Upgradation of Sewage Treatment Facility of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad City: A Step Towards Sustainable Development

Abstract

About 80 percent of the water supplied to consumers in Indian cities gets converted into sewage. The metros, major cities and towns together generate about 20,000 million litres of wastewater (sewage) per day. About 50 to 70 percent of the pollution load of rivers and streams is from domestic sewage. Sources of fresh water are getting exhausted and development of new water resources is cost intensive and time consuming. Since water stored in dams and lakes is the main source of water for urban population, it is to be conserved, collected after its use and treated before it is discharged into the nearby water bodies. Sustainable development is necessity of the present world for every industry. Wastewater treatment industry is not an exceptional for this; in fact it is primary need for conservation of natural water sources. To prevent the degradation and to maintain the quality of water in the rivers, the sewage generated from cities is to be treated before its disposal into the nearby river. The treated sewage can be used for secondary purposes like gardening, agriculture, industrial reuse and recreational fields. The paper discusses the integrated approach in decentralised planning, designing and execution of new sewage treatment plants of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for sewage treatment and disposal.