the past few years as researchers have increasingly focused their efforts on water treatment technologies. Today the availability of clean, safe drinking water is on demand at every location in the world. However, even this highly treated water is subject to degradations in quality once it leaves the treatment plant and enters the distribution system. The new innovations in water treatment technology have enabled us to develop new cities and habitants along with our businesses. Water purification system using nanotechnology offers opportunities to develop next generation water supply systems with advanced level of treatment to improve efficiency as well as to augment water supply

46

December, 2017

through safe use of water sources.

SPML Infra, based on its experience of more than 3 decades in water management in India, has developed an Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), a software solution for smart management of water utilities. It is highly scalable and capable of handling the Metering, Billing, CRM, Network Analysis, Demand Forecasting & Management, Asset and Inventory Management, Business Intelligence, and Operation & Maintenance of the entire water supply and distribution network. After implementing this system, the water loss has been considerably reduced and revenue increased significantly with better consumer services in Delhi and Karnataka.

and water conservation. For going forward in India, we need to consider the implementation of smart water grids in our cities, especially in the planned smart cities to help service provider with real time monitoring of assets and water quality to enhance planning and network operations; it also enables consumers to make informed choices towards water conservation. In addition, the usage data from automated meter readings will enable more accurate demand prediction for optimizing pumping schedules, water turn-over in service reservoirs, and water required to be treated and pumped.

The further research and testing are being done to realize the full benefits of a Smart Water Grid.

Smart Water Grid

Water Governance

Smart water grid integrates Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into a single water management scheme. This is a promising solution for resolving critical water problems to ensure the security of water quantity, quality with the help of ICT-based water management solutions. In Singapore, the implementation of a Smart Water Grid system supports the mission to supply 24x7 good water supplies to its people. With sensors and analytic tools deployed to provide a real-time monitoring and decision support system, the Smart Water Grid system enables utility to manage the water supply network efficiently, ensuring that all residents will continue to enjoy a reliable and sustainable water supply for generations to come. The Smart Water Grid system covers the key operational aspects of a water distribution system like asset management, leak and non-revenue water management, water quality monitoring, automated meter reading

Improving governance in water segment remains a matter of concern since arrangements are generally fragmented which needs a radical transformation to be able to address new challenges. In India, water is being a state subject; water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments and storage falls in the state list. There is a need to recognize water as a finite and vulnerable resource. The government should take urgent action to set the stage for enactment of a comprehensive national legislation on water after evolving a national consensus to bring it in the concurrent list and formulate an over-arching national legal framework for effective water management, conservation, development and equitable distribution with regulatory authority to deal exclusively with the matter.

The existing legislations on water should also be comprehensively reviewed.

Legislation and executive action must continue to be undertaken as water ranks

higher priority than any other. The Uttarakhand High Court has recognized the rivers - Ganga and Yamuna as a living entity, which means that anybody found polluting the river would be seen as harming a human being. It reflects a sense of urgency in containing water contamination and trying to rescue our rivers from rampant pollution.

India’s agriculture sector consumes more water to grow same amount of crops compared to global average.

Despite being a water scarce country, our agricultural produce is extremely water intensive. While the agriculture sector needed urgent water reforms, non-agriculture use of water also suffers from unplanned usage and wastage. A majority of India’s households are using private means such as bore-wells to extract groundwater without any regulation or concern for conservation. The policy planning and implementation must have the participation of principal water stakeholders of our country like farmers, industry, energy producers, government agencies, rural and urban consumers etc. for improving the governance of water.

Future Course Management of water supply required to harmonize demands and needs which are getting more and more complex and sophisticated. The first thing we must do is to mitigate the causes of water shortages as much as possible. A strategic and pragmatic approach, based on practical implementation has to be implemented in order to address the key challenges of water management. We need to have smart water concept with the gradual integration and convergence of ICT solutions implemented within the water domain.

The water management requires a collaborative approach between the pub-

lic and private sectors, and within the different levels of government from centre to state to local levels. Private expertise is essential in closing the water gap across the segment.

Optimism The Indian water sector is on the crossroads today.

In a developing country with huge requirements, there is a vast scope for growth. The total Indian water market is estimated to be about USD 14 billion with a growth rate of about 18 per cent every year. At SPML Infra, we are optimistic of India’s water sector’s prospects and our role within. We believe that the water infrastructure has not grown even to the extent of 10 percent of its true potential, which indicates that this single vertical holds out decades of sustainable growth potential.

India has for decades been a consumption-driven economy, but it needs to swing the needle towards infrastructure growth. We are pleased to see that the present Indian government appears to share the same view. Over the last three years, the Indian government has addressed the sector’s potential with an unusual but highly effective response. The government has selected to correct the sectoral framework with the declaration of large projects under several new schemes having dedicated budgets for water sector. We believe that this sequential correction is critical and logical in policy framework and once it becomes a reality, we believe that projects will be completed faster, cash inflows will be quicker, inproject disputes will be addressed and resolved closest to real-time, the unproductive investment in long-drawn arbitration will decline, infrastructure growth will accelerate and the country will benefit.

EXPRESS WATER

COVER STORY

TechnologyApproach for Water Management for Smart Cities By K.ASHOK NATARAJAN CEO,TAMILNADU WATER INVESTMENT COMPANYLTD.

It is widely accepted in India that 24x7 supply is the preferred way forward for smart cities, with such supply being more hygienic, more cost effective, and more productive for the consumer.

48

December, 2017

WATER IS ESSENTIAL for life but is finite and therefore precious. Serving pure and potable water, with no sewer overflows to the dense populations in proposed smart cities in India, is a challenging task given the fact that most of the cities proposed in India are brown fields.

By now, it is widely accepted in India that 24x7 (continuous) supply is the preferred way forward for smart cities, with such supply being more hygienic (better water quality), more costeffective (less leakage and breakdowns, less investment by consumer) and more productive for the consumer.

At present, attempts towards 24x7 water supply have brought forward a multitude of problems facing the utility, bringing the realization that 24x7 could only happen if both the distribution network and the utility itself underwent a transformation and the utility deployed contemporary technologies to manage water.

Emergence of NDT Techniques for condition assessment of water and waste water network for smart cities: • Understanding when a water or sewerage pipe is expected to fail and to

understand its residual life has become very popular especially in other Asian countries due to high cost of rehabilitation.

New technology using closed circuit TV helps to ascertain both the water and sewer pipe line in terms of structural integrity and quality of joints thereby helps to manage risks than traditional approach of replacing pipes and this enables the Capex to be optimized and the perquisite of smart cities to be commercially viable within 5 years is possible to achieve compared to the traditional approach of replacement.

• Traditional non-revenue water loss methodologies of active and passive leakage controls in pressurized systems can be augmented by using Smart Ball leak detection technology which has been used in Malaysia and Manila wherein a smart ball is inserted and travels with water flow for 12 hours and collects information and this can detect even pin hole leaks in pressurized pipes.

• A new devise for pipe scan technology using tethered in line inspection has been successfully deployed to perform con-

dition assessment of water mains and to determine the C value of pipes.

A fibre optic cable with scanner complete analysis of pipework, wall thickness of pipes and location of vulnerability can be zeroed including joint condition of pipes.

• An important methodology for leak detection is being refined through application of GPR ground penetrating radar where leaked joints that could to lead to pollution can be detected by nondestructive geophysical techniques. The GPR operates by transmitting microwave electromagnetic energy down into the subsurface. When EM waves encounter the interface having different dielectric constant, the portion of the wave is reflected. The amplitude of the reflected wave is directly proportional to difference in the dielectric properties of the target and the medium. Through this method, the probable locations with leakage can be located which will lead to optimization of excavation work required, and need of pipeline replacement and the need of repair work. Hence, saving time and money to a great extent.

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS Emergence of the Decentralized Wastewater Management Strategies for Smart Cities Sanitation has been the single most important public health infrastructure for all communities, and sanitation for all remains a key objective for India under Swachh Bharat scheme.

Many proposed smart cities face the challenge of aging sanitation infrastructure or inadequate capacity to service a growing population.

Furthermore, approximately 90% of all wastewater in India is discharged untreated, polluting rivers, lakes and seas. Wastewater is now widely recognized as

EXPRESS WATER

an important resources and reference to sustainable wastewater management.

Decentralized wastewater systems, coupled with the concepts of an urban model for urban water management is emerging as a model for sewerage services supporting sustainable and resilient cities of the future.

Fit-for-purpose recycled water schemes are emerging to maximize recycled water usage where a baseline recycled water quality is reticulated with additional treatment facilities to fitfor-purpose standards located at the demand-side of the system.

Other innovations that

are emerging in sustainable wastewater management include the use of pressure sewers and smart discharge scheduling to Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) to moderate inflow patterns to optimize the operation and capacity of these plants.

Emergence of the Integrated Water Management Systems for Smart Cities Integrated management of distribution network solution that allows for successful transition from intermittent to equitable and continuous water supply can be deployed.

Reservoir Management System (RMS) devices for measurement & control of

flow, pressure and levels in the inlet of the Elevated Service Reservoir (ESR) based on extensive hydraulic modelling of existing and modified water supply networks and Outlet Management System devices for measurement & control of flow and pressure at the downstream side of ESR in the distribution system can be implemented and shall have the feature of remote on/off, flow control, flow metering, air management etc., and system shall be capable to deliver the water to end user as per the demand.

These systems along with the smart metering and IOT technologies avail-

able can help in the integration of the technical, commercial ad planning function of a smart city thus enabling them to have more control of their assets and thus making themselves viable.

This column looks at suggested practices by deployment of technologies available for efficient water management for proposed smart cities that are essential for effective water management, with the intention that some of these measures be introduced in current practices to limit risks and provide more options to the utility about future operations and viability for smart cities.

December, 2017

49

COVER STORY

Solving Global Water Crisis By KOICHI MATSUI CHAIRPERSON & MANAGING DIRECTOR, UEM INDIA On current trends, it is estimated that water demand for industry, energy and an extra billion people - will increase up to 50% by 2030.

50

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS

Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) built by UEM

WATER IS THE MOST precious commodity and we are running out of it. As cities across many firstWorld developed countries started experiencing drought-like conditions, the ground reality of the water scarcity and the need for water and wastewater management rose to the surface.

This is a cost that human civilization has to pay in exchange for the massive and rapid urbanization.

While the population explosion has made it certain that the pace of urbanization cannot be slowed down, certain measures when implemented effectively, can help the world battle the water crisis.

