Mumbai Metropolitan Region is to construct a creek water desalination pilot project as part of moves to help reduce dependence on dams, reports Times of India.
The 20,000 m3/d reverse osmosis facility will desalinate brackish water from Vasai Creek, and brine from the facility will be mixed with outflows from Kopri sewage treatment plant before flowing back into the waterway.
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has issued a working order for the project, which will be structured as a public-private partnership costing INR 320 million ($5 million) a year, excluding energy bills. It has earmarked a two-acre site for the plant near Retibunder in Kalwa, on the outskirts of Mumbai, and will lay pipes to Kalwa and Diva.
Thane municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal told Times of India that he had been convinced of the potential of desalination during a trip to Israel in 2017.
Meanwhile, work has started on a 200,000 m3/d desalination plant at Nagla, on the Mumbai-Thane border.