U.S. Funds Study on Boosting Hyderabad Water Supply Through Recycling

October 23, 2003

NEW DELHI -- The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) today signed an agreement with U.S. environmental engineering major Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. (CDM), to explore the feasibility of increasing local water supply through the recycle of waste water.

The project, a $465,000 (2.1 crore rupees) study funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, was identified by the U.S. Asia Environmental Partnership (a U.S. Agency for International Development program) and is being administered with the assistance of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service.

The agreement was signed in the Hyderabad Secretariat today by M.G. Gopal, managing director of HMWSSB and Tariq Pekin, project manager with CDM. Present on the occasion were the Andhra Pradesh Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development B.V. Mohan Reddy and principal secretary S.R. Rao; U.S. Consul General Richard Haynes and U.S. Commercial Counselor Bruce Quinn.

CDM, a Massachusetts based global environmental engineering company, will complete the project in nine months. The study will evaluate the potential of waste water re-cycling and reuse strategies to enhance water supply in and around Hyderabad , an area known for water scarcity and regular shortages in drinking water supply.

Waste water re-cycle and reuse for industrial or agricultural applications, or "water-swaps," is an option for better managing water resources and reserving scarce potable water supplies in highly populated urban areas.