Only 61 of an estimated 600 private sewage treatment plants in Hyderabad have registered with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), prompting the utility to set October 25 as the deadline for mandatory registration of the remaining facilities.
The requirement applies to sewage treatment plants operating in apartments, gated communities, commercial complexes, hotels, hospitals, educational institutions, industries and other private establishments, the water board said in a statement reported by Deccan Chronicle. Operators have been asked to provide details through the board’s online registration facility.
The registration process is intended to create a clearer account of the city’s privately operated wastewater treatment capacity. Applicants must submit details of their establishment, contact information, treatment capacity, daily wastewater treatment volumes and the way treated water is being used. They must also report whether surplus treated water is available.
The data will support the water board’s plan to promote the use of treated grey water for non-drinking purposes. According to officials, treated wastewater could be reused in construction, industrial operations, gardening and other activities that do not require potable water. The stated objective is to reduce pressure on drinking water resources during the coming summer.
The low level of registration means the water board currently has formal details for only a small fraction of the private sewage treatment plants it estimates are operating across these establishments. The figures also point to an administrative challenge: a large number of treatment facilities are located within privately managed premises rather than being directly operated by the public water utility.
For the HMWS&SB, registration is a way to collect information on how much wastewater is being treated, how much treated water is consumed on site and whether additional volumes can be made available for other non-potable uses. Without these details, the board has limited visibility over the city’s decentralised wastewater treatment network and the amount of water that could potentially be reused.
The initiative covers a broad range of urban properties, including residential communities and institutional and commercial buildings. Their treatment plants vary in capacity and daily wastewater output, making the information requested by the board relevant to assessing the scale and availability of treated water across Hyderabad.
The deadline comes as officials seek to reduce reliance on drinking water for activities such as construction and landscaping. The board has not provided, in the reported statement, details of penalties for facilities that fail to register by October 25. It has instead directed STP operators to complete the online process and submit the required operational information.
The next immediate milestone is the October 25 deadline, after which the HMWS&SB’s registration data will indicate how many of the estimated 600 private sewage treatment plants have entered the board’s records and how much treated wastewater is available for non-potable use.
