In a bid to address the escalating demand for water and combat groundwater depletion, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Wednesday convened a meeting to deliberate on water conservation, groundwater preservation, and the re-use of treated water.
The meeting, chaired by Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Somnath Bharti, saw discussion on concerns over Delhi’s groundwater levels. Bharti emphasised the need to prioritise the re-use of treated water for non-potable purposes.
He said that in place of fresh water mined by tubewells, only treated water from sewer treatment plants would be used for non-potable uses like agricultural irrigation, road washing, industries, construction work, and public parks. This strategic shift aligns with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “Water Audit” initiative, as DJB seeks to promote water re-use as a viable means of conserving precious drinking water.
Delhi currently boasts an impressive 567 MGD (Million Gallons per Day) of treated water generated by 35 Sewage Treatment Plants, with most of the treated water meeting international quality standards. Encouraging the extensive use of this treated water for non-potable purposes, Bharti asserted that doing so could increase Delhi’s water production beyond the current demand, effectively saving the city’s drinking water reserves.
One of the significant decisions made during the meeting was to restrict the installation of tubewells in areas where sufficient drinking water is already supplied through DJB water pipelines. This measure aims to combat the depleting groundwater levels in the city and discourage the use of clean drinking water for non-drinking activities.