 "Dr Raman Ramachandran, Head South Asia, chairman & MD, BASF India Ltd")
Two successive droughts have worsened the water availability situation in many parts of India, with the government machinery finding it difficult to fulfil the needs of water for its populace. Though Met department has predicted normal-to-excess rainfall this year, water scarcity cannot be vanquished any time soon given the depleting groundwater levels and pollution in the available water resources. Hence, steps such as water conservation, recycling wastewater, etc will have to be deployed on continuous basis.
Given the situation that the country is facing and will face in the coming years, solutions, innovations, projects and initiatives around water will stay relevant and high on demand, says Dr Raman Ramachandran, Head South Asia, chairman & managing director, BASF India Ltd. In addition to offering a wide spectrum of solutions in the water and wastewater treatment space, BASF India works with many of its partners to create awareness for water conservation.
In this interaction with Rakesh Rao, Dr Raman Ramachandran discusses issues surrounding water availability and probable solutions for this challenge.
The 2016 World Water Day theme is ‘Better Water, Better Jobs’. How close is this theme to reality?
This year’s theme for World Water Day emphasises that getting enough, pure water can change people’s lives and livelihoods, and can even transform societies and economies.
This theme is already a reality both globally and in India. Close to 1.5 billion people worldwide work in water-related sectors today, according to a recent United Nations estimate. Beyond the jobs directly related to providing and handling water, nearly all jobs ultimately depend on the ready availability of water.
In the years ahead, this connection between water and jobs will become even more evident worldwide, and especially so in emerging countries like India. Water is directly related to major development challenges, including food security, urbanisation, sustainable rural development, disaster risk management, adaptation to climate change, equitable allocation of natural resources, and economic cooperation with neighbours in the region.
Water is fundamentally connected to businesses like ours: on one hand, we provide solutions for purifying and treating water, as well as for saving water. On the other hand, our production here in India as well as around the world is dependent on the reliable availability of water. The word ‘water’ is literally part of the job title for many people at our company – and it is an important part of almost every job.
India might become water scarce by 2025. How grave is the situation? And what are the main causes for this?
Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource worldwide, including India. Total demand for water resources on a national basis is expected to exceed the utilisable potential by 2050, according to the World Bank.
Groundwater is depleting at an alarming rate and more than 60 percent of India’s irrigated agriculture and 85 percent of drinking water supplies are dependent on groundwater.
At the same time, diversion and contamination of surface water threatens the health of rivers and the people dependent upon them. Although access to drinking water has improved, the World Bank estimates that 21 percent of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water.
Lastly, there is no infrastructure available for alternate, industry suitable water supply system, which leads to the usage of potable water for industrial processing.
Though agriculture continues to be major user of water in India, it is the industry that faces a tough challenge as the government tends to give preferences to agriculture and residential usage of water. What are the options before the industry to overcome this situation?
Focus on agriculture and residential usage is essential and should be encouraged. There are many solutions available to manage agricultural water more sustainably, and these should bear further investigation.ASLO READ: Rising wastewater complexities to push demand for new water treatment technologies
However, as there is no infrastructure available for alternate, industry suitable water supply system, further steps are necessary in this area as well. Almost all industries use water in their manufacturing or processing and, therefore, this should be a key area of focus too.
Industry can support this by putting in efforts to reduce, recycle and reuse water and waste water, through many initiatives. Many companies are exploring tapping into alternate resources like sewage, sea water and also their own effluent recycle.
At BASF, we are committed to the responsible use of water in our production sites’ water catchment areas, and along the entire value chain. We have set ourselves a global goal for sustainable water management. We aim to use water as sparingly as possible and further reduce emissions to water. To do so, we have set out a Group directive with globally applicable standards. Among other goals, our 2025 goal is to fully introduce sustainable water management at all production sites in water stress areas and at all Verbund sites. We are exploring measures for implementing sustainable water management, especially at production sites in water stress areas. One of our aims here is to identify savings potential in order to use as little water as possible, particularly in water stress areas. We consider this topic from all aspects, including societal implications.
