CM advocates ‘toilet to tap’ sewage treatment plants

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday advocated the need for hundreds of 'toilet-to-tap' sewage treatment plants to meet the soaring water needs of the residents of the national Capital, which he said could not be met by conventional methods.

Kejriwal also sought to break the stigma associated with treated sewage by drinking a glass of water offered to him by officials at Delhi's first such plant at Keshopur, a joint-venture between Delhi Jal Board and an NGO, which he inaugurated. "Similar plants in every colony would do away with the need to have sewer and water pipelines to transport them to big plants. Water can be produced from raw sewage at the local level at small plants such as this," Kejriwal said. 

The NGO, Social Awareness Newer Alternatives (SANA), lauded the CM for expressing optimism that treated water would gradually gain acceptance.

AAP MLAs Adarsh Shastri, Jarnail Singh and Vandana Kumari were also present. They plan to replicate the initiative at their constituencies. Delhi Law Minister and DJB Chairman Kapil Mishra hailed Kejriwal for "leading from the front". "Kejriwal is probably the only leader who has led from the front by drinking this water. This water would be made an option at the Delhi Secretariat," Mishra said.

Kejriwal said around 50 <g data-gr-id="36">per cent</g> of the city was still not covered by sewer pipelines, whereas 20 <g data-gr-id="37">per cent</g> area was yet to be covered by drinking water pipelines. "If we are to provide potable water and sewer pipelines in every locality, we need Rs 25,000-30,000 crore. But this small plant can be a solution to that," he said.

As per the DJB, this plant is powered by solar energy to ensure that the entire eco-system of the technology is <g data-gr-id="29">environment friendly</g> and sustainable.

SANA has installed a water purifying station, which can produce around 4,000 <g data-gr-id="34">litre</g> of clean water in an hour. It can generate over 33,000 litres of water daily if powered only by solar, but up to 72,000 litres of water daily if powered by both solar and electricity. According to SANA officials, there are two levels of the plant, 'bio-filter' and 'membrane filter'.