The planning authority for Delhi has revealed the first sketch of its vision for the next two decades of water planning in the Indian mega-city, a process that will require massive investment in its infrastructure base. The Delhi Development Authority's draft master plan for 2041 recommends the introduction of an integrated water resources management strategy that would require a massive investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. With the population set to rise to 29 million over the next decade, Delhi would require a water supply network with a peak capacity of 6.6 million m~3/d, compared to just 4.2 million m~3/d at present. To meet these needs, the master plan recommends restricting the drinking water supply to domestic use only, with industries pushed to use non-conventional sources of water instead. The master plan also aims to achieve 100% levels of wastewater treat- ment, and to introduce more comprehensive reuse standards. The city's current installed treatment capacity is around 2.8 million m~3/d, but with the volume of wastewater produced expected to rise to 5.4 million m~3/d by 2041, the introduction of more wastewater recycling could ease the burden on other water sources. Nevertheless, treatment standards would need to improve significantly, as 75% of the wastewater treatment plants in Delhi were recently found to have compliance issues (see GWI December 2020, p38). The use of treated wastewater for groundwater recharge has been proposed, although it is not understood to be implementable within the current regulatory framework.
展开▼
