BMC INTERVIEWS-NOTES-
SEWERAGE DEPARTMENT
Question 1 – What are the means you have
taken to solve water contamination?
Answer 1 – The means we have taken to solve
water contamination is that we have
continuously rehabilitated pipes every 50
years, and there is daily maintenance.
Question 2 – What technology have you
implemented to solve water contamination?
Answer 2 – The technologies that we have
implemented to solve this are to clean rusty
pipes, as that is how pipes are rehabilitated.
Question 3 – What digital medium have you
used to spread awareness about such an
issue?
Answer 3 – A lot of people are not aware of
such an issue, so they don’t completely spread
awareness. They only do it when they must do
so, for example – during an emergency.
Question 4 – While cleaning water waste, what
materials are the most prominent?
Answer 4 – The main prominent item in
contaminated wastewater is human waste,
(blackwater contaminated water).
Question 5 -: How many litres of contaminated
water are purified daily?
Answer 5 – In a day, the amount of water
treated is 1900 million litres of contaminated
water.
Question 6 -How many people from the BMC
are working towards this issue?
Answer 6 – Approximately 5000 workers are
working towards the issue of water
contamination.
Question 7 – What does the BMC do for
sewage water management?
Answer 7 – Clean water is done through
aeration – (see the image below). Certain
parameters are also followed for cleaning
purposes. They are -:
Chemical Value
Ph value –(acidic)
Suspended solids, etc
Question 8 – Why did the water pipeline burst
happen (in Lokhandwala)
Answer 8 – The main reason the water pipe
had been punctured was because the line had
been really old, thus, it had been punctured
due to rust.
Question 9 -: Which are the places where you
operate for this issue?
Answer 9 – For sewage water management,
they have 7 outlets, which are Colaba, Worli,
Bandra, Versova, Malad, Bhandup, and
Ghatkhopar, which are all worked for.
Question 10 – What do we, as citizens do if the
issue occurs again?
Answer 10 – In such cases – (if a water burst
happens again) they have advisories to help
those with struggles or challenges, and at the
same time, they have prepared for such
scenarios too.
Question 11 - What does the BMC do to avoid
leaks and bursts?
Answer 11 - To stop such bursts, continuous
maintenance is kept to protect it from these
things happening again.
Question 12 - What are your goals for water
management?
Answer 12 -: The goal of the BMC is to make
sure that sufficient water is given to everyone,
and at the same time, make sure water is not
wasted.
Question 13 – What do you plan to do achieve
these goals?
Answer 13 –: To achieve the goal, they will
reach out to people, and in an urban city like
Mumbai, it will not be as challenging as other
places.
What does BMC do?
UNDERSTANDING WASTEWATER
CONTAMINATION…
The BMC officials were kind enough to start at
the very basics. There are 2 types of
contaminated water which are
Greywater contamination – which is
contaminated water via washing, for
example bathing, carwashing, or even
dishwashing.
Blackwater contamination – Human waste
included with water.
For (contaminated wastewater), there is no
differentiation between greywater and
blackwater contamination, so what that means
is that it is not segregated. What happens next
is that it gets collected on a 60% basis –
(which is a future goal for the BMC, to collect
100% rather than 60%)
What they do is that they keep the water clean
– stopping pollution and contamination is a
priority– (taking care of seafronts, lakes, water
bodies etc.)
Next, they reuse the treated water, and thus,
they are planning to sell the water for
purposes such as car washing, planting
trees, refurbishment etc. (The water used isn’t
for drinking purposes)
The way they have also spread awareness
they can save water, and companies can buy
this water, through the fact that they sell the
water at a cheaper price, and the industry that
purchases it gets to use the water for the
same purpose, so it’s also for a greener cause.
