A city can be termed as 'smart city' only when there is smart water management.

Rajneesh Chopra

- Global Head, VA Tech Wabag

WABAG, through its sustainable water solutions, has been helping several cities in their efforts to transform into smart cities, says Rajneesh Chopra, Global Head, VA Tech Wabag. Excerpts from the interview.

The recent budget focuses on Swacch Bharat Swastha Bharat. How do you evaluate the opportunity in this backdrop?

The union budget's focus on ensuring a Swacch & Swastha Bharat highlights the fact that the entire water and sanitation sector in India has assumed an increased importance, especially post-Covid.  The government's ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission, under which it plans to provide Nal se Jal, has been granted a massive outlay of Rs 2.87 lakh crore; Namami Gange has been granted an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore and Swach Bharat Mission (Urban) has been granted an outlay of Rs 1.41 lakh, over the next 5 years.  These initiatives will open up huge avenues for resource augmentation through water recycle, reuse and desalination and pollution abatement, wherein technology players like Wabag will have a crucial role to play by partnering with the centre, states and ULBs to ensure successful realization of the missions.

How will these initiatives help in achieving the smart cities mission programme?

A smart city is not just about IoT, internet connectivity, urban mobility or façade development. A city can be termed as a 'Smart City' only when there is smart water management, which is based on a circular economy principle. This includes 24×7 water supply, reduction of non-revenue water (NRW) using GIS mapping and leak detection and 100% water recycling and reuse, wherein the wastewater should be considered as a resource rather than a liability. The treatment of wastewater should be based on resource recovery concept, where the wastewater is treated and reused, resulting sludge is treated to utilize biogas for generating green energy and digested sludge packed to be used as manure. Hence, we believe that a city is transformed to a 'Smart City' in the true sense when integrated smart water and wastewater management based on a circular economy is incorporated.

Could you brief us on any of your prestigious project undertaken for smart city development?

Wabag, through its sustainable water solutions, has been helping several cities in their efforts to transform into a smart city. In Varanasi, we have designed, built and are currently operating a 140 MLD WWTP, which is based on the resource recovery model, in which the biogas generated from sludge treatment is utilized to generate green energy which in turn powers the plant. In the city of Chennai, Wabag set the benchmark more than a decade ago, for the model to be adopted by the current smart cities, through its Kodungaiyur WWTP. The plant utilizes the sludge generated to produce bio-gas, which in turn is used to produce green energy to power the plant, thus rendering it Power Neutral, i.e., independent of grid power. Our Nemmeli SWRO plant in Chennai desalinates the seawater to produce clean drinking water for over 1 million residents. The globally acclaimed Koyambedu TTRO marks a decisive step in municipal - industrial partnerships, with the treated water from the plant being sold to the industrial clusters, thereby ensuring industrial water security as well as demonstrating a robust revenue generation model for the ULBs. Apart from these, through our projects spread across various cities like Bangalore, Bhubaneswar etc., Wabag has played a key role in demonstrating sustainable integrated water & wastewater management, helping the cities become 'Smart' in the true sense.

How have you been able leverage the benefits of IoT / ICT and digital platforms in your projects?

With respect to digitization, our investment made six years ago through our Network Operation Control (NOC) reaped rewards, as we are able to monitor and support our plants remotely through our NOC room in our global HQ. Also, most of our plants are equipped with SCADA - DCS monitoring, which also can be customized as per project size, level of monitoring etc. Real-time Monitoring System (RMS) is another emerging trend for monitoring wastewater projects. The RMS automatically transmits critical parameters such as inlet flow, peakvolume, treated effluent flow etc. to a dedicated master control room, providing ease in monitoring and assuring proper functioning of the plant at all times. Further, we are actively exploring incorporation of IoT, ICT and AI in our projects for data analysis and automation, which will ensure manpower optimization, lower specific power requirement and virtual working.

What is your current order book and how do you see FY 21-22 in terms of order intake and which are the areas that you are looking at?

Our order book currently stands Rs 10,700 crore including framework orders. Going forward, in FY21-22, we foresee the tenders delayed owing to Covid pandemic to gain traction, and we hope to be able to capture the projects which suit our business interest. As we have reiterated, Wabag, being a technology leader, would like to focus on high-technology projects which will help us improve our margins as well. To sum up, we definitely expect our order book in FY21-22 to be stronger than the present fiscal year, and Wabag will look forward to continue its growth story.

CHALLENGES

When it comes to smart cities, especially for the water & sanitation sector, there are a few concerns, which if addressed promptly, will not only aid the cities, but will also have a positive impact in macro terms:

- Presently, the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) levels in country are well above 50%, which incurs a significant loss to both the utilities in terms of revenue, as well as to the consumer in terms of reduced supply. To address this, 24×7 water supply should be mandated with focus on NRW reduction through GIS mapping and leak detection to ensure sustainable water supply

- Most of our surface water bodies are highly polluted, and a large contributor to it is the discharge of untreated sewage. In India, only 37 per cent of the total sewage generated is treated. To address this issue and ensure a circular economy, 100 per cent water recycling should be mandated, requiring a minimum 80% recovery rate. The recycled water can be used for industrial, agriculture, horticulture and aquifer recharge

- By promoting municipal - industrial partnerships, a robust revenue generation model can be established by sale of treated water, which assures attractive payback on the capex for ULBs

- Through use of digitization, AI and automation, the plant performance can be enhanced, while ensuring manpower optimization, lesser chemical consumption and low specific power requirement

- For cities which are at far from the surface water sources, the water is usually transported via a dedicated pipeline over long distances, which involves sizeable capital & also poses a risk of transmission losses. Alternatively, for the cities located on & around the coastline, desalination can be adopted as an affordable, reliable & sustainable source of water supply.

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