(a) the quantum of water used in industrial sector in the country in a year;
(b) whether water is likely to be preserved by rationalizing the use of water in industrial sector;
(c) if so, the details thereof and whether any assessment has been made by the Government in this regard; and
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the quantum of water estimated to be preserved every year including the steps taken/to be taken in this regard?
(a) The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD) in its Report (1999) has estimated that the annual water requirement for industries would be about 37 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) and 67 BCM for the years 2010 and 2025 respectively.
(b) to (d) A recent study undertaken by Confederation of Indian Industries – Triveni Water Institute (CII-TWI) for industries such as Integrated Steel Plants, Pulp & Paper, Agro based industries, Textiles, Thermal Power, Fertilizer and Sugar has shown immense potential for water savings. Their study indicates that around 10 BCM of fresh water can be saved each year by adopting measures such as improving Cycles of Concentration in Cooling systems, water pressure management, leak control, efficient fixtures and faucets, and rain water harvesting, wastewater recycling and reuse, measurement and controls through digital online instrumentation and proper landscaping.
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Central Water Commission and Central Ground Water Board have prepared the "General Guidelines for Water Audit & Water Conservation" in December, 2005 as conceptual guidelines to cover broadly three main sectors of water use viz. irrigation, domestic and industrial. The aims and objectives of these guidelines are to introduce, standardize and popularize the water audit system for conservation of water in all sectors of water use and improve the water use efficiency. These guidelines were circulated among all the State Governments for facilitating formulation of their own region specific, project specific, system specific and service specific guidelines. Central Water Commission has also prepared "Guidelines for Improving Water Use Efficiency in Irrigation, Domestic & Industrial Sectors", 2014.
The National Water Policy, 2012 (NWP) has recommended that industries in water short regions may be allowed to either withdraw only the makeup water or should have an obligation to return treated effluent to a specified standard back to the hydrologic system. Tendencies to unnecessarily use more water within the plant to avoid treatment or to pollute ground water need to be prevented. NWP also states that subsidies and incentives should be implemented to encourage recovery of industrial pollutants and recycling/reuse, which are otherwise capital intensive.
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