Sewage and faecal sludge management; revisiting discharge standards in India

This article presents India's sanitation scenario, including the existing knowledge base in sewage and faecal sludge management, the status of reuse of sewage and current regulatory norms. The review indicated that changes in land use and socio-economic patterns over a period of time created greater pollution loads that could not be tackled with the regulatory norms prescribed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2017. It was evident that under this notification, no emphasis was given for the removal of chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and the faecal coliforms concentration was also relaxed. Subsequently, these standards were revised and applied by the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal in 2019, after including stringent values for chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and the faecal coliforms; all across the country irrespective of the type of receiving environment. The review depicted that revisiting regulatory norms based on the type of "Receiving Environment " (Land/River/Lakes/Marine, etc.) is the need of the hour. The studies also suggested that it is necessary to devise end-use specific treated effluent reuse standards on similar lines of the World Health Organization/United States Environment Protection Agency. Finally, the authors suggest nationwide capacity building for sewage and faceal sludge treatment, up-grading existing sewage treatment plants, and propose revised regulatory norms based on the type of receiving environment to maintain a harmony between the economics of pollution control and improvement in the quality of water bodies across the country.