On current trends, it is estimated that water demand - for industry, energy and an extra billion people - will increase up to 50% by 2030. Globally, 10% of available water flows into domestic use, 70% into agriculture and 20% into industrial production. Wastewater-runoff from agriculture, industry and expanding cities, especially in developing nations, is a major part of the problem. Recycling and reusing wastewater, however, could be the key to solving global water crisis.

In India, which is the

EXPRESS WATER

World’s second most populated country, a vast portion of this population is impacted by challenges like limited access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation. A majority of the domestic wastewater goes untreated, polluting the available water resources like rivers, lakes and ground water sources. A rapidly depleting groundwater supply due to water guzzling industries compounded with an ever increasing population is creating a pressing need for increased efficiency.

The water/wastewater treatment in India is a USD 4 bn industry and growing at 10-12% every year. There are several funding agencies like World Bank, ADB, JICA, etc., which are funding several prestigious municipal projects in several states of India.

In addition, there are also several projects under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme involving lake and river conservation. Further, NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) has identified several key projects along the Ganges river in the states of Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal involving STP and sewerage schemes worth

over 12000 cr.

Indian Government is making several efforts to address the issue of water.

The policy on ZLD being drafted by the Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment in India focuses on the industries’ responsibility towards the environment. Besides reducing pollution at the source, policy initiatives must also focus on removing contaminants from wastewater flows, reusing water, and recovering useful by-products.

The rejuvenation of the Ganges under the aegis of NMCG is one such platform where the joint efforts made by the central and state governments, urban local bodies and the private sector will definitely result in a synergy that is crucial for the success of the ‘Clean India’ Initiative.

UEM, a Toshiba group company, is a part of this initiative as we are already working on three projects along the banks of the Ganges - with Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam in Allahabad, with Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company in Sahibganj and with Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation in Saidpur, and we are looking forward to similar

opportunities.

UEM has also completed World Bank and JICA funded STP, Sewerage Pumping Stations and Sewerage network projects in Allahabad and Varanasi, which are currently under operation and maintenance.

For Industrial wastewater treatment, the demand will grow as per Indian economic growth.

We understand that significant amount of capacities would be added in Power and Refinery sectors and this would definitely augur well for the industrial wastewater treatment market. Likewise, with growth in other sectors also, we assume that there would be significant demand for water and wastewater treatment, water recycle and reuse projects.

It is very important that overexploitation of water at the hands of industries and mismanagement of water resources is curtailed because no amount of development, no matter how important or how necessary, will ever justify the indiscriminate use of resources.

Today, UEM India provides complete, one-stop solution from engineering and design to construction, installation, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment facilities. UEM offers multiple modern technologies like ZLD (Zero Liquid Discharge) using HEROTM (High Efficiency Reverse Osmosis), Anaerobic Biological Treatment, Activated Sludge Process (ASP), Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR), Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR), etc.

Apart from this, our global design centre with in-house engineering capabilities in process engineering, civil and structural engineering, mechanical engineering, instrumentation and controls, and electrical engineering that

allows us to deliver not just the institutional knowledge that UEM has gained in designing over 350 projects, but also suggest the best CAPEX & OPEX ratio solution based on clients’ requirements.

Conservation of the resources as well as development can co-exist in tandem and this is what we believe in Toshiba and in UEM. We realize that the responsibility of making this cohabitation possible falls on the shoulders of technology players like us.

Therefore, equipped with our knowhow, expertise, technology in Wastewater Management (including recycle and reuse), UEM, under the aegis of Toshiba, has already started working with various industries, and partnering and associating with initiatives like ‘Clean India’ and the ‘Rejuvenation of the Ganges’.

Water problems such as water shortages and pollution are occurring in India and around the world due to population growth, industrial development and improvement of living standards. To solve those problems, global cooperation is needed beyond regional or national boundaries.

Toshiba and UEM have been involved in the development of water and sewage infrastructure for many years, and have offered comprehensive technologies ranging from planning to implementation to solve various water and environmental problems.

Toshiba and UEM are committed to the development and operation of water and environmental infrastructure. Toshiba and UEM will contribute to the establishment of sustainable water circulation systems and the realization of advanced environmentally sound communities “for the next India and the world”.

December, 2017

51

COVER STORY

Water Sustainability Initiatives By RAJIVMITTAL MANAGING DIRECTOR & GROUPCEO, VATECH WABAG LTD

We need a robust policy framework and focus on immediate implementation to create a sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure.

52

December, 2017

IT IS AN established fact that water is a finite resource.

With urbanization and industrialization, abuse of water has been on the rise. Emerging markets face challenges such as exploitation of catchment areas, high contamination of water sources, losses during water distribution, low percentage of population connected to water and wastewater networks, inadequate treatment infrastructure, quality of water and treated sewage not conforming to prescribed norms and sludge management.

The need of the hour is a comprehensive water and wastewater management model which focuses on effectively closing the water cycle by creating sufficient catchment areas, coming up with alternative sources of water such as desalination to bridge the water demand supply gap in coastal areas, employing water conservation mechanisms, reducing leakages, effectively collecting and treating every drop of wastewater generated, and reusing the wastewater for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes to minimize the burden on freshwater.

We need a robust policy framework and focus on immediate implementation to create a sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure by analysing how much we extract, how much we squander, how much we consume, how much we treat and most importantly how much we value the finite resource called water.

As an industry leader with global credentials, we believe it is our obligation to propose recommendations to policy makers for development of water and wastewater infrastructure to support economic growth. Some of these recommendations are elaborated below: 1. Concerted efforts to increase awareness levels among the general public to optimize per capita consumption and minimize wastage.

2. Rainwater harvesting to be made mandatory before permitting any new construction.

3. Practice water conservation in agriculture, constituting 80% of freshwater demand. a. Techniques such as drip irrigation instead of flood irrigation. b. Quality treated wastewater to be reused for irrigation, and Windhoek in Namibia is a city where the same is in practice: • The 21,000 m³/day Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant was born out of Windhoek’s water emergency. It was the first in the world to take municipal wastewater and turn it into municipal drinking water.

• First industrial reuse plant in Namibia: The 5,175 m³/day Ujams Water Reclamation Plant. The plant treats a cocktail of effluents from 5 different types of industries and the water is treated

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS to an extent that allows reuse in irrigation.

Ujams Water Reclamation Plant, Namibia

4. Increased focus on construction of underground sewers and interception/diversion systems: Ensures 100% collection and conveyance of wastewater to treatment plants to eliminate untreated discharge into freshwater sources.

5. In the rural areas - having absence of networks - in line with Government’s Swachh Bharat and Open-Defecation-Free programs - ensuring that every village is equipped with community soak pits/2 pit latrines which: a. Are eco-friendly, socio-culturally acceptable and economically affordable. b. Help avert water pollution by scientific septage management: For a cluster of villages within a specified radius, community septic tanks can be constructed for a more sustainable model. The sludge gets digested and can be used as manure for agricultural purposes. With a community septic tank of larger size, the cost of emptying the pit can be met partially from the cost of manure made available.

6. Realize that “sewage is a resource with economic value, not a liability” and “water is too precious to be used just once”: a. Increasing percentage of sewage treated in urban areas from current 30%, by setting up more STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants) and refurbishing non-operational STPs (13% of the existing STPs). b. Construction contracts to have in-built provision for lifecycle partnership comprising operations and maintenance - to be entrusted to technology players on performance guarantee basis to improve accountability. c. In-line with National Water Policy, recycle and reuse of municipal as well as industrial effluents should be encouraged by providing incentives to set up industrial treatment and recycling systems which are capital intensive: Formulation and implementation of a “polluter pays” policy by means of stringent third-party inspections and ensuring that the “cost of non-compliance” is significantly higher than the cost of

EXPRESS WATER

compliance.

7. Reduce specific water consumption in industries to minimize freshwater requirement by opting for plant modernization with advanced water reuse technologies: A properly planned tariff system driven by economic considerations, in which there is a cost for the quantity withdrawn, a refund for returning properly treated water and heavy fines for returning polluted water will promote greater uptake of recycle measures by industries requiring large quantities of water: a. In line with Ministry of Power notification to reuse municipal sewage for thermal plants and Ministry of Environment and Forests notification mandating new thermal plants to reduce specific water consumption from 3.5-4 m³/MWh to 2.5 m³/MWh and reuse of treated effluents within the industry to close the water loop. b. Reuse of treated wastewater for industrial applications is in practice at NTPC, Delhi: • A 2400 m³/day MBR (Membrane bio reactor) based STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) and RO (Reverse Osmosis) system as part of the renovation and modernization process.

• The system not only ensures water security for the power plant but also effectively helps reuse of the source water, which carries only sewage.

NTPC Badarpur, with the Adjoining Polluted Agra Canal

8. In the domestic as well as commercial sector, a. Reuse of treated sewage for nonpotable purposes such as flushing, gardening and construction to minimize dependence on freshwater for potable purposes. b. For cities bereft of freshwater, treated wastewater to be reused to recharge aquifers and improve groundwater table. In coastal areas, desalination is a viable, sustainable and reliable source.

Chennai is a fine example of a city which has sustained its water supply notwithstanding not having a freshwater source.

• Chennai has been the pioneer in reusing treated sewage and using desalination for domestic consump-

tion, thus sustaining its daily water supply.

100,000 m³/day Nemmeli Desalination Plant, Chennai

• The city meets almost 25% of its daily requirement from the two desalination plants. The 100,000 m³/day Nemmeli Desalination plant in the largest in the country on DBO (Design Build Operate) basis and is meant for 100% potable reuse.

• Two reuse plants of 45,000 m³/day, each under construction, to serve the industrial corridors, thus helping prioritize freshwater for domestic consumption.

9. Avert land, water and air pollution with efficient sludge management techniques: a. Sludge left as residue post the treatment process is rich in organic content comprising Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) and we need to look at ways of recovering the resources available: • Conversion of sludge into organic manure will restore natural contents to the soil and reduce need for inorganic/chemical fertilizers.

• Anaerobic digestion of the sludge or septage produces biogas which contains 65-70% methane: - In rural areas, the biogas produced can be used for cooking.

- In urban areas, biogas to be used for green power generation or as CNG, thus alleviating environmental pollution - In line with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s subsidy programme for producing green power and India’s ratification at Paris Climate Change Conference to satisfy 40% of its energy requirement from non-fossil sources.

