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Compendium of Natural Water Systems and Treatment Technologies to cope with Water Shortages in Urbanised Areas in India
Abstract
Providing adequate water supply and sanitation, particularly in urban areas, is a challenging task for governments throughout the world. This task is made even more difficult due to predicted dramatic global changes. Population growth, urbanisation, increasing industrialisation, climate change and a steep increase in water consumption are putting pressure on urban water resources. In order to cope with water shortages in urban areas, there is a need for a paradigm shift from conventional end-of-pipe water management to an integrated approach. This integrated approach should include several actions such as: information interventions over the entire urban water cycle (considering wastewater and freshwater both as integrated part of water resources); (ii) optimisation of water use by reusing wastewater and preventing pollution of freshwater source; (iii) prioritisation of small-scale natural and technical systems, which are flexible, cost-effective and require low operation and maintenance.
... Although the concept and practice of using treated wastewater for irrigating crops and UGS is neither unique nor novel [6,32], the ecological and economic perspectives of its use for managing the UGS are yet to receive the attention they deserve [20]. A lot of ecological benefits are feasible. ...
Rising land surface temperature (LST), urban heat island (UHI) effects, and stress on
surface-, processed-, potable-, and ground-water resources are some undesirable ecological changes
due to rapid urbanization. Treating and reusing city-generated wastewater for maintaining urban
green spaces (UGS) helps in reducing/preventing groundwater extraction, ensuring sufficient supply
of potable water, and bringing down LST. However, the benefits of reusing treated wastewater in
UGS for enhancing regulatory ecosystem services (RES) and ushering in a circular economy are yet to
be realized. In view of these, the transportation costs of treated wastewater for irrigating the UGS of
Panaji city—proposed to be developed as a smart city—were assessed. Field surveys were conducted
at seven gardens/parks to collect the primary data on vegetation type (ground cover, hedge plants,
and trees) and their daily water requirement. As the main focus of this study, a cost–benefit analysis
of (a) drawing the groundwater using borewells versus use of treated wastewater from the city’s
STP, and (b) two modes of treated wastewater transport: water tankers vs. pipeline was performed.
Our analyses suggest that the copiously available 14 MLD treated wastewater from the STP, which
meets all the safety standards, is far in excess of the current requirement of 6.24 MLD for watering
the vegetation in all 17 parks/gardens in the city. Pipeline is an efficient (less energy, labor, and
time) and economical (~47% more than water that is tanker-based) transportation mode. By utilizing
the otherwise unused treated wastewater, which is processed at a cost of over USD half a million
annually, the RES offered by the use of treated wastewater are (a) partially curtailing a combined
loss of ~16 MLD due to the extraction of groundwater plus evapotranspiration (@8.86 mm d−1
) from
Panaji city’s 1.86 km2 UGS, and (b) reduction in LST ~3–4 ◦C in all of Panaji city. In addition, with the
proficient and sustainable management of UGS and the meeting of many UNSDGs, the enhanced
vegetation growth plus elevated carbon sequestration rates in the UGS are possible through the reuse
of treated wastewater.
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