New Delhi: Water scarcity is expected to exact a heavy toll on key economic sectors, including steel and coal, in the coming years. While some companies are preparing to soften the blow of this impending crisis, analysts warn that water stress could severely impact the output of these sectors unless some major water-efficient policies are formulated.
Environmental and industry experts suggest that reusing and desalinating water in the coastal pockets can help the industry survive the predicted water crisis.
A report released on 25 June by Moody’s Ratings highlighted that among industrial sectors, coal-based power plants and steel-makers were most vulnerable to water stress in India.
“Coal power generators and steel-makers heavily depend on water for production. Growing water shortages can disrupt their operations and hamper their revenue generation, eroding their credit strength,” it read.
Nitin Bassi, senior programme lead for the sustainable water team, Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), a Delhi-based think tank, said an analysis by his team shows that by 2025, 11 of 15 major river basins in India will be experience water stress — annual per capita availability of less than 1700 cubic metre per person.
He said five of these — Ganga, Subarnarekha, Krishna, Mahi and Tapi — are already experiencing water scarcity, with an annual per capita availability of less than 1000 cubic metre per person. Three others — Cauvery, Pennar and Sabarmati — are facing absolute water scarcity, with annual per capita availability of less than 500 cubic metre per person.
“Out of steel and thermal power plants, the latter requires a lot of water, mainly for thermal cooling and coal ash handling. Given that most of the thermal plants are in eastern India and along the east coast in basins, which are experiencing water scarcity, they could face issues in the long run if the dependence remains on freshwater,” Bassi said.
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Worrying number
Government data shows the per capita availability of water fell from around 5,000 cubic metre in 1950 to around 1,500 cubic metre in 2020.
If it declines further to around 1,000-1,100 cubic metre, as predicted by several international climate impact forecasters, India will be declared a water-stressed country.
A 2023 vulnerability assessment by the Ministry of Power’s Central Electricity Authority showed India’s major power grids were dependent on 14 major river basins — all of which are under ‘high water stress’.
Another 2021 study by the Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) showed coal power plants account for about 70 percent of industrial water withdrawal in the country. It also showed that 48 percent of the existing coal-powered plants were in water-starved regions.
The steel industry is staring at an equally bleak future.
Industry data shows that the average water intake in integrated plants for a steel plant is about 28.6 cubic metre per metric ton of steel. The average intake for electric arc furnace (EAF) plant is 28.1 cubic metre per metric ton.
However, much of this water is discharged after cooling and treatment.
Top steel companies of India, too, have identified water scarcity as a potential business risk.
According to annual reports and their official websites, companies, including Tata and JSW Steel, have resorted to building new water reservoirs in their plants and investing in water treatment plants and rainwater harvesting systems to feed their plants.
Tata Steel has set milestones for their plants to achieve specific freshwater consumption of 2 m3/tcs across all steelmaking sites by 2025.
By 2030, the target is to achieve specific freshwater consumption of less than 1.5 m3/tcs across all steel-making sites, aiming for water neutrality.
But experts warn that such baby steps would not be enough, especially in light of the alarming pace of deterioration of water levels.
Adopting sustainable practices
The steel and coal industries rely heavily on water for cooling and processing. It ensures the cooling of high-temperature processes and provides essential functions in gas cleaning and treatment processes.
Åsa Ekdahl, head (environment and climate change) at the World Steel Association, said the industry needs to be more mindful of the impacts of climate change and limited availability of freshwater resources and access.
Many industries worldwide are now moving toward reusing water to limit wastage, she said.
Adding, “Though the steel industry uses large amounts of water, especially for cooling, very little is actually consumed, with about 90 percent released back to the source. In addition, the released water is often cleaner than when extracted due to the advanced water cleaning practices in place.”
However, experts pointed out that while the reuse and recirculation of water within the steel manufacturing process can make a difference, more holistic practices, such as zero liquid discharge or reusing effluents from cities to minimise freshwater use, can also be experimented with.
A senior official from the Ministry of Coal said India has already achieved promising results from its efforts around ‘mine water utilisation’ — treating water collected in mine sumps for irrigation and drinking.
In government mines, six parameters are monitored fortnightly to ensure a basic standard of water quality. These are pH, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), oil and grease. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) parameters are also monitored annually.
“The quality of mine water supplied for domestic purposes is also checked regularly,” the official said.
Data released by the Ministry of Coal in March this year showed that over the last five years, the volume of mine water supplied for community purposes was around 18,513 LKL (lakh kilo litres). This mine water is estimated to have reached around 37.63 lakh people in 1,055 villages of coal-bearing states.
The volume of mine water supplied for irrigation purposes during this period was around 7,010 LKL and around 11,503 LKL for domestic and drinking purposes.
Bassi said desalination — the process of removing salt from seawater — can also be explored and scaled up for plants along the coastline. “For inland plants, efforts should be made to ensure the scale-up of cooling tower technology that can reduce their dependence on water or explore adoption of dry cooling technology that uses a negligible amount of water.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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