- The sludge from septic tanks in villages are well digested and can be used as good manure providing improved yield in agriculture (In line with the Ministry of Urban Development’s Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Policy 2017). b. Composting to avoid leachate pollution as a result of conventional sludge management methods such as landfills and sludge incineration.

December, 2017

53

COVER STORY

Universal Access to Piped and Safe Drinking Water in India By VR RAMAN HEAD OFPOLICY, WATERAID INDIA

Currently, only 17% of the rural households in India have access to piped drinking water.

54

December, 2017

WATER POLICIES AND programmes are occupying good space in the current development discourse in India. The President and the Prime Minister had recently announced schemes for provisioning of piped drinking water supply for all. The former had even expressed his concern to the extent that the advancement of India was reliant on the modernization of water management, given that India got a sheer 4% of global fresh water share, with the requirement of 17% of the global population.

Launched in March 2017, ‘Har Ghar Jal’ (water in every household) is a scheme with a mission of provisioning piped drinking water supply to all households by 2030. Additionally, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to cover over 90 percent of the population by 2022. There are visible and major steps taken by various state governments too, such as ‘Jal Bhagiratha’ in Telangana, ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal’ in Bihar, ‘Basudha’ in Odisha, ‘Jalanidhi-2’ in Kerala, ‘Sardar Sarovar Canal Based Water Supply Project’ in Gujarat, ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ in Maharashtra, the ‘Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan’ in Rajasthan, and so on. There

are substantial initiatives, such as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which have set clear goals of providing piped drinking water supply to all urban households. Therefore, the political intention for moving towards universal drinking water access in India is visible at the highest level possible. However, this will translate into reality only when the intents combine with action, with an eye on quality outcomes. This mix could be backed by way of assessing the legal frameworks, adequate budgetary allocations and utilization, and proper development and implementation of policies and programmes.

Legal Frameworks In the Indian context, water in general remains a state subject. It would have helped if this was a shared responsibility of both, the centre and the state governments. While the right to water is not explicitly mentioned in the constitution, this has been reiterated in a number of court judgements. For instance, in 2000, the Supreme Court declared that access to clean water is a fundamental human right of all citizens under Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Indian Constitution, and that the

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS

Photo Credit: WaterAid/ Ronny Sen

states are duty bound to ensure this right. However, the implications of such judgements on different dimensions of the right to water were not clear, as stated by the Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) while answering a Parliament question in 2017. India has recently ratified the UN resolution on acknowledging the right to water, but a roadmap to realise this is yet to be developed.

Government programmes continue to work on vaguely described entitlement standards defined by administrators and planners.

Budgets: Are They Adequate?

Currently, only 17% of the rural households in India have access to piped drinking water. MDWS estimates that the overall financial requirement from the centre for taking this to 100% will be around INR 6 lakh crores spread over 13 years. This estimate is based on the currently approved structures and processes, wherein the actual requirement could be much higher, since an expansion at such a large scale will have requirements for fulfilling several additional aspects. If we take this figure as the

EXPRESS WATER

benchmark, the annual average requirement at centre for meeting the goal will be around INR 46,150 crores. Nevertheless, the actual allocation for 201718 is limited to INR 6,050 crores, which is indicative of the allocation mismatches. At the state levels too, the current budget does not corroborate the goal, with some exceptions such as Mission Bhagiratha in Telangana that could potentially be a gamechanger and catalyst for other states. However, if we are serious about pursuing the stated intent, it requires substantial enhancement in budget allocations and the spending capacities.

Provisions under the 14th Finance Commission necessitates building stronger roles and financial provisions for the local bodies too, which is another critical area to prioritise.

Analyzing Implementation While the overall rural coverage is around 17%, the state-to-state variations are much higher, with 19 out of 31 states having coverage much less than the national average. Most of the larger states are doing much poorly in this regard, except in the case of a few. While Goa’s case seems to be an issue of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West

Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, amongst others, are at the very initial or zero stage, if we go by the NRDWP reports.

Looking at the urban landscape, around 65.5 million people (17.4% of urban population) lives in slums of different kinds in India (Census 2011). Here, the situation needs major improvement in order to ensure piped water for all households. However, the current dearth of data, reliable or non-reliable, prevents specific plans on these, which itself is a huge challenge to address.

National Sample Survey 69th round (2012) suggests that 71% of the slum population had access to water supply provided from a tap (not household connection). With rapid expansion in urban migration, the chance is for reduced coverage, adding to the challenge of ensuring household level piped connections.

Other categories that need attention in this regard are the peri-urban areas and small/emerging towns. While some policy discussions have begun, often these are not considered either in urban or in rural categories and we do not have sufficient knowledge or policies for these areas. Provisions in the 14th

Finance Commission could also be explored for ensuring decentralized and accountable water supply systems for these areas.

For making the drinking water safe for use, quality assurance and improvements are critical in all settings. Currently, we have some systems in place for regularly monitoring water contamination in rural areas, limited to parameters of chemical contaminations, while we do not have systems to assess and report biological contaminations.

Recent trends in data suggest a drastic reduction in the chemical contamination of rural drinking water, raising questions around actual possibility of such changes- WaterAid India’s own initiative to test chemical contamination levels of the drinking water sources in Raichur district (Karnataka) suggests that the problem is persisting, if not grown. Concerns are also around inadequate quality control systems, such as equipped labs and competent technicians and staff. Though identified, addressing the quality issues or building up alternatives, are yet to be prioritized. Operations and maintenance systems is another area which needs major strengthening. Measures to ensure source sustainability, such as large-scale rainwater harvesting and comprehensive protection of sources, needs to be institutionalized along with scaling up of supply systems.

Way Forward Given the aforementioned scenario, it is evident that the realization of various announcements related to universal access to piped drinking water supply would depend on a lot of affirmative action.

This will include building legal accountability of offi-

cials, strengthening capacities of peoples’ representatives and local bodies at different levels, and enhancing budgets and spending capacities. Improving the details of the implementation and monitoring frameworks, developing and rolling out an institutional support system that addresses the needs of a large scale service delivery is another critical step.

One added challenge is to ensure metering, measuring and promoting responsible usage, while providing running water to all households. Community participation and leadership in all these steps are also the critical aspects, for which platforms and plans need to be put in place.

State

Coverage (%)

Sikkim Gujarat Himachal Pradesh Puducherry Haryana Punjab Karnataka Maharashtra Telangana Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Kerala Uttarakhand Mizoram Rajasthan Andaman and Nicobar Madhya Pradesh Chattisgarh Arunachal Pradesh Nagaland Manipur Jharkhand Odisha Tripura Assam Bihar Meghalaya West Bengal Uttar Pradesh Goa

99.32 77.82 56.61 50.35 47.59 47.04 40.68 36.7 32.7 28.97 28.59 28.44 15 13.88 13.47 12.13 10.15 10.1 7.8 6.39 4.91 4.88 4.14 3.7 2.45 2.03 1.22 1.15 0.67 0.45 0

Status of Household Level Access to Piped Drinking Water in Rural India, October 2017 (Source: MDWS)

December, 2017

55

COVER STORY

Desalination - Present and Future By NIKOLAYVOUTCHKOV PRESIDENT, WATER GLOBE CONSULTING LLC

Technology advances are expected to ascertain the position of SWRO treatment and to reduce the cost of desalinated water by 20% in the next 5 years and by up to 60% in the next 20 years.

56

December, 2017

OVER THE LAST thirty years desalination has evolved into a viable water supply alternative allowing to tap alternative water resources with great potential to provide sustainable drought proof water supply in may arid regions of the world. At present, desalinated water is produced by either using brackish water (water with salt content of less than 10,000 mg/L) or seawater which salinity in a range of 30,000 to 44,000 mg/L. While desalination of brackish water offers opportunity for production of lower cost water, the total volume of brackish water worldwide is fairly limited (less than 1% of world’s water) and in most arid regions of the world is almost fully tapped in.

Therefore, use of brackish water desalination is not likely to become a main source of alternative water supply in the future.

World’s oceans contain over 97.2% of the planet’s water resources. Because of the high salinity of the ocean water and the significant costs associated with seawater desalination most of the World population’s water supply has traditionally come from fresh water sources like - groundwater aquifers, rivers and lakes.

However, changing climate patterns combined with population growth pressures and limited availability of new and inexpensive fresh water supplies are shifting water industry’s attention to an emerging trend - the world is reaching

to the ocean for fresh water.

The ocean has two unique and distinctive features as a water supply source - it is drought proof and is practically limitless.

Over 50% of World’s population lives in urban centers bordering the ocean. In many arid parts of the world such as the Middle East, Australia, Northern Africa and Southern California, the population concentration along the coast exceeds 75%. Therefore, seawater desalination provides the logical solution for a sustainable, long-term management of the growing water demand pressures in coastal areas. While brackish water desalination offers opportunity for production of lower cost desalinated water, the total volume of brackish water worldwide is less than 1% of the saline water contained in the oceans.

By the end of 2015 worldwide there were approximately 18,000 desalination plants with total installed production capacity of 86.55 million m³/day [22,870 million gallons per day (MGD)]. Approximately 44% of this capacity (37.32 million m³/day /9,860 MGD) is located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). While desalination in the MENA region is projected to grow continuously at a rate of 7 to 9% per year, Asia (e.g., China, India, Singapore, Iran), US and Latin America are expected to become “hot spots” for accelerated desalination

project development and implementation in the next 5 to 10 years.

Today, the desalination plants provide approximately 1% of World’s drinking water supply and this percentage is increasing by the year. Over USD 10 billion of investment in the next five years would add 5.7 million cubic meters per day of new production capacity. This capacity is expected to double by year 2030.

Two basic types of technologies have been widely used to date to separate salts from ocean water: thermal evaporation and membrane separation. In the last 10 years, seawater desalination using semi-permeable Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) membranes have gained momentum and currently dominates desalination markets outside of the Middle Eastern region where thermal evaporation is still the desalination technology of choice mainly due to access to lower-cost fuel and traditional use of facilities cogenerating power and water.

SWRO Membrane Technology Trends Developments in seawater RO desalination technology during the past two decades, combined with transition to construction of large capacity plants, colocation with power plant generation facilities and enhanced competition by using Build-Own-OperateTransfer (BOOT) method of project delivery have result-

EXPRESS WATER

WATER LEADERS ed in a dramatic decrease of the cost of desalinated water.

One of the key factors that contributed to the dramatic decrease of cost of seawater desalination is the advancement of the SWRO membrane technology.

