CHAPTER 1 IMPORTANCE OF WATER Water is a vital natural resource which is essential for a multiplicity of purposes.

s. Water resources are developed primarily for irrigation, domestic use, power generation and industrial use, transportation and waste water disposal. In the chemical process industry water is used as a reaction medium, a solvent, a scrubbing medium, and a heat transfer agent. As a source of life for man, plants and other forms of life it cannot be replaced. For the efficient development of any water resource and understanding of the nature of the various water uses is essential. A brief summary of the most important are as follows: -

Irrigation: Water requirements for irrigation are by far the highest among various uses of fresh water. The amount of water required for irrigation purposes varies with the climate of the region and the type of crops that are to be raised. Surface waters used for irrigation may be diverted through canals which afford gravity-aided flows to the irrigation area. Where the lands to be irrigated lie above the river, lift irrigation may be required. In1968-69 about 20.5 MHM of surface water was utilized to irrigate a gross area of about 25 million hectares of land. The ultimate irrigation potential of the country is not known with certainty. Current estimate puts the potential irrigated area around 106 million hectares 72 million hectares irrigated by surface water resources and 34 million hectares by ground water resources.

Domestic water supply: Domestic water requirements vary from season to season and from rural to urban areas. In summer, the need for water is greater than that in winter. Water consumption in cities is greater than in rural areas. Moreover, it depends on factors like the standard of living and habits of people in the community. An accurate assessment of water required of domestic needs is not possible as several factors complicate the estimation in India. The per capita consumption of water in both urban and rural areas is generally not known because people augment municipal supplies with other sources such as private wells, rivers and lakes.

The per capita consumption of water has been assumed to increase with the standard of living; however, those who live in major cities of India are painfully familiar with intermittent water services, frequently limited to 2 to 3 hours a day. The per capita water use has declined in many cities as a result of tremendous growth in their population.

Power generation: Cooling is the principal water use in thermal power generation and more than 99 per cent of water used is required for condenser cooling. The water carrying waste heat is directly discharged into natural aquatic system or sometimes it is passed through a cooling tower and then recirculated back into the condenser. In both cases, losses due to evaporation are roughly of the same order of magnitude. It has been estimated that in a 500 MW power plant about 40 million litres of water would evaporated per day. With increasing capacity for thermal power generation, the demand for water will increase significantly.

Industrial water use: Industry is much dependent on adequate water supplies. The enormous demand that industry has for water is indicated by the water requirement of some key industrial processes. In the same way, the amount of waste water discharge from the industry is indicated by waste water production in some key industrial processes.

The following tables tabulate the water intake and the waste water discharged in various industrial sectors. Industry
Bread Beer Milk products Wood pulp Cotton bleaching Chemicals-acetic acid Sulphuric acid Gasoline Steel

Water requirement (litres)

2100-4200 15000 20000 236000 300000 417000-1000000 10400 7000-10000 260000

Overall water requirement in some of the common industries

Water Requirement in various industrial sectors: Sector Industrial Organic Chemicals Industrial Inorganic Chemicals Plastics and synthesis Agricultural Chemicals Other chemicals Total Water Intake (Mgal/day) 4150 2420 1170 836 734 9310

Waste water discharged in Steel making industries: Step

Coke making Iron making Steel making Electric Arc Furnace Basic Oxygen Furnace Refining and Casing Vacuum Degassing Continuous Casting Foaming and Finishing Hot Foaming 60-260 25 Less than 25 110 50-120

Waste water discharge (gal/ton-product)

100-120 50-120

Waste water discharged in Petroleum Industries: Step Waste water Discharge (gal/bbl.)
Separating Process Crude Oil Desalting Crude Oil Distillation Thermal and catalytic cracking Vis breaking 2.0 1.2 4 .0 26.0

Delayed Coking Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalytic Hydrocracking Combination or Rearrangement Alkylation Catalytic Reforming Treatment Processes Catalytic Hydro-treating

1.0 15.0 2.0

2.6 6.0

1.0

As can be seen from the table the quantities of water used by industry very widely. Major water users are steel, pulp and paper, textiles, chemicals and petroleum refining; they account for nearly 80 % of industrial water demand. Accurate projected requirements are not easily available for various industries in India, but a rough estimate indicates that the annual intake of water by all industries is around 4.0 MHM. With a growing population, the demand for fresh water is steadily increasing in India but as with all other resources, there is a limit to fresh water supply. In addition the availability of high quality water is dwindling because of misuse of water and its pollution.