We offer our customers solutions that help purify water, use it more efficiently and reduce pollution. Seawater desalination plants make an important contribution to supplying the world’s population with water.
Initiatives such as these are much required and will immensely ease the water pressure off industries. However, without the right infrastructure for water supply and facilities to provide a separate pipeline for sewage for the industries, the problems will only be partly addressed. The challenge is huge, but a right combination of political will, technology and policy innovation will help us go a long way in addressing it.
This is an area of huge potential for public private partnerships. This space is under-explored and if utilised will offer solutions to many of the difficulties. Additionally, the water and sanitation policy under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission should be revamped with operational systems in place, such as build-own-operate-transfer model by private companies.
What are key challenges in adoption of water and wastewater treatment technologies in India? How can we overcome these challenges?
The challenges that impede adoption of technologies for water and wastewater treatment are to do with mindsets and awareness as much as policies, infrastructure and budgets.
There is an urgent need to create mindfulness within residential and urban communities regarding the benefits of waste water recycling. Acceptance of waste water usage for certain household requirements is also an area where huge attitude change is required.
Additionally, infrastructure availability in terms of sewage treatment plants, operational excellence for municipal bodies, implementation of relevant policies, tapping the capacity available in the private sector of improving accountability and efficiency, mandatory compliance and ownership in urban local bodies and separate pipeline for industrial sewage are some of the areas which need immediate attention and changes.
India is facing a dual challenge of dwindling water supply (both groundwater as well as natural reservoirs such as rivers/lakes) and severe pollution of available water. How can chemical industry offer solutions to these challenges?
The problem of water is universal. Although roughly 70 percent of our planet is covered with water, it is increasingly becoming a scarce good as the world population and the demand for water continue to grow. There is enough freshwater on the planet for seven billion people, but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed. Many of these water-based challenges can be addressed effectively through chemistry. Be it wastewater treatment, industrial water treatment, drinking water treatment, desalination or ultrafiltration, chemistry offers innovative solutions for all segments.ALSO READ: Infrastructure spending revival to drive centrifugal pumps demand
As a leading provider of chemical solutions for water treatment, BASF contributes significantly to closing the water supply gap, through its innovative solutions. The product range of BASF’s Water Solutions business includes products used in the key processes of municipal and industrial water treatment: Products to clarify the raw water used for the production of drinking water, treating the waste water stream and reducing sludge volumes as well as for the treatment of industrial process water and the protection of cooling towers and boilers. BASF is the leading provider of inge ultrafiltration technology, a membrane process used to treat drinking water, process water, waste water and sea water.
In addition, we are keenly involved in the ‘India Water Tool’, a free online tool, which is the first step towards improved water management in India. This online tool helps the development of a comprehensive corporate water management strategy and holistic stewardship approaches. It has been developed by a Working Group of 13 partners including ten companies and three knowledge partners, coordinated by the The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This tool is a great example of collaboration between key players to create a sustainable future for business, society and the environment through responsible water management.
What are your growth plans for BASF’s water solutions business in India?
We will continue to concentrate on our sewage treatment area of solid liquid separation and ultrafiltration membranes for converting water with high Total Soluble Solids content into usable water for the industry. We will also innovate in the industrial sector with phosphate free antiscalants, for sustainable operations of the water life cycle. Our focus is on sectors like power, multi effect evaporator for industries, sea water desalination - thermal and reverse osmosis and operations and maintenance companies, providing end to end solutions in water and energy sectors.
Worldwide, about 900 million people have no access to clean or purified drinking water and 2.6 billion people do not use improved sanitation. Population growth, increased urbanisation and industrial growth will further increase the demand for fresh water. Chemistry significantly contributes to innovative water treatment solutions. And at BASF, through our most advanced chemical solutions and services to formulators and service companies, we aim to address some of the critical water-based challenges.
In India, we also support the promotion of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), through our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programs. Some of BASF’s WASH projects include two community drinking water plants we have invested in and around Chennai in the last two years. We have also supported water purification and filtration units in schools in Mangalore, Dahej and Chennai and Navi Mumbai.