Today’s high-productivity membrane elements are designed with features to yield more fresh water per membrane element. These features are: (1) Higher surface area, and (2) Denser membrane packing.

Increasing active membrane leaf surface area allows to gain significant productivity using the same size (diameter) membrane element.

Newest membrane elements provide flexibility and choice, and allow trading productivity and pressure/power costs. The same water product quality goals can be achieved either by: a) reducing the system f o o t p r i n t /c o n s t r u c t i o n costs by designing the system at higher productivity, or by b) reducing the system overall power demand by using more membrane elements, designing the system at lower flux and recovery, and taking advantage of newest energy recovery technologies which further minimize energy use if the system is operated at lower (35 to 45 %) recoveries.

The Quest for Lower Energy Use Continues Energy is one of the largest expenditures associated with seawater desalination. Advances in the technology and equipment allowing to recover and reuse the energy applied for seawater desalination have resulted in reduction of 80% of the energy used for water production over the last 20 years. Today, the energy needed to produce fresh water from seawater for one household per year (~2,000 kW/yr) is less than that used by the household’s refrigerator.

EXPRESS WATER

While the quest to lower energy use is continuing, there are physical limitations to how low the energy demand could go using reverse osmosis desalination. The main limiting factors are the osmotic pressure that would need to be overcome to separate the salts from the seawater and the amount of water that could be recovered from a cubic meter of seawater before membrane separation process is hindered by salt scaling on the membrane surface and the service systems. This theoretical limit for the entire seawater desalination plant is approximately 1.2 kWh/m³.

Future Desalination Technology Advances Over the past 30 years, both thermal and SWRO membrane desalination technologies and equipment have evolved towards reduction of the costs and energy used for production of fresh drinking water from seawater.

Advances of Conventional Thermal Desalination Technologies At present, thermal desalination technologies such as MSF, MED and VC are well proven and mature.

Although thermal desalination technologies were introduced in the MENA region over 50 years ago, these technologies have evolved mainly in the direction of gradual enhancements of equipment and system design, configuration, scale formation control, and materials. The latest MSF and MED thermal desalination systems are highly efficient, and have energy use well within 30% of the theoretical minimum of energy needed for production of fresh water by evaporation.

Dramatic improvements of existing conventional thermal desalination technologies are not expected in the near or more distant

future. The main directions of potential future improvements are: • Cost-effective application of source seawater softening via membrane nanofiltration or other pre-treatment technologies in order to remove calcium and magnesium compounds in the source seawater that cause scaling on the internal walls of the equipment, evaporation vessels and piping of thermal desalination plants. Mineral scaling results in the reduction in operational temperature, thermal process inefficiency and loss of productivity over time.

• Development of new generation of advanced scale control additives to improve efficiency and productivity of thermal desalination technologies. Such additives will be biodegradable to minimize the environmental impact of the desalination plant discharge.

• Development of individual evaporation units of larger capacity, especially for MED systems, in order to gain further cost savings due to economies of scale.

• Implementation of higher performance brine-recirculation designs for MSF units, which allow increase the overall desalination plant recovery.

• Shift to lower-cost (plastic) and lower corrosion materials (duplex stainless steel, titanium and aluminum brass) to reduce plant O&M costs.

• Replacing shell and tube units with plate evaporators in MED plants to improve evaporator productivity and reduce energy use.

• Implementation of absorption heat pumps and alternative VC processes in MED plants for improved energy efficiency.

It should be pointed out that despite the fact that potential for future incremental improvements in the efficiency of various thermal desali-

nation exists, such improvements are not likely to produce further reduction in the cost of water produced by thermal desalination which his higher than 10 to 15%.

Advances of Conventional RO Desalination Technologies A large SWRO desalination plant usually has thousands of membrane elements connected into a highly automated and efficient water treatment system, which typically produces 1 cubic meter of fresh water from approximately 2.0 to 2.5 cubic meters of seawater. The membrane productivity, energy use, salt separation efficiency, cost of production and durability of the membrane elements by large determine the cost of the desalinated water.

Technological and production improvements in all of these areas over the past two decades are now rendering desalination by SWRO more competitive than thermal desalination.

Membrane productivity – i.e. the amount of water that can be produced by one membrane element, has increased over two times in the last twenty years.

The future improvements of the RO membrane desalination technology are forecasted to encompass: • Development of membranes of even higher salt and pathogen rejection, and productivity; and reduced trans-membrane pressure, and fouling potential • Improvement of RO membrane resistance to oxidants, elevated temperature and compaction • Extension of membrane useful life beyond 10 years • Integration of membrane pre-treatment, advanced energy recovery and SWRO systems • Integration of brackish and seawater desalination systems • Development of new generation of high-efficiency

pumps and energy recovery systems for SWRO applications • Replacement of key stainless steel desalination plant components with plastic components to increase plant longevity and decrease overall cost of water production.

• Reduction of membrane element costs by complete automation of the entire production and testing process • Development of methods for low-cost continuous membrane cleaning which allow to reduce downtime and chemical cleaning costs • Development for methods for low-cost membrane concentrate treatment, inplant and off-site reuse, and disposal.

These technology advances are expected to ascertain the position of SWRO treatment as most cost-competitive processes for potable water production worldwide and to reduce the cost of desalinated water by 20% in the next five years.

Emerging Desalination Technologies with High Cost Reduction Potential The Nano-structured Membranes A recent trend in the quest for lowering the energy use for SWRO desalination is the development of nanostructured (NST) RO membranes, which provide more efficient water transport as compared to existing conventional thin-film membrane elements. Nanostructured membranes hold the greatest potential to cause a quantum leap in desalination cost reduction because theoretically, they can produce up to 20 times more fresh water from the same membrane surface area, than the state-of-theart SWRO membranes commercially available on the market at present. Such dra-

December, 2017

57

COVER STORY matic decrease in the membrane surface area needed to produce the same volume of desalinated water could reduce the physical size and construction costs of membrane desalination plants over two times and bring this cost of production of desalinated water production to the level of that of conventional water treatment technologies.

Forward Osmosis (FO) In forward (direct) osmosis a solution with osmotic pressure higher than that of the high-salinity source water (“draw solution”) is used to separate fresh water from the source water through a membrane.

Several companies such as Oasys, Modern Water, Hydration Technology Innovation, and Trevi Systems have developed commercially available FO membrane desalination technologies, which to date have only found application for treatment of wastewaters from oil and gas industry. The Trevi systems FO technology is of potential interest because it uses draw solution that can be reused applying solar power - it is the main innovative technology considered for the ongoing solar power driven desalination research led by Masdar in UAE. The main potential benefit of the development of commercially viable FO technologies for production of desalinated water is the reduction of the overall energy needed for fresh water production by 20 to 35%. Such energy reduc-

tion could yield cost of water reduction of 10 to 15%.

Membrane Distillation (MD) In membrane distillation water vapor is transported between “hot” saline stream and “cool” fresh water stream separated by a hydrophobic membrane. The transport of water vapor through the membrane relies on a small temperature difference between the two streams. Currently, MD enjoys a fairly high academic interest because of its very high recovery (as compared to RO) and lower energy use (as compared to conventional thermal evaporation technologies). The main cost savings that can result from the application of this technology for large-scale desalination plants is lowering the cost of fresh water production from highly saline seawaters such as these of the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea and the costs for concentrate management and disposal for brackish desalination plants by 15 to 20%.

Dewvaporation Similar to other thermal evaporation processes, dewvaporation would be cost competitive to conventional RO desalination only if free or low-cost waste heat is readily available. Such process holds promise for small-scale applications in combination with renewable solar power source. The theoretical cost reduction, such technology could yield is 15 to 25% of the cost of stateof-the-art thermal evaporation technologies used at

present. The full-scale implementation of such technology at large-scale desalination installations however is at least 8 to 10 years away.

The Electrochemical Desalination Developed by Evoqua (formerly Siemens) under a Challenge Grant from the Government of Singapore, this continuous electrochemical desalination process is based on combination of ultrafiltration pretreatment, electrodialysis (ED) and continuous electrodeionization (CEDI) and is claimed to desalinate seawater to drinking water quality at only 1.5 kWh per cubic meter (5.7 kWh/1,000 gallons). This energy consumption is lower than the energy use of conventional SWRO desalination systems. The new process is currently under full-scale development and at the Singapore Water Hub. The process operates at low pressure (40 to 50 psi), the equipment can be produced from plastic, and the membranes used for ED and CEDI are chlorine resistant.

The potential reduction of desalinated water costs this technology can yield is 5 to 15%.

Capacitive Deionization (CDI) This technology uses ion transport from saline water to electrodes of high ion retention capacity, which transport is driven by a small voltage gradient. The technology holds promise because it could theoretical-

ly reduce the physical size and capital costs of desalination plants with over 30%. Current carbon electrode technology however limits salt removal to only 70 to 80%, uses approximately two times more energy than conventional RO systems and is subject to high electrode cleaning costs due to organic fouling.

Biomimetric Membranes with Aquaporin Structure Development of membranes with structure and function similar to these of the membranes of living organisms (i.e., diatoms) may offer the ultimate breakthrough for low-energy desalination (specific energy use below 2.0 kWh/1,000 gallons). In these membranes water molecules are transferred through the membranes through a series of low-energy enzymatic reactions instead of by osmotic pressure.

Currently, researchers at the US, Singapore and Australia are focusing on advanced research in the field of biomimetic membranes.

Although this research field is expected to ultimately yield high-reward benefits (e.g., overall desalinated water cost reduction with over 100%), currently it is in early stages of development.

Potential Impact of Future Technologies on Costs The advance of desalination technology is closest in dynamics to that of the computer technology. While conventional technologies, such as sedimentation and

filtration have seen modest advancement since their initial use for potable water treatment several centuries ago, new more efficient desalination membranes, innovative thermal, membrane or hybrid desalination technologies, and equipment improvements are released every several years.

Similar to computers, the SWRO membranes of today are many times smaller, more productive and cheaper than the first working prototypes. Although, no major technology breakthroughs are expected to bring the cost of seawater desalination further down dramatically in the next several years, the steady reduction of desalinated water production costs coupled with increasing costs of water treatment driven by more stringent regulatory requirements, are expected to accelerate the current trend of increased reliance on the ocean as an attractive and competitive water source.

This trend is forecasted to continue in the future and to further establish ocean water desalination as a reliable drought-proof alternative for many coastal communities worldwide.

