Towards Circularity in Wastewater Management in India : Mainstreaming Reuse for its Economic and Market Potential

Per capita renewable freshwater resources have been diminishing steadily over the years across the globe. India is no exception to the issue of water scarcity, with the problem being more severe in rapidly developing urban areas, where there is increasing pressure on existing freshwater resources to meet the growing water demand. In such typologies, the reuse of treated wastewater is one intervention that has the potential to address the demand–supply gap and improve the water environment if managed properly. This paper makes a case for mainstreaming domestic wastewater treatment and its reuse for non-potable purposes in India by estimating the economic and market potential of the reuse at the national scale. As per the estimates, about INR 966 billion worth of revenue would have been generated by using treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigating crops in suburban areas in 2021. The reductions in fertiliser use, on account of the nutrient content of TWW, and carbon emissions, due to less withdrawal of groundwater, would have been 6000 tonnes and 1.3 million tonnes, respectively. The overall market value TWW was INR 630 million in 2021, which will substantially increase to over INR 1.9 billion by 2050 at the current market rate. To realise this potential, it is important to strengthen the existing governance on reuse, which would also enable a circular economy approach to wastewater management in India