Major National Water Treatment Schemes and Institutions in India

Water treatment in India involves a structured network of central schemes, specialized research bodies, statutory regulators, and targeted engineering missions. These frameworks address drinking water purification, sewage treatment, industrial effluent recycling, and the rejuvenation of polluted river basins. The Ministry of Jal Shakti acts as the nodal administrative authority, coordinating with state agencies and urban local bodies to implement these water quality interventions.

Key National Water Treatment and Supply Schemes

The central government operates dedicated missions to provide potable piped water, treat domestic sewage, and establish decentralized water purification infrastructure across rural and urban landscapes.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

• Launched in August 2019 under the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) delivering 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of potable water to every rural home.
• Implements the Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance (WQMIS) framework, using field test kits (FTKs) and accredited laboratories for water sampling.
• Mandates community-level water quality testing with five women trained in every village to use field testing kits.
• Uses the JJM Dashboard and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors for real-time tracking of water supply quantity and quality.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

• Launched in June 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to cover 500 select cities.
• AMRUT 2.0, launched in October 2021, aims to provide universal tap water coverage to all statutory towns and 100% sewage and septage management across 500 AMRUT cities.
• Focuses on building centralized Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and modernizing water treatment plants (WTPs).
• Promotes circular economy models by mandating that treated used water meet at least 20% of total urban water demand and 40% of industrial water demand.

Namami Gange Programme (National Mission for Clean Ganga)

• Approved as a flagship programme in June 2014 with an initial outlay of Rs 20,000 crore under the National Ganga River Basin Authority framework.
• Focuses on creating sewage treatment capacity along the main stem of the Ganga and its tributaries like Yamuna, Kali, and Ramganga.
• Uses the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) for STP development, where the government pays 40% of capital costs during construction and the remaining 60% as annuities over 15 years linked to asset performance.
• Integrates real-time Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) across Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) discharging into the river.

Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U) and ODF+ / ODF++ Protocols

• SBM-U 2.0 focuses on complete wastewater and faecal sludge treatment before discharge into the environment.
• The ODF+ certification requires complete maintenance of public toilets and containment systems.
• The ODF++ certification requires 100% safe containment, transport, and treatment of sewage and septage without raw discharges into water bodies.
• The Water+ certification requires that all treated wastewater be safely returned to the environment or reused for non-potable purposes.

Key Institutions Regulating and Researching Water Treatment

India maintains specialized statutory, autonomous, and scientific institutions to set water quality standards, guide policy, and develop indigenized treatment technologies.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and SPCBs

• Established under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• Sets national standards for industrial effluent discharge and municipal sewage disposal.
• Operates the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWQMP) across rivers, lakes, ponds, and groundwater stations.
• Identifies polluted river stretches across India and categorizes them into five priority classes based on Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels.

National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD)

• Functions under the Ministry of Jal Shakti to implement the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA).
• Provides financial and technical assistance to state governments for setting up interception and diversion (I&D) networks and STPs in non-Ganga river basins.

CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI)

• Headquartered in Nagpur, Maharashtra, working under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
• Develops indigenous water purification systems like NEERI-ZAR (portable instant water filter) and Chemo-Defluoridation plants.
• Pioneers Phytorid technology, a subsurface constructed wetland system that treats wastewater through natural wetland plants without electrical power.

National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)

• An autonomous research body established in 1978 in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Conducts applied research on hydrological cycles, groundwater contamination, and river basin modeling.
• Operates specialized regional centres in Belagavi, Jammu, Kakinada, Sagar, and Guwahati.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) – Water Technology Division

• Develops advanced membrane filtration technologies for rural and disaster-hit areas.
• Engineered Thin Film Composite (TFC) Reverse Osmosis membranes for brackish water desalination.
• Designed ultrafiltration membrane plants capable of operating on low pressure to remove microbial pathogens without electricity.

Standard Treatment Technologies Deployed in India

National schemes deploy primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment methods based on pollution loads and end-use targets.

Activated Sludge Process (ASP) and SBR

• ASP uses suspended-growth aerobic biomass to digest organic carbon in sewage.
• Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) is a modified activated sludge system where equalization, aeration, and sedimentation occur in a single batch reactor in timed cycles.
• SBR systems are widely used in urban schemes due to their smaller land requirement and higher nitrogen-phosphorus removal efficiency.

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) and MBR

• MBBR uses thousands of submerged plastic carriers moving within aerated basins to support high-density biological growth.
• Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) combines conventional biological treatment with microfiltration or ultrafiltration membranes, producing high-clarity effluent ready for industrial reuse.

Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Systems

• Mandated by CPCB for heavily polluting industrial sectors like distilleries, pulp and paper, tanneries, and textile dyeing units.
• Combines reverse osmosis, multi-effect evaporators (MEE), and crystallizers to recover 95% or more water, leaving dry solid waste.

Facts on Water Treatment and Infrastructure

• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifies drinking water quality requirements under IS 10500:2012.
• IS 10500:2012 sets the acceptable limit for total dissolved solids (TDS) in drinking water at 500 mg/L, with a permissible limit of 2,000 mg/L in the absence of an alternate source.
• Under CPCB standards, Priority 1 polluted river stretches are those with a BOD value exceeding 30 mg/L.
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act was enacted in 1977 but was abolished after the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017.
• Phytorid technology developed by CSIR-NEERI relies on gravel beds and wetland plants like Typha latifolia and Phragmites karka to digest organic contaminants.
• India operates the world’s highest altitude reverse osmosis water purification units in Ladakh, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The first major river cleaning project in India was the Ganga Action Plan (GAP), launched in 1985 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
• National Water Mission is one of the eight core missions launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), targeting a 20% improvement in water use efficiency.
• Surat Municipal Corporation became the first urban body in India to generate substantial industrial revenue by selling tertiary-treated sewage water to textile industrial clusters.
• Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) regulates groundwater abstraction and mandates artificial recharge systems under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.