These technology advances are expected to ascertain the position of SWRO treatment as viable and cost-competitive processes for potable water production and to reduce the cost of desalinated water by 20% in the next 5 years and by up to 60% in the next 20 years (Table 1).

Parameter for Best-in Class Desalination Plants

Year 2016

Within 5 Years

Within 20 Years

Cost of Water (USD/m³)

0.8 - 1.2

0.6 - 1.0

0.3 - 0.5

Construction Cost (USD/MLD)

1.2 - 2.2

1.0 - 1.8

0.5 - 0.9

Electrical Energy Use (kWh/m³)

3.5 - 4.0

2.8 - 3.2

2.1 - 2.4

Membrane Productivity (m³/membrane)

28 - 47

35 - 55

95 - 120

58

December, 2017

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

POSTEVENT

IFATIndia 2017 The core issue at the 3-day fair was how technology can help master the high volumes of waste & wastewater and the impact of extreme weather on the subcontinent.

By Mayur Sharma wastewater and the impact of extreme weather on the subcontinent.

On show, in Mumbai, were tailored solutions for the Indian market.

The event was held at the Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon from 26-28 September, 2017 in 8,100 square meters of exhibition space.

It brought together local and international representatives from associations, state governments, industry leaders and leading companies to discuss challenges and solutions in the water, sewage, refuse and recycling sectors.

Express Water View

The Event

Chief Guest & Industry Leaders

The layout of the exhibition floor at IFAT was different this year, with a big addition of floor space to the main exhibition hall.

This indicates the success of event organizers in increasing the number of exhibitors and pavilions.

We saw companies operating in the wastewater management segment present in good number with their latest products and project highlights on display.

Visitor traffic seemed very good and steady on all three days of the show, and most exhibiting companies shared with us that they were pleased with the outcome.

The quality of event was evident in its infrastructure as well overall branding of the show.

The rouble-table discussion of industry leaders was a visible success.

The conference sessions and concurrent presentation forums could have more speakers next year, though overall agenda of the conference was impressive enough.

2017 was the fifth anniversary of IFAT in India, and this year the show was indeed more successful.

According to the organizers, 6765 visitors took part in the trade fair for environmental technologies.

The core issue at the 3-day fair was how technology can help master the high volumes of waste &

IFAT India 2017 was inaugurated

by Vijay Shivtare (Water Minister of Maharashtra), Ajay Mathur (Director General TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute), Ann Ollestad (Consul General, The Royal Norwegian Embassy), Ulrika Sundberg (Sweden Consul General), and Roland Knitschky

60

December, 2017

(German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste - DWA) apart from industry players.

During his visit, Vijay Shivtare, Minister for Water Resources and Water Conservation of the Indian State Maharashtra, said: “It is time for action and to put environmental protection at the top of the political agenda. We participated in IFAT India because we seek change, and this trade fair was the perfect platform for that.”

IFAT India is now becoming country’s leading trade fair for water, wastewater, waste and recycling.

The trade show provided a good interactive platform to industry experts, policy makers and business leaders alike to discuss regional strategies on numerous environmental challenges and seek solutions through formal interactions.

Exhibitors IFAT India 2017 saw over 184 participants from 18 countries at

“

It is time for action and to put environmental protection at the top of the political agenda.We participated in IFAT India because we seek change, and this trade fair was the perfect platform for that.

Vijay Shivtare Minister for Water Resources and Water Conservation, Maharashtra

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

the event this year.

Some of the top participants included water & wastewater companies like L&T, Thermax, Ion Exchange, Ramky, Aqseptance Group, Endress+Hauser, Excel, Kirloskar Brothers, Kishor Pumps, Tata Projects, Wilo, Siemens, Lanxess, Astral Poly, Xylem, CRI Pumps, LG Chem, Wipro Water, etc.

China, Germany, Austria and Switzerland were the international country pavilions that were featured in this edition.

Apart from the new exhibitors, there were also many companies that have participated since the very first IFAT India in 2013.

N.D. Mundhe, Chief Manager of Excel Industries, was one of them: “We have taken part in all five editions of IFAT India so far. For us each year this fair is highly profitable, but this year most particularly so.”

Philippe Anstotz, Executive Sales Director at the Aqseptence Group, looked equally delighted: “It is impressive to see how strongly the show has grown in the five years since launch, and how the quality has increased. It brings together precisely the right audience under one roof. In future, too, we will not be missing out on IFAT India.”

In Demand: Efficient Water and Waste Management Bhupinder Singh, CEO of the organizer Messe Muenchen India, says, “The rise in visitor numbers an increase of 30 percent - was due to the urgent environmental challenges that the Indian population is currently facing. Following the seri-

EXPRESS WATER

ous water shortage of 2016, this year an exceptionally strong monsoon led to catastrophic flooding in large parts of India. Added to this is the problem of waste blocking water flow in the sewers. Modern solutions for efficient management of water and sewage, and also sustainable recycling technologies, were therefore in especially high demand at IFAT India 2017.”

Technology and Knowledge Exchange Across Borders Not only Indian exhibitors were there at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, in fact 54 percent of the companies were international brands - from 18 different countries.

Among the top exhibitor countries were - after India: Germany, China, Switzerland, Austria, and the US (in this order).

Christian Rocke, Exhibition Group Director of IFAT at Messe München, comments: “Especially in the environmental sector, international exchange and technology transfer are necessary. Precisely that was our goal when we brought IFAT, the world´s leading environmental trade fair, to Mumbai five years ago. The high international participation in IFAT India 2017 has shown us that we clearly succeeded in this.”

The trade fair witnessed technical presentations, panel discussions and tutorials, where industry experts - both from India and overseas - shared their knowledge with the audience at the Innovation Exchange.

There was also dedicated areas for training, live demonstrations,

product presentations and skills contests, running parallel to the show.

Environmental Technologies Conference This conference took place for the first time at IFAT India and was organized by the think tank TERI The Energy and Resources Institute. It focused on issues related to Air Pollution, Solid Waste Management and Urban Water Management in the context of Sustainable Development.

This edition also witnessed a new initiative - Business to Government Forum - which provided states an ideal platform to announce new projects, to find matching solutions for new tenders and to inform participants about the latest policies in the environmental sector. Apart from industry leaders, it also attracted high-ranking government representatives, municipal corporations and political delegations.

Workshops & Concurrent Programs Along with the trade exhibition, IFAT India with its partners, concurrently organized some interactive programs: Air Quality Management Workshop by SDG (Sustainable Development Goals Foundation), Workshop on Entrepreneurship in Waste Management by ISWA (International Solid Waste Association), Biogas Panel by GIZ, German Biogas Association and Indian Biogas Association, and Water Skills Competition by Skill Council for Green Jobs, GIZ and DWA.

‘Active Learning Centre’ was a platform introduced to the participants of IFAT India 2016 that was continued in 2017. This was the interactive element of the event. It offered innovative ways to network with both visitors and other experts of the environmental technologies sector.

The ‘Products in Practice’ session provided exhibitors with an interactive way to showcase their product highlights. The innovations were presented in a realistic working situation and impressed the visitors with an eye-catching experience.

Organizer’s Opinion On the conclusion of IFAT India 2017, Bhupinder Singh, CEO of Messe Muenchen India, said, “India has an immense potential for environmental protection and waste management.

Scarce water resources, rapid industrialization, extensive agriculture and enormous waste volumes pose a great challenge to the country. Thus, the 5th edition of IFAT India focussed on the latest environmental issues and their solutions.

IFAT India 2017 also provided a platform for all the industry players, associations and government representatives, to connect through formal interactions. We saw a great response from national and international participants and we hope to keep delivering a better trade show every year.”

The next IFAT India will take place from October 15 to 17, 2018 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

December, 2017

61

MARKET

POSTEVENT

India Water Week 2017 The theme for the fifth edition of India Water Week was ‘Water and Energy for Sustainable Growth’.

By Mayur Sharma Inaugural Function

The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the inauguration of the India Water Week 2017. The Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari; the Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Sushri Uma Bharti; the Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Arjun Ram Meghwal and the Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Dr. Satya Pal Singh are also seen.

Express Water View The inaugural function and conference was well organized at Vigyan Bhawan from 10-14 October 2017, and the B2B exhibition (India Water Expo 2017), for around 42 water & wastewater companies and national and state-level government representatives, was organized in a hanger at Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, situated near Vigyan Bhawan.

While the presence of cabinet ministers and key government officials, and more focus by the organizers on the conference has always been a highlight of the India Water Week, the overall event still seems to be a work-in-progress.

The visitor presence was good on the first day of the exhibition, due of less number of exhibitors and last week change in the venue

62

December, 2017

of the exhibition ground, overall it was less than expected.

According to the organizers, about 1300 delegates including 50 delegates from 14 countries attended the 5-day event. About 150 papers were presented and 17 technical seminars and 14 panel discussions were held during the event.

The Event This year, the India Water Week’s theme was ‘water and energy for inclusive growth’ and the event will have the following major components: Water, food and energy security essential requirement for sustainable development; Water for inclusive growth; Sustainable energy development - key for all-round economic growth; and water and society.

European Union was the

International Partner of the event.

In order to establish an impactful international event focused on water resources of India, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India has been organizing India Water Week since 2012 as an annual international event. Four editions of India Water Week have been organized so far in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

Mecharronics were present to showcase their products and services. There was a stall represented by Spain as well at the expo. Other organizations like WAPCOS, NMCG, CWC, IWMI, NABARD, NPCC, NEERI, ISRO, NWDA, IRD Pune, CGWB, and NIH Roorkee were also present.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated India Water Week on October 10th, 2017 in New Delhi. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Union Minister for the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari; Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Sushri Uma Bharti; Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal; and Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Dr. Satya Pal Singh.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that currently, 80 percent of water in India is used by agriculture and only 15 percent by industry. In the coming years, this ratio will

Exhibitors & Visitors Around 42 exhibitors were present in the exhibition area. While the total exhibition area was around 2400 sq mtr, the allotted area to exhibitors was 1055 sq mtr. Companies like DHI India, Jain Irrigation, Netafim, Tata Projects, Aaxis Nano, CH2M Hill,

EXPRESS WATER

MARKET

“

Around 285 new irrigation projects will be taken up by next year to provide irrigation for 1 crore 88 lakh hectare of land. 27 irrigation projects will be completed by the end of this year. 30 projects related to inter-linking of rivers have also been identified - they require huge investments.

Nitin Gadkari change. The total demand for water will also rise.

