Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Recycled Water, Whose Baby is it!!

“Very soon nations will understand that in reality Water is the most expensive natural resource for their survival. Not Middle East oil nor African gold.” ― M.F. Moonzajer

“Call me crazy, but there is something terribly wrong with this society, especially on the front of, use of water.” ― Nathan Reese Maher

“If you want to use water in the right way then first, you will have to learn to respect the water in the right way”... Me

In the span of one week, I am writing again about this subject which the readers must have guessed is water! Only difference is, the first one was about wrong policies from the govt especially about real estate & the way we must together fight with drought then the later one i.e. this one is about govt’s right efforts (intent as their invite says) about water at large! Ok, we all know by now about the scarcity of water at present in the State & if any of you (read as we) don’t know about it then we are fool & unlucky too as that shows how ignorant we are about our responsibilities! Well, I got an invite from CSE India, a research institute from Delhi which is working on water, especially recycled water, for an invite onlyround table conference about recycled water & its use. In exact words, “Decentralised Treatment of Wastewater and its Bulk Reuse” & it’s a big honour for me, well considering the fraternity I come from i.e. real estate (a builder)! Though I am a civil engg too with little bit of environmental background (this I shared just to make readers know about my ability to write on the subject, no offense), yet mostly even today the builders are looked with suspicious eyes especially when there is anything related to environment as are they not the one who damages it most? Right, yet for whom the builders build these homes along with making money & who buys these homes & live in them is something I always want to ask those suspicious eye holders but about that sometimes later! Coming back to this round table thingy, I am unable to attend it as its right before Diwali & I have to take care of my own work front here, so I said the organizers I will attend it online about which they said not possible (sorry, but weird) so I said I will write my views & here we are!

First of all, water is mythical but not all about water is rocket science of hardcore technical or scientific as our forefathers’ (ancestors) knew a lot more about water & respected it far more than we do & that’s why what they did with water we have to research! Of course, today’s technology can open many more doors for the problems related to water (which we only have created, lol, sarcasm) & that’s why institutes like CSE are important. Incidentally there has been an initial such meeting here in Pune three months back in June 26, which also, I attended in person & has shared few of my views across. For those who don't know the background, the subject may look a bit technical which is the core of the subject, involving each of us i.e. water. We get water mainly from one single source i.e. rains, which later gets collected in dams via rivers & then from dams it comes to our home via water lines & there is a filtration plant in between dams to our home, that’s it! Apart from this where there is no dam or river there are bore wells, dug wells, man made lakes, canals etc by which respective localities get water & for thousands of years this was ok. Interesting part is that barring a few years most of the time the average rainfall means the principal source of supply is the same if we check the data but on the other side human population is increasing in multiples while all other animals’ population is decreasing, courtesy humas only! Needless to say, the sources of water have started reducing slowly & as we indeed are fools, we neglected this slow reduction like a slow poison & today, we call it as a draught when we don’t get water stored in our dams or even slightest of reduction rainfall, which is the main reason of the importance of the round table!

Coming back to the concept of round table, interestingly the invite says Right Intent of policies by the govt (or something on those lines) about which I have to say; its never about the Intent, the problem is always about the Implementation of the policies when its govt & when subject is as vital as water! Govt wants to make every segment of society (read as voters) happy & when it fails to do so it expects some other segment (usually the private sector or industries which in this case is builders) to do govt’s job! Same thing is happening with water reuse also & I am not saying this as anti- anti-establishment attitude or it’s easy to shrug the responsibility (I am not govt) but look at the way implementation differs from the goal of the Intentions & then we can find the right way! First, in a city like Pune which is blessed with water supply on the source front, there is no metered water supply which means there is no control on use, nor do we have the right data with us for consumption! Second, there is no provision of potable water supply to the construction sites, which means you can’t blame them for misuse of water, yet the propaganda is made so! Third, there is no control on ground water use, anybody can dig an open well or a bore well as govt (read as PMC/PCMC etc) has no data of ground water use in the city. This means if we want to increase use of recycled water then first, we must know what is the contribution of other sources of water by the citizens as then only we can make policies, because if all are happy with other sources of water then who will take efforts for recycled water & its use, right? So, let's first make sure about creating exact data regarding the need & consumption of every single drop in the city & its present sources!

