Urban India is increasingly waking up to a pressing reality — water stress is not a future threat; it’s a current crisis. At the heart of this challenge lies not just a scarcity of fresh water, but an under utilization of what’s already available: treated used water. At the round table organised by Oorvani Foundation on 16th May 2025, urban practitioners, technologists, and community leaders came together to discuss practical ways to scale the usage of treated water.
The panel had Shreya Nath, who leads the Urban Water Program at WELL Labs, E Nandakumar, CEO of the International Center for Clean Water at IIT Madras, Madhu Vanier, a resident and experimenter at a housing society in Mumbai, Satish Mallya, Vice President of Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF), Srinivasan Sekar, a former IT professional turned sustainability champion and Babu R, a long-time resident of T-Zed Homes.
Each member on the panel brought in the case studies, success stories and challenges from their experience. It was noted that 3,000 on-site STPs in the city treat about 20% of its sewage making Bengaluru a leader in decentralized sewage treatment. TZed homes in Bengaluru was considered as a success in implementing a closed loop water reuse system that treats sewage and uses it after tertiary treatment for RO and excess water going back for reuse was discussed at depth. Insights about how purpose-based treatment to the level needed for specific use can reduce cost and energy, segregation of grey and black water making it more efficient, the role of start-ups were among the topics analysed.
There was also a call for using the term treated used water rather than waste water to bring about a change in public perception and reduce psychological resistance to reuse. The panelists emphasised the need for a systemic support: standardization of STP technologies, clear quality norms based on end-use, better financing models, and most importantly, policy that enables the sale or transfer of excess treated water to neighboring users or for groundwater recharge.
Moderators Satarupa Bhattacharya and Sandhya Bhat summarised that the discussion that was aimed to gather key insights could inform a practical roadmap for residential societies and celebrating success stories could change the present narrative around treated water reuse.