Efficiency of water use and reuse, therefore, has to be built into the blueprint of industrial projects. He said that in urban India, 40 billion litres of wastewater is produced every day. It is vital to adopt technology to reduce the toxic content of this water, and to deploy it for irrigation and other purposes. This has to be part of any urban planning programme.

The President urged a water management approach that is localized.

He stated that it should empower village and neighbourhood communities and build their capacity to manage, allocate and value their water resources. Any 21st century water policy must factor in the concept of the value of water. The President said that the government has prepared a strategic plan for ensuring drinking water supply in all rural areas by 2022, when India complete 75 years of Independence. By that year, the goal is to cover 90 percent of rural households with piped water supply. We cannot fail.

EXPRESS WATER

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari said that 27 PMKSY projects will be completed by this year. He said that 285 new irrigation projects will be taken up by next year to provide irrigation for 1 crore 88 lakh hectare of land. He said that the government is keen to provide safe drinking water to every household and irrigation water for every farm. In this connection, he referred to the recent inauguration of Sardar Sarovar Project by the Prime Minister, which will provide water to over 4 crore people and help irrigate over 8 lakh hectares of land.

Gadkari further said that Inter linking of rivers is very important to save people from floods and droughts.

He said 30 Projects for river linking have been approved out of which work on three projects namely KenBetwa, Par- Tapi Narmada and Daman Ganga Pinjal will start within three months. The minister said that the government is exploring the possibility of

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation

creating a large fund for inter liking of rivers. He said that new ways have to be found for use of treated wastewater. He said that he has requested the Power Minister to explore the possibility of using recycled water for NTPC power plants. He emphasized the

need for inventing innovative methods for using 70% of river water which goes into seas.

Union Minister for Drinking and Water Sanitation Sushri Uma Bharti in her address said that Government is sincerely working to make available safe drinking water to every household of the country and irrigation facility for every farm by 2022.

She said, “It is a matter of grave concern that ground water level is going down critically. We have misused and abused ground water.

We will have to respect water, rivers and ground water and make our rivers Aviral and Nirmal.”

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal said that 112 districts in the country have less than 20% irrigation coverage and time bound actions are needed to meet the challenges of water scarcity and flood management. The Minister said that the government has proposed National Ground Water Management improvement scheme, a world bank backed Rs. 6,000 crore scheme, for

sustainable management of ground water.

Valedictory Session Addressing the valedictory session of IWW on 14th October 2017, the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that the present government has achieved unparalleled success in the field of micro irrigation. Mr. Singh said that 8 lakh hact. of land was brought under micro irrigation during 2016-17. The target for 2017-18 is 12 lakh hact. Referring to Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana, the Minister said out of the 99 projects 23 are on the verge of completion. He informed that another 32 PMKSY project will be completed by March next year and the remaining by 2019.

A mobile app prepared by Central Water Commission, containing various information about water resources of the country, was also launched on the occasion.

“

Currently, 80 percent of water in India is used by agriculture and only 15 percent by industry. In the coming years, this ratio will change.

Efficiency of water use and reuse, therefore, has to be built into the blueprint of industrial projects.

Business and industry need to be a part of the solution.

Ram Nath Kovind President of India

December, 2017

63

MARKET

MARKETREPORTS GLOBALWATER & WASTEWATER TREATMENT MARKETTO REACH USD 674.72 BILLION BY 2025 THE GLOBAL WATER & wastewater treatment market is expected to reach USD 674.72 billion by 2025, driven by the rising demand for freshwater for drinking, industrialization and agriculture, as per a new report done by Hexa Research.

Treated water is suitable for various end-uses such as river flow maintenance, drinking, the supply of industrial water and irrigation.

Water & wastewater treatment processes such as softening, deodorization and purification make the water more useful and

potable. Asia Pacific was the largest market accounting for 43.9% of the revenue share in 2016. It is anticipated to gain momentum over the forecast period on account of growing demand for filtered water for various applications.

Water treatment systems are either installed at the point of use or the point of entry. However, as drinking water is a vital priority for population, residential sector contributes significantly towards the development of water treatment market as compared to industrial

and commercial sector.

Central & South America water & wastewater industry is capable, but absence of significant venture in infrastructure is unfavorable for its economic performance. Asia Pacific municipal water & wastewater market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% over the forecast period. This market has been rapidly growing owing to presence of developing economies and a large concentration of population in the region. Asia Pacific’s vast and rising population, coupled with increasing

middle class and rising incomes, will continue to drive demand agricultural resources and commodities.

The global equipment & services market accounted for USD 117.85 billion in 2016.

The growth of equipment & services market is likely to gain momentum in recent future, as it utilizes environment-friendly and economically feasible instruments and technologies. Major players in flow control services are acquiring firms in the treatment market.

GLOBALWATER DESALINATION MARKET SETTO REACH WATER TREATMENTCHEMICALS MARKETTO GROWAT6% CAGR BY2022 USD 26.81 BILLION BY 2025 THE GLOBAL WATER desalination market is set to reach USD 26.81 billion by 2025, primarily driven by rapid industrialization, increasing population, and depleting freshwater bodies, as per a new report done by Hexa Research.

Moreover, increasing public awareness regarding water conservation and strict government laws on treatment is expected to fuel growth.

Recycled wastewater is widely used in landscaping and irrigation. The Middle East & Africa was the largest market accounting for 53% of revenue share in 2016, and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period on account of high supplydemand gap of potable water.

Global warming has resulted in accelerating evaporation of water bodies which eventually has led to droughts in numerous parts of world. For instance, U.S and Middle East & Africa have been affected adversely by severe multiyear and multi-state droughts over past few years.

Countries such as U.S.

64

December, 2017

and Saudi Arabia are focusing on existing projects, instead of commencing new projects. The North America desalination market is expected to grow at an 8.6% CAGR over next few years on account of rising number of natural calamities which are resulting in depriving its population & industries of water.

Traditionally, thermal desalination has been one of the most reliable techniques for water purification. Multi-stage flash distillation can produce purer water to which minerals are added to enhance taste of water. The market for multistage filtration is expected to grow at an 8.4% CAGR during forecast period owing to its high purity yield compared to reverse osmosis.

Reverse osmosis is expected to witness the fastest growth on account of its lower energy consumption rates. Rising need for pure water in chemical and food industries is projected to boost market for reverse osmosis over the forecast period and is estimated to be worth USD 15.43 billion by 2025.

Seawater contributed to 58.2% of the revenue share in 2016, making it the largest and the trend is expected to continue over the projected period. Rapid industrialization and substantial investments regarding desalination in Middle East is anticipated to drive global market over the next few years.

Companies are investing extensively in R&D to enhance technology. For instance, in April 2014, GE Corporation launched an open technology challenge to accelerate the development of technology to improve efficiency of seawater desalination.

In addition to this, the companies are concentrating on new projects. For instance, in November 2014, Suez announced construction, design and operation of a desalination plant at new Mirfa Independent Water and Power Project in Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, Veolia has developed itself in both Multiple Effect Distillation and Reverse Osmosis to offer energyefficient hybrid desalination technology to mark its presence in global market.

THE WATER TREATMENT chemicals market is forecasted to reach USD 56.57 billion by 2022 from USD 42.23 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 6.0% during (2017-2022) driven by increasing use of water treatment chemicals in various end-use industries to cater to growing demand for chemically treated quality water at low costs, rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growing global population, increasing public awareness about reuse of wastewater, improving economic conditions, and increasing number of new discoveries in oil & gas sector according to a new report done by RnRMarketResearch.

The Asia-Pacific water treatment chemicals market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in terms of both value as well as volume. Growing number of automotive worldwide, increasing global population, rapid urbanization, increasing scope of exploration of oil & gas and their production, easy availability of low-cost labour, and affordable raw material prices in Asia-Pacific region

are the factors fueling growth of water treatment chemicals market during the forecast period.

China led the AsiaPacific water treatment chemicals market in terms of volume in 2016. The growth of China water treatment chemicals market can be attributed to increase in consumption of water treatment chemicals in the country. This increased consumption of water treatment chemicals in China is a result of rising population, increasing oil & gas exploration and production activities, increasing power generation, and growing mining industry in the country.

Based on type, biocides & disinfectants segment of water treatment chemicals market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during forecast period in terms of value.

Another research, titled Flocculant and Coagulant Market Global Forecast to 2022 says that the global flocculant and coagulant market is projected to reach USD 6.01 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2017 to 2022.

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY

Accurate Dosing Pumps Enable Welsh Water to Maintain Strict Phosphorus Limits The investment is expected to achieve a quick return thanks to the significant savings in maintenance associated with stripping down and cleaning the diaphragm pumps.

By Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) noticeable from the beginning,” says Mr Swain. “Since installing the Qdos pump, we have not had any more problems with blockages.”

Success Prompts More Qdos Orders

TO HELP OVERCOME the repeated blockage of diaphragm pumps when dosing ferric sulphate at waste water treatment plants, a number of Welsh Water sites now feature Qdos 30 peristaltic pumps from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group. The investment is expected to achieve a quick return thanks to significant savings in maintenance associated with stripping down and cleaning diaphragm pumps. Moreover, Qdos pumps are helping Welsh Water meet increasingly strict phosphorus limits.

With ever-tightening Water Framework Directive (WFD) standards, phosphorus limits are under close scrutiny. WFD Directive 2000/60/EC demands that rivers, lakes, coastal waters and groundwater be in a "good ecological and chemical condition" by 2027. Excessive nutrients such as phosphorus in the watercourse work against this aim as they lead to excessive algal growth and eutrophication (a form of water pollution). To reduce

EXPRESS WATER

the ingress of phosphorus through municipal wastewater treatment plants, chemical coagulation is required. The addition of a coagulant such as ferric sulphate converts the phosphate solution into insoluble phosphate compounds which can then be isolated.

The continuous dosing of ferric sulphate at water treatment works requires application of reliable, high performance pumps. For Welsh Water, the traditional pump type of choice has been based on diaphragm technology. However, this has had its issues.

Blocked Diaphragm Pumps “Our diaphragm pumps were blocking on a repetitive basis,” explains Ronnie Swain, Process Technician at Welsh Water. “Almost every time I visited one of our sites, there would be problems with diaphragm pumps. We would start off by turning them up to achieve same flow, but eventually we’d have little option but to get our maintenance team involved to open up the pumps and

remove blockage. However, this obviously involves time and cost, and it was happening year-round.

Diaphragm pumps have a lot of components, such as non-return valves and springs, which can clog. We had to carry a whole array of replacement parts in stock. It was clearly time to look for another solution.”

