Delhi's New Water Plant Tackles Yamuna Pollution Head-On

Delhi's new Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant is slated to become fully operational by September, with trial runs commencing next month. This 105-million-gallons-per-day facility is designed to combat recurring ammonia pollution in the Yamuna River, a frequent cause of water supply disruptions. The plant utilizes advanced technologies like ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration, enabling it to treat raw water with ammonia levels up to 5 parts per million. This is a substantial upgrade from the previous system, which could only handle up to 1 ppm, beyond which the formation of toxic compounds necessitated supply interruptions.

The new plant will replace two older treatment units at Chandrawal, operational since 1935 and 1955, which have been prone to breakdowns. These aging units have a combined capacity of 90 MGD, whereas the new plant will increase this to 105 MGD. Despite this upgrade, Delhi still faces an estimated daily water demand-supply gap of 250 MGD. The city is planning three additional water treatment plants to address this deficit, though a new facility in Dwarka Phase II remains idle due to a lack of assured raw water sources from Haryana.