Water board urged to promote recycled water

Less than a third of water consumers in the city have water harvesting plants to allow adequate replenishment of ground water. This was revealed during a roundtable conference involving non-governmental organisations, scientists and officials of Hyderabad Metropolitan

The round-table conference organised by the World Wildlife Fund India in association with the U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad saw activists tell water board officials to promote use of recycled water to meet some of the city’s demand while conserving groundwater levels by way of promoting use of rain water harvesting pits and stricter regulation of bore-well use. The latter, meanwhile, said there are not many takers for recycled water.

“Commercial establishments do not want to use recycled water though it costs less than treated water,” claimed Dr. P.S. Surya Narayana, Director Revenue, HMWSSB while citing the instance of a popular multiplex in the city that refused to use recycled water. He informed that less than 10,000 of the 30,000 new connections availed from the board every year, are in locations with rain harvesting pits.

Civil society activists said the water board should do away with subsidised pricing to ensure that water is not wasted. They also highlighted the threat to lakes and the urgent need to protect them from encroachments. Scientists drew attention to rapid urbanisation over major fault zones in the city that prevented adequate replenishment of groundwater.“Madhapur area has a large fault zone but it is covered in concrete,” said Mr. Seshadri, a geologist with the National Remote Sensing Center, while suggesting the need to conduct a scientific study of an area before proceeding with its development.

Civil society activists also called for educating children about importance of water and the nuances of conservation to create informed future citizens. The managing director of HMWSSB, Mr. Janardhan Reddy was also present at the conference. The suggestions made by participants will be compiled and presented to the State government, the organisers said.