How This Tamil Nadu City Recycles 130 Million Litres of Water Daily
(Featured image courtesy Aimswatermanagement.com)
Tiruppur – a two-tier city in Tamil Nadu, is known for its textile industry and contributes to more than 54 percent of India’s overall knitwear exports. With hundreds of dyeing and bleaching units, the district, along with generating employment opportunities, also generates tonnes of liquid waste.
The year 2011 was deeply etched in the history of Tiruppur after the Madras High Court ordered the closure of all the dyeing and bleaching units to save the Noyyal River from pollution and toxic waste emanating from these units.
Following the court order, 700 dyeing, bleaching, and common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in the city were closed. This left nearly 50,000 people jobless and had a great financial impact on the industry.
This order brought about a major change in the textile industry and paved the way for their sustainable journey. How? In June 2012, 18 CETPs reopened in Tiruppur and implemented the zero liquid discharge system (ZLDs).
The system recovers and reuses nearly all industrial effluent, leaving only solid waste.
Once known for its pollution problem, Tiruppur began to set a national example in water recycling. The city in Tamil Nadu now treats and recycles 130 million litres of water every single day, turning industrial waste into a sustainable resource.
With ZLD technology becoming the norm, Tiruppur has shown that economic growth and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand. Picture courtesy: Economic Times
Today, over 20 CETPs work collectively to treat wastewater from hundreds of dyeing and bleaching units. The treated water is reused within the industry, cutting down dependency on external water sources and preventing discharge into rivers.
This water system was driven by a mix of regulatory pressure, court interventions, and the industry’s own realisation that survival depended on sustainability. With ZLD technology becoming the norm, Tiruppur has shown that economic growth and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.
As India grapples with rising water stress, Tiruppur’s model offers a glimpse into the future, where industries don’t just use water, but give it back, cleaner and ready for another cycle.
How does Tiruppur’s CETPs with ZLD save water daily
- Wastewater collection
- Wastewater is collected from multiple dyeing and bleaching units.
- An underground pipeline network transports this effluent to the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs).
- Primary treatment
- Large suspended solids and impurities are removed from the wastewater through screening and sedimentation.
- Biological treatment
- The water undergoes aerobic and anaerobic treatment to break down organic matter.
- Tertiary treatment
- Advanced chemical processes are used to remove colour, dissolved salts, and other fine impurities.
- Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration
- RO membranes filter out remaining contaminants, making the water suitable for reuse.
- Evaporation of RO rejects
- The reject water from the RO, which contains concentrated salts, is sent to evaporation systems.
- Crystallised salts are separated and disposed of safely or reused where applicable.
- Water reuse
- The final treated water is sent back to the dyeing units for reuse, completing the recycling loop.
- This reduces the need for fresh water intake drastically.
- Daily output
- Across Tiruppur, the CETPs collectively recycle around 130 million litres of wastewater every day, enabling significant environmental and economic savings.
Tiruppur’s journey teaches us that sustainability is not just an environmental goal, but an economic necessity. With the right mix of regulation, innovation, and collective responsibility, industries can reduce their impact and still thrive.
By treating and reusing every drop, Tiruppur proves that even the most polluting sectors can become part of the solution. As water stress grows across India, this model offers a powerful example of how industries can give back more than they take.
Edited by Saumya Singh
Source:
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