PANAJI: The Sewerage and Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa Limited (SIDCGL) has decided to supply treated water for use in four sectors – agriculture, farm forestry, toilet flushing and industrial and commercial projects. This has been done keeping in mind that 30 million liters of treated water flows down the drains of Goa daily, simply because no one is ready to use it.
According to the action plan prepared by SIDCGL, owing to the limited supply of freshwater, use of treated water is imperative and the need of the hour. In an interview with the Times of India, Padmakar Sheldarkar, Managing Director, SIDCGL said that treated water can be used for all kinds of non-potable needs. He added that if the residents show interest, STPs can be developed further to treat water so as to make it usable for drinking purposes.
The action plan elaborated that treated water can be used for irrigation in certain places for agriculture, for watering urban forests, trees public gardens, trees, shrubs and grassy areas, for toilet-flushing and for cooling purposes in industrial and commercial sectors. Treated water can also be used for cleaning and other purposes at railway stations and trains, for recharging ground water and for construction purposes.
The action plan says that using such water can provide significant economic, social and environmental benefits which are key motivators for implementing such reuse programmes.
The benefits of using waste water include, but are not limited to, increased water availability, revenue generation for the state, reduced over abstraction of surface and groundwater, reduced energy consumption associated with production, treatment and distribution of water, water importation or desalination.