What water challenges does India face?

“India is home to 16% of the global population but only has 4% of global fresh waters, while discharge of untreated wastewater has resulted in contamination of 75 % of all surface water bodies in India,” explains PAVITRA GANGA project coordinator Paul Campling. “At the same time, the demand for water resources in a rapidly growing population and transitioning economy is projected to increase dramatically.”

To tackle this enormous challenge, says Campling, it will require a move away from today’s linear ‘take-use-waste’ approach towards more circular water management initiatives. “One of the measures to reduce pressures on freshwater resources is to use (un)treated wastewater for irrigation, but we have to make the water reuse safe and sustainable,” he adds.

PAVITRA GANGA wants to contribute to this challenge by demonstrating innovative approaches to treat wastewater for water reuse and resource recovery at two demonstration sites: in New Delhi and in Kanpur. The project brings together partners and collaborators from Europe and India: universities and research institutes, SMEs, industrial players, NGOs and water utilities.