Having witnessed the benefits of peristaltic pump technology first hand when a Qdos model was recently installed at Welsh Water’s Eign plant in Hereford for the back-end dosing of polyaluminium chloride at 12 l/h, the company thought this might also be a good solution for front-end ferric sulphate dosing.

Initially, Welsh Water opted to install a Qdos 120 pump for dosing ferric sulphate at its Rotherwas wastewater treatment plant in Hereford. Here, the pump has been set to work operating at a flow rate of 50-60 l/h. However, Qdos pumps are reliable at flows as low as 0.1 l/min. "The difference compared with the diaphragm pump was

Such was the success of the Qdos pump, that two more have since been duly installed at Welsh Water’s Ross-on-Wye wastewater treatment plant - one as the duty pump and one on standby. These pumps run at a much lower flow rate of 8 l/h. Designed as a drop-in replacement to diaphragm pumps, Qdos peristaltic metering pumps offer long maintenance intervals, reducing the impact of process downtime and lowering total cost of ownership. They also cut chemical cost through higher accuracy (±1%) metering. In short, peristaltic pumps enable tighter WFD targets for phosphate levels.

“Phosphorus is already limited to 1 or 1.25 mg/l, but the expectation within industry is that it will soon become even stricter,” says Mr Swain. “Obviously we are dosing ferric sulphate, which means we also have to be careful that we don’t fail on iron levels. This balance means we need pumps that work reliably and correctly on a continuous 24/7 basis.”

Environmental Responsibility The Environment Agency takes samples from Welsh

Water plants such as Rotherwas and Ross-onWye 12 times a year, checking for phosphorus, iron, ammonia, solids and more.

“We have a responsibility to ensure delivery to our watercourses is as good as it can possibly be,” says Mr Swain. “We’ve just done our averages for 2016 and I’m pleased to report that both Rotherwas and Ross-onWye are comfortably within the required P-limits. Our Qdos pumps have played a significant part and Welsh Water is now considering adopting this technology at further plants.”

An added advantage is that Qdos pumps offer reduced maintenance with single, no-tools component replacement. For Welsh Water, maintenance time with Qdos pumps is now just a few minutes - whereas clearing a blockage from a diaphragm pump would take more than an hour, and would be required far more frequently.

Qdos peristaltic pumps are designed for dosing with all types of coagulant, regardless of their viscosity, basicity, concentration and flow rate. As only the hose comes into contact with medium, even highly corrosive and abrasive pumped media presents no problems; the pump cannot contaminate pumped media, or vice versa. Ultimately, with no valves or seals to wear out, clog or corrode, peristaltic pumps reduce the burden of maintenance.

December, 2017

65

CASE STUDY

Water Travels Mountainous Terrain in a Steady Flow to the Power Plant The project has recently been awarded as 'Project of the Year'.

By William Su, Singer Valve China

Pipeline form the Dock

THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED Zhijin power plant in China’s Guizhou province gets its water from the Hongjiadu reservoir and transports it 8.1 km over mountainous terrain with an approximate

Booster Pump Control Valve

elevation of 1150 meters.

The water first travels up to a water treatment plant, and then on to a water tank, where supply can be controlled before it is gravity fed down to the plant. The high lift and long distance

Two Surge Anticipating Relief Valves on the Dock

66

December, 2017

of this water distribution system makes it vulnerable to surges and pipe breaks.

The Design Institute called on Singer Valve to determine what technologies could be put in to place to safely transport the

water and ensure a stable flow of water regardless of flow rates that vary according to power production needs.

The first stage involves pumping water from a floating dock and transporting it by two DN600 pipelines to the water treatment plant. To regulate surging when starting or shutting down the pump, two surge anticipating relief valves were installed on the dock.

These two valves can be opened before the surge comes and relieve the pressure from the pipe. This is especially important if there is a power failure and water rushes back down to the pump station. An added precaution to prevent surges was to install air valves on the pipeline to release any trapped air from the pipe.

After the water is treated, it is pumped to a water tank. With a 340 meter pump head, surge calcula-

tion determined need for a control valve after pump with a surge anticipating relief valve mounted in a tee, downstream of pump check valve. This is designed to anticipate surges and avoid severe water hammer often asso-

“

We knew it was going to be very challenging to transport the water to the power plant safely with the elevations and distance that it needed to travel.

Singer’s surge anticipating plan and quality valves gave us the confidence to complete this project.

Liu Zhizhao Manager, Zhijin Power Plant, China

EXPRESS WATER

CASE STUDY

Pipeline from WTP to Water Tank

ciated with power failure surges.

The Anticipating Relief Valve with Flow Limiting on Solenoid Valve Opening (106-RPS-ET-HFL) was selected to do the job. This valve is a pilot operated pressure relief valve designed to open when the inlet pressure exceeds a predetermined setting. The valve also opens when the solenoid valve is energized.

When the solenoid valve opens the valve, the maximum opening of the valve can be limited. The solenoid valve is typically energized by a controller that senses

power failure and/or low header pressure and uses battery power to energize the solenoid valve for a short adjustable period.

After the pump, there is a pump control valve to protect the pump, and also to be used as a check valve when the flow comes back.

The Booster Pump Control Valve was installed after the pump to prevent surging during opening and closing of the pump.

The water tank is 180 meters higher than the power plant which makes this final transportation gravity fed via two DN600

pipelines over 6.3 km.

With this elevation and distance a pressure reducing station was required in the middle. The Design Institute selected Singer’s 106-PR with an anti-cavitation cage as the pressure drop between intake and outflow was greater than 3 to 1 ratio.

Cavitation consists of rapid vaporization and condensation within a liquid.

When local pressure falls to vapor pressure (approximately 0.25 psi / 0.018 bar absolute for cold water), vapor bubbles are formed and when these bubbles

travel to an area of higher pressure, the bubbles collapse with phenomenal force and great localized stress.

It is the violent collapse of these vapor bubbles near valve components or downstream piping surfaces, which cause cavitation damage and subsequent performance degradation.

Singer’s Anti-Cavitation technology contains two heavy stainless steel sliding cages that maximize the full flow capacity. The first cage directs and contains the cavitation recovery, allowing it to dissipate harmlessly.

While the second cage allows further control to a level as low as atmospheric pressure downstream. The cages are engineered to meet the flow / pressure differential of each application.

After the pressure reducing station, the water flows in to the power plant with one last flow regulating valve installed at the entrance gate to ensure stable flow and pressure.

“We knew it was going to

Pressure Reducing Valves on Pipelines to Plant

be very challenging to transport the water to the power plant safely with the elevations and distance that it needed to travel”, said Liu Zhizhao, Manager of Zhijin Power Plant.

“Singer’s surge anticipating plan and quality valves gave us the confidence to complete this project,” concluded Mr. Zhizhao.

The power plant has capacity to produce 2X660MW that travels 150 km to power the city of Guiyang and the surrounding communities. Zhijin power plant employs around 600 people.

The project was recently awarded 'Project of the Year' by Water & Waste Digest.

William Su is Technical Manager (head of technical support) at Singer Valve, China and has been solving problems in the water industry for over 10 years.

Flow Regulating Valves at Entry to Power Plant

EXPRESS WATER

December, 2017

67

CASE STUDY

Municipal Water District Improves Meter Reading Accuracy A water utility in California uses FlexNet to better serve its growing customer base.

By Sensus

Too Many Meters, Not Enough Time For Eastern Municipal Water District’s field technicians, manually reading 148,000 meters across a 555 square mile service area was a daunting task. They spent their days traveling around dry, drought stricken Riverside County, California to read each of utility’s meters - only to find that missing data limited the organization's ability to proactively review data and provide customer service options and updates that help customers become more efficient.

The time it took to gather usage data was not most frustrating aspect though.

“EMWD has a responsibility to implement industry-leading technologies that create an efficient environment and empower customer to conserve water," said David Gayneaux, manager, meter services, Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD). “By doing so, we are able to limit water lost to leaks in an economically responsible manner." To provide their growing customer base with the

68

December, 2017

best possible service and water for years to come, the utility needed more accurate data, fast.

Managing a Growing Population Headquartered in Perris, California, EMWD provides services to seven cities in Riverside County and is California’s sixth largest water agency. With 795,000 individuals served and counting, the Southern California water provider is quickly installing meters to keep up with its expanding customer base. In the past four years alone, the utility has installed more than 7,000 new residential and commercial meters. With a growing number of customers to gather data from each month and California's ongoing drought creating new regulatory challenges, the organization needed to conserve time and water.

Data Needed to Conserve Resources To increase efficiency, EMWD invested in new processes to read meters. To conserve water, the utility

needed to monitor for high usage patterns, identify areas where customers exceeded their water budgets and detect leaks throughout the system.

Without accurate data, it was challenging to educate consumers or spot leaks.

EMWD uses an allocation-based rate structure that provides both indoor and outdoor water budgets to customers. By obtaining additional data through its smart water network, EMWD was able to better track water budget compliance and to proactively assist customers with leak detection.

Reaping Benefits with New Technology EMWD deployed Sensus FlexNet® communication network to improve operations and meet the needs of growing population. The utility now relies on FlexNet system to read meters remotely, a vast improvement over manual reads. In fact, EMWD reads more than 52,000 meters using Sensus technology.

In addition, EMWD uses FlexNet to: • Collect accurate data in a timely manner • Generate reports for customers • Analyze usage • Improve operational efficiency • Conserve water

Remote Meter Reading Leads to New Opportunities Without FlexNet, EMWD leaders estimate it would

take as many as eight additional staff members to manually read the meters of the utility’s growing population. With it, employees can instead focus their time on analyzing data and using insights gleaned to better serve customers, assist customers in water use efficiency and conserve water.

Case in Point: The utility was able to identify a leak and immediately address the issue with a grateful customer within first two days of deploying the technology.

A retaining wall in a sloped area of yard concealed a broken sprinkler head in a customer’s backyard, making it difficult to notice. Had EMWD not caught the leak in time, customer’s monthly bill could have easily doubled. But the efforts don’t stop with leak detection.

Using Data to Empower Customers FlexNet opened the door to new monitoring possibilities that have given rise to innovative ways to rally customers around water conservation and combatting the drought. Continuous usage reports identify consumers with high consumption levels. EMWD staff initiates contact via phone call, email or text message to inform the customer of elevated usage and encourages them to repair the issue. To date, 2,600 customers have been contacted regarding continuous usage at their residence. 2,300 of these customers no longer show signs of leaks. “With FlexNet, we are able to alert users if

they exceed their monthly water budget," said Gayneaux.

