Hyderabad treated water rule from 1 November: parks, road cleaning and government offices must switch, all sewage plants to run at full capacity

From 1 November, water from sewage treatment plants must replace fresh water for every non-drinking use across Greater Hyderabad. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy gave the order at a review of the city’s water supply and treatment plants on Wednesday, 28 October, citing the El Niño effect and a severe shortfall in rain.

Lawns and greenery at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister’s office, the Outer Ring Road, Metro Rail and other government offices are to be watered with treated water, and the same water is to be used for public parks and road cleaning. The Chief Minister also asked officials to supply treated water to data centres and to encourage private sewage treatment plants, and he said the existing rule that building construction must use only treated water should be strictly enforced.

Plants at full capacity, tankers tracked

Every sewage treatment plant in the Core Urban Region is to run at 100 per cent capacity, with no compromise on the quality of water it releases. A special officer will be posted at each plant, and all plants will be linked to the Command Control Centre for round-the-clock monitoring. Tankers carrying treated water will be tracked, a special toll-free number will be set up for treated water, and REDCO has been asked to study running the plants on solar power.

The Chief Minister told officials that drinking water must not run short anywhere in the city and asked them to keep a constant watch on reservoir levels. The order comes days after the Water Board moved much of the city to supply once every three days, with tanker bookings running at about 8,000 a day.