The Hindu Business Line : Chennai Petro, Orchid Chem to invest more in desalination plants

DESALINATION, which has emerged an option to meet industries' fresh water requirement, can also help the State Government meet public demand, according to industry representatives.

The production and distribution facilities will have to be decentralised to meet local needs cost effectively, said speakers at a conference on water management, here on Wednesday.

While the technology-intensive option was being highlighted, some experts also laid emphasis on traditional water conservation including rainwater harvesting and recycling.

The Government should explore such methods in preference to technology-intensive options, they said.

Industrial units such as Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) and Orchid Chemicals are planning major investments in setting up desalination plants.

CPCL, which will invest Rs 50 crore - 60 crore this year in recycling and water conservation, will spend Rs 200 crore next year for a desalination plant. Orchid Chemicals is also planning a desalination plant at its production facility at Alathur on the Old Mahabalipuram Road.

Addressing the seminar, TN-AQUA 2004, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr S. Mani, Vice-President, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said that, industries should not only look at water recycling but also use technologies that are not water intensive.

For instance, Orchid had opted for air-cooling systems rather than water-cooling. This represented a saving of 300 kilolitre of water. The company was now looking at a desalination plant to meet its water requirement.

According to Mr K. Ramadorai, CPCL's Deputy General Manager, the company has initiated steps to set up a desalination plant to produce 5.8 million gallons of fresh water from seawater.

According to Mr M.P. Ramaswamy, of the Tiruchi-based GB Engineering Enterprises Ltd, water could be produced at five paise a litre and distributed to the public. With the combination of reverse osmosis and distillation-based desalination, over 2,300 million litres of water a day could be produced with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore. This would meet at least 50 per cent of Tamil Nadu's requirement.

Mr Sekar Raghavan, Director, Rain Centre, said that water supply should be decentralised. There were facilities for water storage in suburban areas such as Madipakkam, Velachery, Nanganallur and Ambattur. These water bodies should be protected and used to supply water to the localities.

Wastewater reuse should also be encouraged, he said.