Page 327 - Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and Reuse

300 Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling, and Reuse

The consumers are charged at a rate of per kiloliter of water consumed.
This rate varies depending on the pricing structure in each city.
(2) Cost of maintenance of sewerage services: In most cities around the
world, water boards are also responsible for maintaining the sewerage
system and consumers are charged for this service. In Hyderabad,
nearly 35% of the water supply charge is charged as sewage cess. Sim-
ilarly, in New Delhi, 50% of water supply charge is charged as
sewage cess.
(3) Cost of treatment of sewage water or wastewater discharged by house-
holds and industries: Urban consumers in Indian cities are not charged
for treatment of sewage. However, most of the developed countries
have introduced the “polluter pays principle” for the amount of water
pollution load discharged by companies. Wastewater treatment charges
are fully recovered from urban consumers of water.
(4) Service charge: In India, in most cities, a minimum service charge is
included in the water bill. In India water is a highly subsidized com-
modity, leading to market inefficiencies and hence the inefficient
use of the already scarce resource. The water subsidy in the urban areas
has important consequences for the poor and the environment. The
urban water authorities, usually known as Water Supply and Sewerage
Boards, are responsible for the city’s water supply and sewage services.
Since urban water is subsidized, these institutions constantly incur
losses and lack funds to invest in repairs and maintenance of existing
water supply infrastructure, wastewater treatment, and expansion of
their services. Another important consequence of urban water subsi-
dies is that the urban water consumers and polluters are not charged
for sewage treatment; hence, in most developing countries, only
20–30% of wastewater is treated to the secondary level. It is also seen
that the average cost incurred by the water boards to supply water in
3
most metropolitan cities ranges from Rs. 10 to 35 per m and the price
3
charged to urban domestic consumers ranges from Rs. 6 to 36 per m
depending on the volume consumed. The price for non-domestic
3
consumers varies from Rs. 20 to 100 per m depending on the volume
consumed and the type of industry.

7.3 URBAN SEWAGE TREATMENT OPTIONS
Based on the information available, an analysis of various treatment technol-
ogies employed in different STPs is presented in Tables 7.7 and 7.8, respec-
tively, for Class I and II towns. The following are vital issues: