Water reuse in India: Current perspective and future potential

Abstract

Abstract The rising water scarcity throughout the world has stimulated the use of treated wastewater as an alternative option. Wastewater is a valuable resource that can be used beneficially to meet the water supply-demand gaps. In India, water and wastewater sector, especially wastewater reuse, has recently started getting attention due to growing water problems specially in water scarce cities. This chapter presents an overview of wastewater reclamation and reuse in India with the focus on its rationale, current practices and challenges, potential and future scope. Urban local bodies and municipalities have implemented reclaimed water reuse projects in many water sensitive cities in the country. However, the challenges such as lack of planning and feasibility studies, incentives, social acceptance, regulatory guidelines and poor institutional framework have made it difficult to sustain such projects. There is a large potential for treated wastewater reuse in the country owing to high quantities of wastewater. Studies show that if 80% of urban wastewater could be treated by 2030, there would be an increase of 400% in the volume of available wastewater to reclaim and directly reuse. In view of the rising opportunities, the reuse in the industrial and agricultural sectors has grown in the past decades but in the municipal sector, it is still evolving. Many legal initiatives have been taken by the central and state governments over the past few years. Research shows that to establish widespread and successful reclaimed water reuse, an integrated water resources planning and management approach is imperative.