"Doing so ensures we are doing our part to assist in statewide conservation efforts in a constantly changing regulatory environment."

Opportunity for the Future As a flexible and scalable technology, FlexNet enables accurate and reliable meter reads no matter how many people and businesses come to Riverside County.

“Accurate meter reads and data monitoring are now just the beginning of what we can do with FlexNet,” said Gayneaux. “We look forward to expanding our use of technology to better serve our customers, including the launch of a customer portal so that users can self-monitor their consumption.”

The FlexNet system not only provides EMWD with meaningful benefits, it also equips them for the future by providing support for many years of sustainable growth.

“

We have a responsibility to implement industryleading technologies that create an efficient environment and empower the customer to conserve water.

David Gayneaux Manager, Meter Services, Eastern Municipal Water District, California, USA

EXPRESS WATER

PROJECT TRACKER

WATER & WASTEWATER REUSE PROJECTS IN NAMIBIA The Ujams Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse project also received a distinction award for “Industrial Water Project of the Year” at Global Water Summit in Athens, Greece.

EW News Bureau THE PRESENT TIMES are testing times. Availability of water for the future is one of the biggest concerns of governments, regimes, urban local bodies and industries around the world. Further probing the subject, it also comes to light that availability just doesn’t mean presence of any kind of water but safe drinking water. The same is cemented by the recent United Nations Water Intel which states that 783 million people are devoid of access to ‘Clean Drinking Water’ across the globe. More than often, the future lacks optimism. It is in this challenging scenario that technology companies like WABAG provide sustainable water solutions.

Namibia is one of the most arid countries in Southern Africa.

Windhoek, the capital of Namibia,

EXPRESS WATER

has an average annual rainfall of around 370 mm, while the average evaporation rate is 3400 mm. As if this difference between water supply and demand was not problematic enough, the nearest perennial river, the Okavango, is 700 km away from the city. The huge distance has made the laying of a supply pipeline highly unfeasible. Desalination was also explored as an alternative, but the nearest sea shore is also 250 kms away from the capital. The town has a total population of over 3,00,000 and catering to their water needs for survival was really proving to be difficult. This is when WABAG came up with a feasible solution.

“Water is too precious to be used just once”, and learning a lesson from the same, a consortium of three companies led by WABAG took up the responsibility to ensure water security and sustainability in Windhoek. Building a Water Reclamation Plant was proposed which could convert domestic effluent directly to potable water. The plant was designed by WABAG to treat 21 million liters per day and now caters to the daily needs of around 2,00,000 people in the area.

The intake for the plant is from two sources - consisting of semi-purified wastewater and water from the Goreangab dam.

To elaborate on the process, the wastewater is purified through a process which ensures biological nutrient removal and is further polished in maturation ponds before purifying in an advanced multi-barrier system employing a series of safety barriers for all harmful contaminants and thus guarantees outstanding drinking water quality.

Since the start up, all relevant standards have been conformed to without any difficulty.

Efficient process design and production of high quality potable water from this plant stands testimony to the expertise of WABAG. On account of its technological innovation as well as the difference made to the consumers’ lives, the Goreangab WTP, Windhoek is positioned as a role model for subsequent reuse plants across the globe.

There is one more reuse plant in Namibia, the Ujams Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse project, which received the Distinction Award for the “Industrial Water Project of the Year” at the Global Water Summit held at Athens, Greece in 2015.

The award was given on account of numerous unique features. First, the project comprised the first industrial water reclamation plant and the first wastewater MBR plant in Namibia. Second, the complex

range of contaminants in the feed water - a blend of wastewater streams from a brewery, an abattoir, a tannery, a beverage company and a chocolate producer - presented a serious challenge. With a successful 7-month onsite trial, WABAG proved the mettle of an innovative treatment train using its in-house developed fine sieving pre-treatment process - MICROPUR. Combining this with MBR, UV disinfection, sludge treatment and exhaust air treatment, the joint-venture leveraged the best expertise the private sector had to offer to make its partnership work. Third, this project will see effluent treated to standards suitable not only for industrial process water and irrigation, but also for blending in with the city’s drinking water system.

December, 2017

69

PROJECT TRACKER

NAMAMI GANGE Total 34 projects worth Rs. 3581 crore were sanctioned for cleaning Ganga between 20082014, while 56 projects worth Rs 9630 crore have been approved since 2014 till date.

EW News Bureau NMCG Approves 8 Projects Worth Over Rs. 700 Crore National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved eight projects worth Rs. 700 crore, out of which four pertain to sewage management in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, three are related to treatment of drains through bioremediation and one of inventorization and surveillance of river Ganga. Three projects of treatment of drains using bio-remediation technology have also been given a green signal at an estimated cost of Rs. 4.29 crore. These are for Rajapur drain and Digha drain in Patna and Laksar drain in Haridwar.

WEST BENGAL Rs. 200.07 Crore Project for Pollution Abatement For sewage management, a project for pollution abatement in river Ganga at Bally in West Bengal has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 200.07 crore that would include construction of a 40 MLD STP under Hybrid Annuity based PPP model among other works.

UTTAR PRADESH India’s First Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) under Hybrid Annuity Mode in Haridwar and Varanasi In the first-of-its-kind success, creation and maintenance of sewage treatment infrastructure under Hybrid Annuity based PPP model has taken off, with NMCG awarding work to private sector for construction and maintenance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in two major cities in Ganga river basin - Varanasi and Haridwar.

While the work to construct, operate and maintain a 50 MLD STP in Varanasi has been awarded to a consortium led by Indian infrastructure major - Essel Infra Projects Limited at an estimated cost of Rs 153.16 crore, HNB Engineers Private Ltd. has been awarded the work to develop, oper-

70

December, 2017

ate and maintain the total sewage treatment capacity of 82 MLD (68 MLD in Jagjeetpur & 14 MLD in Sarai) STPs in Haridwar at an estimated cost of Rs 171.53 crore.

Rs 213.62 Crore for Sewage Treatment Related Works Sewage treatment related works at an estimated cost of Rs 213.62 crore have been approved that include construction of two STPs (28 MLD + 05 MLD) in Farrukabad and one 2 MLD STP at Bargadiya drain in Fatehpur. Pollution abatement works for river Ganga like interception, diversion and treatment of sewage in Bithoor have also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 13.40 crore.

Special Focus on River Pollution in Varanasi Varanasi town currently generates an estimated 300 MLD of sewage, which is expected to

Biggest Source of Pollution for Ganga: 3000 MLD Sewage from 97 Cities As per the Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari, about 3000 MLD sewage from 97 cities on its banks are the biggest source of pollution for Ganga. Of this, 1750 MLD sewage comes from just 10 cities. 34 projects worth Rs. 3581 crore had been sanctioned for Ganga cleaning between 2008-2014, while 56 projects worth Rs 9630 crore have been approved since 2014 till date. Mentioning that 18 of these projects are ready, Gadkari has said the other projects will also be done by March 2019. He has also said that a committee headed by MoS Dr. Satya Pal Singh will monitor the projects on a monthly basis. increase to 390 MLD by 2030.

From current capacity of 3 existing sewage treatment plants - Dinapur, Bhagwanpur and DLW, only 102 MLD of sewage is being treated while remaining flows directly into

river Ganga through Varuna and Assi rivers. To bridge this gap, a 140 MLD STP at Dinapur and a 120 MLD STP at Goitha are being constructed under Japan International cooperation Agency (JICA) assisted project and JNNURM scheme respectively. These projects are at advanced stage of construction and will be commissioned before March 2018. Apart from this, a 50 MLD STP at Ramana has also been awarded under Hybrid Annuity based PPP model to exclusively address sewage treatment requirements of Assi BHU area. Together, these STPs will create sewage treatment capacity of 412 MLD, adequate to meet sewage treatment demands of the town till 2035.

BIHAR A total of 29 projects worth Rs.4929.17 crore are under various stages of implementation in Bihar under Namami Gange Programme.

Foundation Laid for 4 New Sewerage Projects Costing Rs. 738.04 Crore Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recently laid foundation stone for four sewerage projects costing Rs. 738.04 crore. These projects include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer Network at Saidpur. These projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD for Beur. This also includes sewer network of 234.84 km in Beur and Saidpur zones.

Rs 268.49 Crore Approved for 65 MLD STP in Bhagalpur Construction of a 65 MLD STP under Hybrid Annuity model has been approved for Bhagalpur in Bihar at an estimated project cost of Rs 268.49 crore.

Patna to Become a Town Having 100% Sewerage Infrastructure In Patna, 7 sewerage projects are at various stages of implemen-

Upcoming STP Projects: UP, Bihar and West Bengal The upcoming sewage treatment projects which have already been sanctioned under HAM are STPs at Naini, Jhusi, and Phaphamau at Allahabad (72 MLD), STPs at Unnao, Shuklaganj, and Bithoor along with Kanpur (21.4 MLD), STPs at Digha and Kankarbagh in Bihar (150), STPs at Kolkata and Howrah (141 MLD) STPs at Farukhabad (30 MLD), STP at Bhagalpur (65 MLD). Tender documents for 10 of these projects are being prepared. NMCG has also appointed strategic consultants for PPP design and transaction advisory support for integration of sewage treatment infrastructure in Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna and Kolkata. tation, out of which two - Digha and Kankarbagh sewerage zones worth Rs. 1402.89 crore are sanctioned under Hybrid Annuity-based PPP mode. The existing population in the city is 16,83,000 and the existing sewage generated in the city is 220 MLD and sewage load is expected to be 320 MLD by the year 2035. Compared to existing sewage generation, the existing sewage treatment capacity is only 109 MLD. A total of 11 projects under World Bank funding are sanctioned for six zones which will create a total of 350 MLD of STP capacity and will lay down 1140.26 km of sewerage network at a cost of Rs. 3582.41crore. After completion of these 11 projects, Patna will become a town having 100% sewerage infrastructure and no sewage water will drain into River Ganga.

Rs 3.96 Crore & Rs. 24.92 Crore River Surface Cleaning Projects in Patna One river surface cleaning project worth Rs. 3.96 crore and two afforestation projects worth Rs. 24.92 crore are under implementation in Patna. Under the river surface cleaning project, a trash skimmer has been deployed.

EXPRESS WATER

RNI NO. MAHENG-14351