“WQIA committed to enhance water quality”

May 18, 2016 11:18 am

 In India, more than 100 million people dwell in areas of poor water quality. Rajul Parikh, Director of Alfaa UV and President at Water Quality India Association observes that at present industries are not sufficiently treating their waste water or industrial effluents before discharge. Edited excerpt from her Q&A with OEM Update:
In India, both groundwater and surface water are often contaminated beyond permissible limits. Being the President of Water Quality India Association, what’s your commitment to the water being polluted through industrial activities?Water Quality India Association (WQIA) is dedicated to improving the quality of drinking water in India through household and commercial drinking water systems. The objective is to raise awareness about drinking water quality and to raise standards of the industry by education, training and certification of products. Water polluted by industrial activity is not directly within the scope of WQIA.
Where does the Indian industry stand in terms of maintaining water quality post usages?At present industries are not sufficiently treating their wastewater or industrial effluents before discharge. In fact, the percentage of wastewater from industries which is treated is relatively low. This water is discharged into water bodies or into the ground and pollutes the ground water with micro-organisms and chemical pollutants.
What are the technologies available to facilitate industrial wastewater treatment? Primary and secondary treatment technologies are available to reduce TSS, BOD and COD in wastewater. For tertiary treatment and disinfection, chlorine or UV is used.
How has Indian industry geared up to embrace such technologies?While primary and secondary treatments are being done, tertiary treatment is relatively untapped, primarily because of insufficient norms which were prevalent and lax implementation of these norms. With water shortages becoming the order of the day, the need to reuse wastewater is gaining acceptance. New guidelines on tertiary treatment for reuse have been declared. The possibility of greater acceptance of reuse of wastewater is becoming a reality, and under these circumstances it is imperative that the water is disinfected. If not, it can lead to serious public health issues.  Brief us about the innovative technologies Alfaa UV offers.Alfaa UV is the leader in UV and its applications for water and air disinfection. Drinking water, water used in process, and wastewater can all be disinfected using UV technology. UV is a green, chemical free technology without any environmental side effects unlike chlorine, which is the traditional choice. Wastewater treated with UV can be used for non-potable applications such as gardening, irrigation and flushing, where human contact is a possibility. Experiments in Singapore and California have proved that with proper treatment and disinfection, wastewater can become of potable quality, safe for human consumption.
———————“Percentage of wastewater from industries which is treated is relatively low,” says Rajul Parikh, President, Water Quality India Association
Rajul Parikh, President, Water Quality India Association