Railways to start water recycle project

Manish Umbrajkar

Article courtesy: The Times Of India

PUNE: With an aim to conserve water, the Pune division of the Central Railways has decided to implement a water recycling project at its coach maintenance complex in Ghorpadi. The project will have a capacity to treat 5,000 litres of water per hour, railway officials said. It will be implemented at a cost of over Rs 36 lakh on turn-key basis. According to railway officials, the project will be commissioned by December.

The railways have stipulated the standards for recycled water. The recycled water will be tested in laboratories every month. The private firm which will undertake the project will have to operate it successfully for the first three months. The maintenance and operation period could be extended to one year, said the railway authorities.

The coach maintenance complex, which was augmented last year with three new pit lines and three stabling lines, has the facility for washing and maintaining trains with upto 26 coaches. More than 15 trains are cleaned and maintained on a day-to-day basis here. According to the railway authorities, the complex discharges about 5,000 litres of water per hour. Now, with his new project, this waste water will be recycled and reused.

While the railways will construct the waste water collection sump of one lakh litres capacity, the implementing agency will complete all the civil works, including underground oil and grease chamber with collection tank, aeration tank, secondary settling tank, intermediate storage tank, sludge drying beds, treated water storage tank, and a control room. The firm will also have to provide monitoring facilities as well as develop a lawn to keep the environment clean.