In India’s fast-growing cities, water that goes down the drain no longer has to be the end of the story. A growing number of urban local bodies now treat used water as something to be recovered, cleaned and put back to work, instead of simply discharged. Five cities, Jaipur, Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai and Tirupati, show how that shift looks on the ground.
The Policy Push Behind Water Reuse
The change is being driven by the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), under which Used Water Management (UWM) has become a core approach. Its aims are to treat wastewater, keep untreated sewage out of water bodies and make the safe reuse of treated water possible.
Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) sit at the centre of this effort. Treated water from these plants can supply agriculture, industry, horticulture and urban services, reducing pressure on natural water sources.
Two frameworks back the approach:
- Water Plus certification gives cities guidelines for managing wastewater from households and commercial establishments, and requires it to meet prescribed treatment standards before release into the environment.
- ODF++ protocols assess whether the whole sanitation chain, including faecal sludge and septage, is managed and treated safely.
Cities are also being encouraged to draw up long-term, city-level reuse plans with clear responsibilities and better technologies. Under SBM 2.0, projects worth ₹11,785 crore have been approved for sewage treatment plants in small cities. They are expected to add 4,900 million litres per day (MLD) of treatment capacity.
Where Treated Water Is Being Used?
Across these cities, treated wastewater is going to irrigation, horticulture, industrial processes, road cleaning and lake rejuvenation. The models differ from city to city, shaped by local infrastructure and water needs.
Jaipur: A 215 MLD Plant
The Dehlawas STP, built between 2020 and 2023 on 22.50 hectares, has a capacity of 215 MLD, the highest of any sewage treatment plant in Rajasthan. It is fully automated through a SCADA system and uses the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process.
Wastewater passes through a Parshall flume, a primary clarifier and a treatment basin before reaching a chlorine tank. Solids are separated using primary sludge thickeners and screw press machines.
Treated water is reused for irrigation and industrial processes, and some is supplied to a nearby colony for gardening and similar uses. The rest is discharged into the Dravyavati River, with measures in place to keep untreated wastewater out of it. The site also has a green area with more than 30,000 plants.
Indore: Keeping Untreated Water Out of the Environment
Indore began with a simple goal: stop untreated wastewater from reaching the environment. It became the first city to receive Water Plus certification, and its model has since influenced smaller cities. The city reports that no untreated wastewater now flows through its rivers or its natural and man-made stormwater drains.
By 2020, Indore had set up seven decentralised STPs in addition to three existing centralised ones, and had laid more than 200 kilometres of piped network to carry treated wastewater.
Water conservation went hand in hand with treatment. In 2022, more than 1.25 lakh rainwater harvesting units were installed across residential and non-residential properties in just four months. Treated water now feeds water gardens, roadside plantations and horticulture, and is used to wash roads and clean sewer machines. Indore’s experience shows wastewater management working as part of wider urban water conservation, not as a stand-alone sanitation task.
Surat: Wastewater With Economic Value
The Surat Municipal Corporation runs four tertiary treatment plants with a combined installed capacity of 116 MLD. Their output reduces the city’s dependence on freshwater by supplying treated water for non-potable uses, including industry, lake rejuvenation, agriculture, mass plantation and sewer cleaning. Delivery is through dedicated service lines and tanker filling stations.
Surat also invests in upkeep, operating 170 sewer-cleaning machines, some of which use advanced robotic technology. In effect, treated wastewater has become part of the city’s utility network.
Navi Mumbai: Reuse in Everyday Services
Navi Mumbai is the only city in Maharashtra to hold both a five-star rating and Water Plus certification. Its STPs have been upgraded to serve a population of 30 lakh, and pumping stations have been modernised to cut energy costs.
The city has achieved 100 per cent mechanised cleaning of sewer lines and septic tanks, and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation monitors septic tanks centrally through Level Transmitters installed across the city.
More than 30 per cent of its treated water is reused in over 30 city gardens. It is also used to wash solid-waste vehicles, compactors and city buses, and for sprinklers and road dividers, which lowers freshwater demand for routine municipal work.
Tirupati: Treated Water as a Revenue Source
Tirupati, also declared Water Plus, runs a ₹19 crore STP at Thukivakam with an installed capacity of 50 MLD, serving 1,04,057 households.
Of the treated water, 24 MLD is reused. The plant sells 5 MLD to Srikalahasthi Pipes Ltd., earning a net ₹6 lakh a month, and supplies another 18 MLD free of cost to farmers. The urban local body also uses treated water for road and street cleaning and for watering medians, parks and gardens. Combining commercial sales, farm use and municipal applications is meant to make running the plant more financially sustainable.
What These Cases Show?
For decades, wastewater management meant collecting sewage, treating it and preventing pollution. These cities add a second goal: recovering the water and returning it to productive use.
That also changes the economics. Treatment plants become sources of reusable water, and cities can rely less on freshwater for jobs that do not need drinking-quality supply. SBM-U and SBM 2.0, along with Water Plus certification and ODF++ protocols, are building the institutional framework for this shift.
As cities grow and freshwater comes under more strain, the lesson from these examples is that used water does not have to become waste. It can be collected, treated and given a second life, which makes urban sanitation cleaner, more resource-efficient and more circular.
