Bengaluru, the city of lakes with plenty of rains for more than half the year, has been facing severe water scarcity in recent years. However, a few innovative solutions, especially treating and using quality treated water have emerged. They have the potential for easing the water situation in the city considerably in the coming years.
The city currently needs about 2,632 MLD (million litres per day) of fresh water. The Cauvery caters to about half of the city’s freshwater demand, and groundwater makes up for the other half. About 1940 MLD of sewage is generated daily in Bengaluru and there are over 3,500 apartments and commercial establishments running decentralised STPs (sewage treatment plants.) Currently, the wastewater treated by STPs is of low quality, and mostly unusable beyond flushing and gardening.
This is where Boson Whitewater comes in. They treat this excess STP water at source, converting it to potable-quality water. This water can become a significant source of water to the city. Boson Whitewater is on a mission to Create a Decentralized Wastewater Recovery Infrastructure for India. It is India’s 1st company to create a proven, viable and sustainable circular economy in wastewater solutions.
The Boson Whitewater system uses a patented 11-stage treatment process where each stage removes different contaminants, and the resulting water is said to meet the standards of potability. The system has IOT sensors to monitor the quality and quantity of water. Boson currently sells 10 lakh litres of water per day. So far, according to Vikas, it has saved 945 million litres from getting wasted.
Boson is looking to expand to other cities as well over the next few years. It has done pilots in Pune, Chennai and Coimbatore. Says Vikas Brahmwar, the founder of Boson Whitewater: “The only way for cities of our country to become sustainable is to recover and reuse water.”
If nearly 40 STPs operated by the government are run optimally and produce quality water, a lot of Bengaluru’s water problem can be addressed. The water from government-run STPs are currently used to fill lakes and recharge borewells.
Swimming pools and laundries in Bengaluru and a few other cities like Chennai and Pune where Boson Whitewater started operating in the last couple years can soon have easy access to treated water. This will help several pools to operate throughout the year with better quality water than hard borewell water from tankers. A few swimming pools and laundries have already started using treated water and have reported excellent results. If marriage halls and hotels switch to treated water, pressure on fresh water supply will ease significantly. It could prevent expensive projects that draw water from faraway rivers.
Apartments can have year-long water security
All apartment complexes with 130 plus apartments are now mandated to set up sewage treatment plants. Boson Whitewater sets up an advanced Water Reclamation System from existing STP treated water. It sets up the system at no cost to apartments, malls or IT parks. In fact, they get rent for the space and the power cost is reimbursed. These plants are set up on lease and the cost of lease, Vikas says, turns out to be lesser than cost of water when purchased from tankers.
Apartments have excess water after using the recycled water from their in-house STP for flushing and for gardening. On an average 70% of water from STP is wasted. Legally most apartments are not supposed to pour this water into drains. Many apartments are even paying about Rs. 2,000 to tankers to dispose of this water.
Typically, a 250-unit apartment complex spends close to Rs. 2 lakhs a year if they comply with the norms for disposing of their excess STP water. With Boson Whitewater they save the entire cost, they also get a rent for housing the STP plant in their premises; they become legally compliant and can have infrastructure that ensures water security throughout the year.
When the proposed water exchange plan takes off, they can sell excess water to other smaller apartment blocks and to hotels and other establishments. Excess treated water is being used to refill lakes and recharge borewells. This needs to be scaled up significantly.
Financial Innovation
Boson is experimenting with two crowd-sourcing projects. They crowd-sourced funds for the STP project. They act as a financing company for Boson. They offer capital at modest interest rates from which the STP is financed.
How much is BBMP charging for water supply in Bangalore?
BWSSB is charging for Cauvery water 0.7 paise per litre to 9 paise per litre plus sanitary charges. The rates are going up each year. And the water supply is erratic. While Boson cannot compete on price for some time, it will become competitive once it is able to bring down its current rate of Rs. 2400 per tanker of 12,000 litres by 30%. While its current price works out to Rs. 5 a litre, the overall benefits to the entire water ecosystem of the city are immense.
How does Boson’s rate work out for industries
Even at Rs.2400 a tanker the cost works out for industries as they buy a normal tanker for Rs. 1200-1400 a tanker and spend almost the same amount for processing it before use.
Vikas says that despite immense opportunity, Boson is not tempted to spread itself thin. It is using investment of Rs. 10 crores from Rainmatter in August 2024 for growing its capital system installations.
Ordering treated water from an app
This is possible when Boson has excess water from various apartments. It can use aggregator technology, like Uber and Ola, for forecasting demand and supply and cater to whoever needs it in real time. This is easily three to five years away. It will help the city if more players enter the market and make water scarcity a thing of the past.
Bengaluru is blessed with plenty of water. What it needs is better management of freshwater and treated water.
Boson Whitewater at Pramuk Apartment Converting Sewage Water to Potable Water.
https://youtu.be/bKk2q-UL_5U?si=njEr8h2IzB6W9tif
