Grey water recycling may find a place in the new Development Plan (DP).The proposal to suggest recycling of grey water will be tabled before the City Improvement Committee (CIC) which is at present discussing the Development Plan (DP) for old city areas.
Grey water comes from kitchen sinks, showers and washing machines. Between 50 % and 80 % of household water that goes down the drain could be reused to flush toilets or water outdoor landscaping and for irrigation.
The use of grey water is related to availability of drinking water in the city. The city generates about 9.5 TMC of sewage every year and the irrigation department has told the civic body to treat and release it into the irrigation canal for farmers’ use. Once this happens, farmers will not lift water from the reservoirs and Pune can claim the additional quota.
The city must take steps to improve water efficiency in buildings and use of grey water. As of now, the city has no system to make use of grey water. If housing societies are able to treat grey water, they will not face any water shortage, thus reducing the water bill. The recycled water could be used for flushing and gardening purposes.
“The PMC has divided the city into 23 basins to lay and connect storm water drain pipelines. The central government is funding the project. The storm water drains are used only in the monsoon and otherwise remain dry. The PMC should lay separate pipelines in housing societies to collect grey water and connect these lines to storm water drains. This water should be treated if necessary and released in the river or canal for irrigation purpose. The treatment will not cost much compared to the sewage treatment and agriculture will get good quality water,” states the proposal
