Visakhapatnam: Factories to use treated water

Visakhapatnam: To address water scarcity challenges in summer, industries have been asked to use tertiary treated wastewater wherever possible than depending on fresh water. As there are several mega-infrastructure projects in and around the city like APSEZ and JNPC other new ones are also coming up with industrial growth potential in Vizag expected to be high. A major requirement for this development is the availability of reliable source of water supply. While the corporation is planning to supply treated water from Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) to industries, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) is now asking industries to use treated water from their own STP plants.

Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), Vizag, head R. Lakshmi Narayana said, “There is no such fixed limit for using treated water. Depending on the amount of water being used and the nature of the industry, effluents are recycled. For example, food industries cannot use treated water for their production units.” “However, all industries using over 100 kilo liters per day (KLD) can use treated water from their STPs for utilities like boiler feed and machine cooling,” he said.

“The proposal to supply tertiary treated water to industries still lies with the state government. Once the permission is granted, GVMC could supply treated water to industries and divert fresh water for public use, which will help address water woes to a large extent,” he added. Mega industries like Vizag Steel Plant, HPCL and NTPC which need many gallons of water per day to continue operation can make do with treated water. The capacity of STPs also needs to be increased in the port city.