BMC seeks consultant to make sewage water reusable

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has floated a tender to appoint a consultant to study the feasibility of treating effluent to obtain potable water and reuse it.

The tender floated this week invites consultants for the wastewater treatment plants at Versova, Bhandup, Dharavi and Ghatkopar. The study will focus on how the water treated at these plants can be used for potable or non-potable purposes.

The BMC has undertaken a project for the construction and upgradation of seven sewerage treatment plants (STPs) at Worli, Bandra, Dharavi, Versova, Malad, Ghatkopar and Bhandup to treat 2,464 million litres of sewage daily under the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project-II (MSDP).

In addition to this, a pilot project has been set up for advanced treatment of wastewater received from the Colaba tertiary sewage treatment facility. The plant will come up at the Colaba wastewater treatment facility.

At present, the sewage plant at Colaba treats wastewater to the required standards before allowing it to be released into the nearest water source. The remaining sewage plants have been pumping out more than 1,800 million litres of wastewater per day into the rivers, creeks, or the sea after primary treatment.

The civic body is now planning further to set up a similar plant at its other four STPs in Versova, Bhandup, Dharavi and Ghatkopar.

Vasant Gaikwad, the chief engineer of BMC's water supply project said, “Presently the primary treated water is released into the sea. We are appointing a consultant who will study if after the advanced treatment the water can be used for potable purposes.”