Hyderabad’s water board will launch a “Dial-a-Green Tanker” service on 1 November, supplying treated sewage water to builders, industries, parks and green belts through a digital booking platform. The aim is to keep the city’s shrinking freshwater reserves for drinking through eight dry months before the next monsoon. The plan is promising, but its volumes, prices and quality checks have not yet been fully set out.
Hyderabad has spent a fortnight confronting summer-like water stress in October. Tanker bookings have more than tripled, borewells have dried up in the IT corridors, and the Singur and Manjira reservoirs are falling. On Friday 16 October, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) announced a new approach: stop using drinking water for jobs that do not need it.
From 1 November, construction companies, industries, parks, landscaping and other non-potable users will be able to order treated sewage water by tanker through a service called “Dial-a-Green Tanker”, Telangana Today reported (16 October, 20:39 IST). Siasat (17 October, 00:47 IST) described a supporting digital system, the “Green Water Tanker” platform, which will register sewage treatment plant (STP) operators, tanker owners, builders and industries. It will match each order to the nearest plant with water and a tanker available, and allow online booking and tracking.
Why the board is acting now
HMWSSB Managing Director K. Ashok Reddy cited reduced rainfall, declining groundwater and pressure on reserves. These concerns follow from the El Niño-driven monsoon failure that Telangana’s government has described as a natural disaster. Officials said the move follows the Chief Minister’s direction to prevent a drinking-water shortage in the eight months before the next monsoon.
The scale of demand explains the urgency. NSH reported on 16 October that HMWSSB had logged 62,565 tanker bookings in October, against 18,806 a year earlier, as more than 20,000 borewells ran dry. Construction is a large and visible user of water. Concrete curing, dust suppression and site work use substantial volumes, and in a growing city much of that water comes from borewells or freshwater tankers.
What has been agreed
The board met the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and the Telangana Builders Federation. Siasat reports that the builders assured full cooperation.
According to Siasat, 51 private STPs in gated communities and apartment complexes have registered so far, with a preliminary estimate of about 1.5 million litres a day (MLD) of surplus treated water. The platform is expected to be ready within a week to ten days. Prices have not been fixed; a structure based on volume, distance and tanker capacity is under consideration. Ashok Reddy said treated water would meet quality norms and that action would be taken against violators.
The two reports differ on the target. Telangana Today says the initial goal is to raise daily treated-water use to 500 MLD. Siasat reports 100 MLD in the first phase. The figures may describe different horizons, but neither outlet makes that clear. NSH reports both and treats neither as settled.
The science of reuse
Sewage treatment typically runs in stages:
- Primary treatment settles out solids.
- Secondary treatment uses microbes, usually in aerated tanks, to break down dissolved organic matter.
- Tertiary treatment adds filtration, nutrient removal and disinfection.
The quality of treated water is judged on measures such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus and faecal coliform bacteria.
Different uses need different quality. Water for flushing toilets, curing concrete or watering road medians can be safely supplied at a lower standard than water for drinking or for irrigating vegetables eaten raw. The main risks lie in pathogens, if disinfection fails; in salts and chemicals, which matter for some industrial processes; and in cross-connection, where non-potable water accidentally enters drinking-water pipes. Tankers that carry treated water must therefore be clearly marked and kept separate from those carrying drinking water.
The figures of 51 STPs and 1.5 MLD deserve attention. Small decentralised STPs in apartment complexes vary widely in design and maintenance, and their output quality can be inconsistent. A matching platform that draws on many small plants will need routine testing at the point of supply, not only at the plant, if users are to trust the water. HMWSSB has not yet said how testing will be done or published.
Lessons from other cities
Treated-wastewater reuse is not new in India. Chennai has operated tertiary treatment plants to supply industry, and Bengaluru has piped treated wastewater to fill tanks in drier neighbouring districts. Several states have adopted policies on reuse. A common lesson is that supply alone is not enough. Reuse grows where it is cheaper and more reliable than the alternative, where quality is monitored openly, and where large users are required or encouraged to switch.
That points to the key test for Hyderabad. If treated water by tanker costs more than illegal borewell water or freshwater tankers, builders will have little reason to change. Conversely, combining an attractive price with enforcement against freshwater use on construction sites could shift demand quickly.
Limits and open questions
The announcement leaves several matters unresolved:
- The price
- The quality standard and how it will be checked
- Whether HMWSSB’s own large STPs, as well as private ones, will supply water
- How many tankers will be available
- Whether construction sites will be required, rather than invited, to use treated water
Supplying non-potable demand will not by itself fill the reservoirs. It can, however, slow the rate at which freshwater is drawn down, which matters in a year when the next monsoon is eight months away.
Why it matters beyond the drought
Climate projections suggest more variable monsoons in the decades ahead. Cities that treat wastewater as a resource, rather than as something to discharge, will be better placed to withstand dry years. Hyderabad’s scheme began as an emergency measure, but it could become the basis of a permanent second water supply for the city.
