The Okhla Treatment Plant treats water sourced from the Munak Canal, providing an average 20 million gallons per day (MGD) of the 900 MGD supplied to Delhi. The Dehli Jal Board which manages the facility owns the second largest amount of land in Delhi, demonstrating the resource-heavy operation of supplying water to the city’s 33 million residents. I visited three different facilities in the Okhla area, including a bottling plant, a sewage treatment plant, and a water treatment plant. Currently, the DJB is leading an expansion of its facilities, building another sewage treatment plant that is set to become the largest treatment plant in the country and increase the DJB’s capacity to clean the Yamuna.
On Friday, March 10th, 2023, I visited three adjacent water treatment facilities, and knowledgeable staff members of the Delhi Jal Board showed me around. In addition to learning about the processes required to clean, treat, and distribute water, one of the biggest takeaways was how wonderful the people working there were. Everyone I met had immense pride in the work they are doing and in the service they provide our city. As they talked with me, it was evident how passionate they are about their work.
I’m going to take you on a mini tour of the three sites I visited, starting with the water bottling plant. Water bottling is a relatively new service offered by the DJB. Here they filter, test, and package large 20L bottles of water. These bottles are typically the ones you might see attached to water coolers. The water bottled here comes from the Ganga river, and after processing, is available to Delhi residents at a subsidized rate at distribution locations around the city. The facility is impressively maintained and processes 9,000 bottles daily, from cleaning a used bottle to sealing and labeling each bottle.
After we are done with the water we use, it goes into the sewage system where it needs to be treated before it can be returned to the river it came from. This is carried out at sewage treatment plants around the city. The Okhla Sewage Treatment plant is one of the oldest, built during the British Raj. The water that goes through the first round of treatment is re-used for horticulture around the city, and water that goes through the second round (and is ready to be returned to the river) is also used to clean the city’s public buses.
The way the staff explained the sewage cleaning process was an interesting mix of science and art form. There are rules and guidelines for best practices, many of which are based on European standards that don't always work out the way they are meant to in the tropical Indian climate. When the European standard doesn't suit the local context, staff use their experiential wisdom and collective judgment to guide decisions.
This was perhaps the one that I was most curious about–I really wanted to understand how the water we consume is changed from its natural state before it gets to us. My mind boggled at the scale of the plant, and I learnt that this plant was still on the smaller side compared to others in the city. The water here comes from the Munak Canal, an aqueduct of the Western Yamuna Canal. It goes through a multi-step cleaning process which first removes suspended particles and then colloidal impurities from the water.
Large circular storage tanks that sort of look like uber oversized saucers hold the water as it goes through each phase of the treatment. You have to climb up a few flights of stairs to get to where the water is stored. Starting at the mammoth tank, you can walk through an elevated maze that takes you through each step. Similar to my experience at the Okhla Barrage, I felt removed from the city. These water treatment plants take up a lot of space, and when you are in the center of them, you are only surrounded by trees, grass, and mammoth containers filled with water. Little birds twittering punctured the silence. There were no car horns or street vendors’ calls. I even spotted a couple of peacocks.
In the distance, there was a red brick building that I found out was the residence area. The water treatment plant is constantly running. Inspectors, therefore, need to be on call at all hours to monitor the water quality and the process.
As we reached the end of the cleaning process, the water kept pace moving next to us, pausing in the tank of each step for a slight transformation. We had started with blue green water that caught the light to reflect back dancing diamonds on the surface. I looked down at the last tank and the water was gone, transparent. I could see down to the bottom of the tank.