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Mumbai Advances India’s Largest Desalination Plant Amid Water Shortage
Mumbai needs more water than it currently receives from its lakes and reservoirs.
The city also depends heavily on rain to refill those water sources.
To create another water supply, the city is building a large plant that will use seawater.
The plant will remove salt and other impurities from the seawater.
Special membranes will let water pass through while blocking the salt.
Minerals will then be added back so the water is suitable for drinking.
The first phase is planned to produce 200 million litres each day.
Both phases together could produce up to 400 million litres daily.
The project must also control leftover salty water and protect the coastal environment.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is building a Rs 4,007-crore desalination plant at Manori.
The plant’s first phase will produce 200 million litres of drinking water daily.
If both phases are completed, capacity could reach 400 million litres per day by 2029 or mid-2030, according to differing timelines in the report.
Mumbai currently receives about 4,100 million litres daily but needs roughly 4,664 million litres.
The project includes conditions covering brine disposal, environmental protection, offshore pipelines and renewable energy use.
- Who
- The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, with IDE Technologies and GVPR Engineers, is developing the plant.
- What
- A desalination plant will convert seawater into up to 400 million litres of drinking water per day.
- Where
- The plant is being built at Manori near Malad in northwestern Mumbai.
- When
- Construction is scheduled to begin after the monsoon; the report gives 2029 and mid-2030 as possible milestones for full capacity.
- Why
- Mumbai’s daily water demand exceeds its current supply, and the city is vulnerable to delayed or weak monsoons.
Desalination Supporters
Environmental Safeguard Concerns
Addressing Mumbai’s water gap
Desalination Supporters
The plant could provide up to 400 million litres of additional drinking water each day and reduce Mumbai’s dependence on monsoon rainfall.
Environmental Safeguard Concerns
The project’s environmental conditions show that coastal impacts must be managed, especially the disposal of concentrated brine and construction of offshore pipelines.
Energy and operating requirements
Desalination Supporters
Falling membrane costs and improvements in efficiency, durability and flow rates have made desalination more viable.
Environmental Safeguard Concerns
Authorities require part of the plant’s substantial power needs to come from renewable energy, reflecting concerns about its energy consumption.
Key facts
- Project cost
- Rs 4,007 crore
- Location
- Manori, near Malad in northwestern Mumbai
- First-phase capacity
- 200 million litres per day
- Potential total capacity
- 400 million litres per day
- Current supply and demand
- About 4,100 MLD supplied against estimated demand of 4,664 MLD
- Plant area
- 12 acres
- Plant operator
- IDE Technologies will operate the plant for 20 years
Quotes
Abhijit Bangar
Additional Municipal Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
“The work will start post-monsoon”
NDTV
Sources
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