Recharge of Groundwater using Abandoned Mine Pits with Treated Wastewater

Availability of water is undisputedly one of the most critical components for sustaining all economic activities. There is an urgent need to consider augmenting the existing water source by recycling and reusing high quality treated effluent from existing wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to meet the on-going as well as future water demand of the growing population. The broad objective of this paper is to assess the recharge potential of abandoned mine pits and establish the feasibility of artificial recharge to groundwater via water spreading method also ensuring the quality of source water for recharge.10 MLD Tertiary Treatment Plant (TTP) having effluent BOD less than 2 mg/l is identified for recharge of abandoned mine pits in south Delhi. Subsequently, the treated source water is to be collected in the sump of the proposed pump house and pumped through the transmission main to the mine pits site and distributed equally through a proposed distribution network to all the fourteen pits.