Acceptance For cooking, bathing higher: In Barapullah, many open to using treated water, but not for drinking

More than 40% of households near the Barapullah drain have indicated their willingness to use treated waste water for purposes such as drinking and cooking, and over 70% for bathing, a perception survey has shown.

Over 420 households from high, middle and low income groups, living near the Barapullah drain, were interviewed for the perception survey — part of a five-year joint initiative named LOTUSHR between Indian and Dutch research institutes on developing a holistic wastewater management approach.

It found that more than half of the respondents were open to using treated waste water for different purposes. However, the level of acceptability varies for different uses, with discharging treated water into a river having the highest acceptability rate and drinking it having the lowest.

Respondents to the survey also had some religious and social reservations. More than 25% of those surveyed said they would not use treated waste water for religious purposes, even if safety was guaranteed. “These reservations include unwillingness to use treated waste water during religious ceremonies, for example to clean pooja mandals and washing idols. The pure ‘yuck’ factor is a social reservation for many linked to considering using treated or untreated waste water,” said Mehar Kaur of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which is a part of the initiative.

The perception survey also found that a majority of respondents were aware of “water shortage” in the capital and had even faced it themselves. It recommended a number of measures to increase waste water reuse, including generating awareness about water scarcity, sharing information about waste water treatment process, and reliable evaluation of treatment system to build confidence among people.

Across the world, many countries have been recycling waste water. America’s Orange County in California has been recharging groundwater by pumping recycled waste water into aquifers. Singapore’s NEWater process has been recycling treated used water to meet 40% of its population’s needs at present. Perth, in Western Australia, has also been treating waste water and recycling it in a number of ways, including replenishment of groundwater.

The Delhi government too plans to release treated waste water into the Yamuna from Palla after routing it through the Coronation Pillar STP to augment the city’s water supply by 15% to 20%, according to reports. “This project brings in the link between science, technology and humans by understanding perception and risks around acceptability to science-based and technological solutions to environmental problems,” said Kaur.

The project team said that it is possible to treat waste water up to a drinking standard, but the technology has not been adopted yet.