Water Quality in Chennai: Future Situation with Mitigation Measures vs Current Situation

  • City: Chennai, India
  • Future scenarios considered the effect of climate change, population growth, and urbanization.
  • Mitigation measures included in the analysis was expansion of wastewater treatment capacity from 180,000 m3/day to 886,000 m3/day.
  • Due to climate change and population changes, the water quality (expressed as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)) will have deteriorated by a further 26.7% on average in 2030 when compared to the current situation.
  • Based on the scenario where all wastewater generated in the area is treated (Future Situation with Mitigation Measures), the projected water quality will be much better throughout the stream (74.2% reduction in BOD compared to the scenario without mitigation measures).