Nearly 36% progress in construction of seven STP facilities in Mumbai
A sewage treatment plant (STP) is a facility that scientifically purifies and recycles waste water, making it suitable for reuse or bringing down pollutant levels before discharging them into the natural water bodies. According to BMC's figures, out of the 3,850 million litres of water that Mumbai consumes daily, nearly 3,040 million litres daily (MLD) or 78% gets converted into sewage.
In 2022, the BMC took up an ambitious Rs 30,000 crore project for building seven STPs in Mumbai with an overall capacity to recycle wastewater up to 2,464 million litres daily (MLD). As part of this project, the seven STPs will be set up at Worli, Dharavi, Bandra, Versova, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Ghatkopar and Malad. While all the six facilities will include revamping of existing facilities, the plant at Dharavi is being built from scratch.
Of the seven proposed plants, Worli will be the largest having a total capacity of processing 500 MLD of water, followed by 454 MLD at Malad, 418 MLD at Dharavi, 360 MLD at Bandra, 337 MLD at Ghatkopar, 215 MLD at Bhandup and 180 MLD at Versova.
As per the BMC's plan, the STPs at Ghatkopar, Bhandup and Versova will become operational in 2026, while the Worli, Bandra and Dharavi facilities will become operational in 2027 and the Malad facility will be ready by 2028.
Meanwhile, the BMC's figure also shows that the Bhandup facility has recorded the highest progress in construction work at 51% followed by 42% at Ghatkopar, 34% at Bandra and Worli, 33.7% at Dharavi, 32% at Versova and 28% at Malad.
All the seven facilities are designed in a way that 100% (2,464 MLD) of the treated wastewater could be recycled for non-potable or tertiary usage. 'While initially we earmarked 50% of the total quantum for recycled usage. However, gradually this quantum will be expanded, and we will try to reduce the quantity of water that is being discharged to creeks and natural water bodies,' said an official.
'Multiple industrial and petroleum organisations have already approached us for buying out the tertiary treated water from the STP, for non-potable usage at their units. As the plants become operational at full capacity, we are expecting to get more offers from them. This will not only bring down the volume of water that is being discharged into natural water bodies but will also reduce dependency on the city's potable water supply for commercial usage,' the official added.
The treated water from the new facility will be classified into two categories. Around 50% or 1,232 MLD of the total capacity will be classified as secondary treated water–that will be discharged into creeks and sea, while the remaining 50% will be classified as tertiary–treated water that will be recycled for non-potable usage.
Once operational, these plants are expected to bring down water pollution in the natural bodies by a significant margin.
The BMC's move of constructing STPs came after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a penalty of Rs 29.75 crore on the BMC for discharging untreated sewage in the city's water bodies.
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