The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has been breaking the country’s records in handling massive sewage treatment plants (STP) capacities on the back of Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions’ membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology.   So far, the Mumbai region is witnessing the deployment of some of the largest STPs using the advanced MBR technology for making high quality treated water accessible for all the indirect potable reuse.   To begin with, India’s first greenfield and arguably the largest STP of a whopping 500 Million Liters per Day (MLD) in Worli is getting built on the back of Veolia’s ZeeWeed pioneering MBR technology for the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). Similarly, the country’s second-largest STP of 360 MLD units is also coming up in Bandra, equipped with Veolia’s Zeeweed MBR technology.   Another civic body Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has two state-of-the-art tertiary treatment plants of capacity 20 MLD each under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme being built with the help of Veolia’s Zeeweed Pressurised Ultrafiltration Membrane Technology.   As a pioneer of membrane technology, Veolia’s Zeeweed leverages four decades of research, development, and operational experience to offer one of the most advanced ultrafiltration technologies in the market.   The pressurized ultrafiltration membrane ZeeWeed 1500 is ideally suited for use in numerous applications including drinking water treatment, tertiary filtration and RO pre-treatment for brackish water and seawater.   To add more value and benefits to the customers. The company has introduced a new ZW1500 XT Model during IFAT 2024 to the Industry for South Asia Market. This is an upgraded version of the ZW1500X Model. ZW1500XT brings in with higher membrane surface area of 120 square meters with new generation PVDF hollow fiber membranes, higher fouling resistance and hydrophilicity feature. This is a value to choose with the lowest footprint and highest quality of treated water by enhancing the filtration intensity.   Making potable water accessible In the last four years since the commissioning of the 22 million litres per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant by RCF with the help of Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, the ‘Miniratna’ fertilizers, and chemicals manufacturing company has been instrumental in sustaining the environment as well as the community in the region.   Roughly 30,000 families in the Chembur area near the plant location in Mumbai have benefited from uninterrupted access to fresh water supply for domestic use as a direct impact of the MBR technology-enabled STP run at RCF.   With the reuse of treated sewage water for industrial and manufacturing purposes, BMC has been able to save 22 MLD of potable water from supplying to industries, thereby making an equivalent amount of water available for the community, benefiting around 30000 households. The partnership between RCF and Veolia Water Technologies has also led to other industries benefiting from their sustainability efforts.   Reducing land footprint The successful deployment of MBR technology for treating sewage water to be reused for industrial purposes has also had a positive impact on ecological and demographic imbalances in and around Mumbai. The rising population in Mumbai has meant that land availability is becoming scarcer. Yet, companies like RCF have been able to save one-third of its land footprint for its second STP by using Veolia’s MBR technology.   Footprint reduction is also helping other sectors like IT campuses near Mumbai where Veolia’s MBR technology-backed STPs are helping companies to save on land use. A centralized 3-MLD MBR STP for in-house treatment of sewage generated from a well-known IT company campus was not only commissioned with the help of Veolia’s MBR technology but also sustained through continuous operation since inception.   This is being done thanks to Veolia’s pioneering ZeeWeed MBR’s quality and durability. The ZeeWeed 1500 was first introduced by Veolia (then GE) with the help of Hindustan Dorr Oliver while deploying a 27 MLD STP plant for Opal in Dahej in 2011. Now in 2024 again with the ZW1500 XT introduction it is endorsing the reduction in the footprint and increasing the filtration capacity.   “For years, multiple stakeholders across industries have shown reluctance towards treated wastewater for industrial use. However, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions and its partners have been spearheading a change in mindset. Veolia’s MBR technology and the patented reinforced membrane having 0.04 micron porosity with polyvinyl difluoride (PVDF) chemistry have established a proven record of meeting the highest international standards of recycle and reuse. Coupled with ZeeWeed membrane and RO technology that purifies the wastewater or sewage, water efficiency is being achieved by a manifold, there is now a significant shift in the mindset for reusing treated water, thereby making potable water more accessible to the needy and helping industries save on water and land footprint,” Gopal Madabhushi, VP and Business Leader, South Asia, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions.   Expanding horizons With innovation as a primary driver of its sustainability initiatives, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions has not only applied its successful case as a blueprint but also expanded the purview of water treatment to apply to larger water bodies of Mumbai.   Along with the civic bodies of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and corporate partners, Veolia Water Technologies is on a mission to revive and rejuvenate water bodies. In an era where climate change has caused a significant decrease in the size of over half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs since the early 1990s, Veolia Water Technologies is utilizing mobile units equipped with MBR technology to clean and revitalize ponds, lakes, and rivers in Indian urban centres like Mumbai.   The pioneering work - from setting up some of the largest STPs to rejuvenating water bodies – that has begun in Mumbai is now being envisaged to be expanded to other cities and regions by Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions in South Asia.   Part of the French major Veolia Group, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions (formerly SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions) is a technology company focused on environment sustainability through its wastewater and water treatment businesses. Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, Veolia Water Technologies has been pioneering technological solutions for ecological transformation and sustainable development goals. Veolia Group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with nearly 220,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste, and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and renew them. www.veolia.com