150 MLD potable water goes down drain even as crisis plagues city

Thane: A huge amount of 150 MLD of treated water is drained down toilets every day in the city, stirring debate among citizens about the need for having a separate connection for ferrying untreated water for non-potable uses. The per capita daily water usage as per World Health Organization (WHO) standards states that around 70 litres per capita is required for sanitation and waste disposal in urban cities. Accordingly, the city with a population of 22 lakh roughly uses around 150 MLD treated water for flushing daily. The city presently purchases treated water from various agencies such as STEM, MIDC, BMC at rates ranging between Rs 7,500-9,000 per million litres (ml) and Rs 4,000/ml for untreated water. Activists have now upped their demand for developing a network of grey lines in the city where the untreated or raw water could be supplied for non-potable purposes. As per WHO statistics, around 100 litres is used by every resident for drinking, cooking and bathing including cleaning clothes, etc. In addition to the use of 70 litres for flushing, few houses consume around 100 litres more for gardening, car washing, and other allied purposes, which could be done through grey lines supplying untreated water. The city requires 480 million litres of water but gets 320 million litres of water daily following curtailment from the irrigation department. “It would be a massive saving on part of the administration if the treated water is used only for drinking along with bathing,” said Nitin Deshpande, an activist. Urban planner Sulakshana Mahajan said while it may not be feasible for segregating water lines at the macro level, societies or clusters could adopt the practice and come up with recycling units. TMC recently set up a special team to ensure water is optimally used. Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal said he will set up mini-sewage water treatment plants in Thane.