Now, coming to the recycled water aspect which is a niche in itself, as three entities are involved in generation of the recycled water, means we will have to define the responsibilities accordingly while making policies about the same, right? First is local planning body which is Pune, & there the problem starts as the UDCPR (building control rules) says even over 100 units we will have to provide ETP / STP (drainage water treatment plant) which is itself a joke (sorry guys) as with 4 times fsi in some parts of city, even a 20,000 sft plot will have over 100 units on it where to fix a STP is very difficult job & to maintain it is more difficult. Means, first the builder will try to avoid or manage the STP thing to a minimum & later, the society won’t run it because operating costs are too high for such a small society, so they will try to shut it, which means the problem starts at generation level itself, for recycled water! And on top of it, even where the drainage line net-work of the local body is existing & which is connected to the central STP, there also smaller STPs’ are made mandatory if the development is above 100 units, why? Rather try to make bigger & larger STPs’ which will be easier for utilization of its water as smaller & decentralized STP’s are ok only when there is no drainage line itself because collection recycled water from numbers of destinations & smaller quantities, is the main problem in reuse of drainage water! At the same time there is no system which will ensure that these all STP’s are running at the treated water is collected at some source, again no data available is the problem as if you don’t know exactly how much treated / recycled water you have got & at which place, how are you going to distribute it or use it in proper way, is my question & who is going to take responsibility of this aspect of recycled water, is my second question!

Now let’s have a look at last & most critical aspect in the use of recycle water, that too specifically in real estate, as whenever there is reduction in rains or water supply the builders starts getting notices of water cuts & media hails construction sites using water (read as wasting water) & suddenly local bodies publish circulars about making builders use recycled water! Here again data is the problem as any source becomes reliable only when it is consistent & for that you need to have how much & how, these two figures in place. We already saw how, is missing as we don’t have data about generation of recycled water & we don’t have data of how much water we need for construction & where. Though approximately for 1 lakh sq ft of built-up area, by thumb rule you need approx. 10 lakh litters (again its thumb rule & this depends on technology you are using, type of building & workmanship & can vary as per these aspects) of water from start to finish. Here again, there are two or say three types of need for water, one is in the construction activities such as concreting, plaster where water will be part of construction. On this front the requirement is fluctuating as per the work stage & this water needs to be chemically perfect as its being used in chemical reaction of cement setting process which is directly related to the strength of concrete or mortar of base of flooring; so, who is going to ensure quality of the water, is the question (read as problem)! At the same time curing & compaction of earthworks, are other two processes where chemical quality of water isn’t much of a problem but availability on time & storage of this water are the issue. As well to store this recycled water & keep it away from human domestic use is another challenge at site which we need to take into consideration. And on the use front also on rainy days, even curing isn’t necessary for slabs & plaster, so in monsoons what we will be doing with excess recycled water is one more aspect we must take into account!

Let’s understand, whatever storage, pumping, transportation, we will be using for recycled water, it can’t be used for other purposes keeping in mind the health hazard aspect, means this all system must be constantly engaged & that much supply of recycled water we must assure if we want it sustainable. And if govt expects people (read as builders) to sacrifice themselves & use recycled water even if it's unsustainable, then it's not going to work, is a bitter fact! And for that the only solution (short term) is, PMC or the local body, first, must form a separate cell to take responsibility for recycled water as a whole. This cell will keep data, monitor it & handle the logistics of it along with quality assurance! At the same time, this cell will need funding as right from recycled water carrying tankers to drivers everything will have to be made available to this cell & then you can ask the developers to use the recycled water as unless we have a proper system of supply in place no developer go for it at the expense of his time lines & costing! And the long-term solution is, collect all the recycled water at a central place, treat it, store it & then distribute it as per demand from this central reservoir, which can be a manmade open lake also! To my knowledge Dubai & middle east countries where water is costlier than oil, they have separate collecting recycled water line net work just the way we have drainage lines & they refine it at central plant & again from separate water lines its supplied to the end users as per demand, this also can be a long-term solution but effective one & will need determination for implementation!

To conclude, all I will say, use of recycled water is not some rocket science; it needs 20% technology, 30% common sense & 50% a sincere will to use this water & I think we will have to work on later two aspects only, as there only lies the fate of the intent, adios with this note, & yes thanks a lot for the honour for giving me opportunity to be part of this noble cause!

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
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