TWIC-Chennai gets global recognition

“We offer end-to-end solutions in water & wastewater management”.
– K.Phanindra Reddy, Principal Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu & Chairman, TWIC.

“We are fully geared to deliver projects which promote conservation of water, improve efficiencies in use and provide eco-friendly solutions.”
– Ashok Natarajan, CEO, TWIC

“TWIC’s technology helps textile dyeing industry to reuse 98% of waste water and even byproducts so essential for processing”
– Sajid Hussain, COO, TWIC

Water is the elixir of life and our activities are centered around providing advisory services, project management, desalination, reuse and Operation and Maintenance. These services are very unique to TWIC and gives us a great sense of satisfaction – says Mr. K. Phanindra Reddy, Principal Secretary, Govt. of Tamil Nadu who also happens to be the Chairman of Tamilnadu Water Investment Co. Ltd. (TWIC for short), promoted jointly by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. and the Government of Tamil Nadu – the first PPP model in the water sector. The company helps clients in developing projects to Government and Industries from concepts to implementation through a model aimed at reducing life cycle costs within a sustainable delivery framework.

TWIC is a pioneering developer of water projects in India. Its expertise spans across urban water and sewerage systems, desalination, industrial effluent management and recycling. The company provides end-to-end solutions through a comprehensive understanding of the problem, selection of appropriate technology solutions, design development, arranging finance, procurement of contractors, and supervision of implementation and operation & maintenance.

TWIC, which believes in keeping a low profile, could not resist celebrating its success when its Tirupur CETP ZLD project was recognized by the prestigious ‘Global Water Awards 2014’ by Global Water Intelligence (GWI) under the category of ‘The Industrial Water Project of the Year’ and commended TWIC as the ‘phoenix rising from the ashes of an environmental catastrophe’. In the same year, The Tirupur ZLD Project was chosen as the ‘Water Reuse Industrial Project of the Year 2014’ by the Water Reuse Association, USA. The coveted award recognizes projects whose significance and contributions to the community continue to advance the water reuse industry. The Tirupur ZLD Project has amply demonstrated this.

A jewel in the crown
Indeed, the Tirupur Effluent Management and Zero Discharge Project is a jewel in the crown of TWIC. Elaborating on the success story, Mr. Ashok Natarajan, CEO, TWIC says that, “Based on the directions of Madras High court and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, TWIC developed and established textile dyeing CETPs in Tirupur based on Zero Discharge”. The total effluent treatment capacity of these nine CETPs set up at a cost of Rs.572 Crores is 53 MLD making it one of the largest installations and successful ZLD projects in India. TWIC has supported client in diagnostic Study, preparation of DPR, selection of technology, design engineering, procurement of contractors, arranging finance, PMA and long-term O&M as per advice of TN Govt. The typical components of the ZLD CETP are pipeline for effluent conveyance, pretreatment works, reverse osmosis plant, evaporator plant, and recovered water distribution system. The company has developed technology for byproduct recovery. “The company has developed an alternate technology called ‘Treated Brine Reuse Technology’ which substantially reduces the dependence on evaporator and also cleans the local environment,” says Mr. Sajid Hussain, Chief Operating Officer. A boon to the industry, this has been successfully implemented in all the TWIC CETPs.

TWIC also takes the onus of operation & maintenance. Its O&M services for ZLD based seven common effluent treatment plants with capacities ranging from 3 MLD to 11 MLD cover part of the textile cluster of Tirupur. The effluents from various industries are collected, metered, and conveyed to the CETP for treatment and recovered water is distributed back to the industries for processing. These CETPs are equipped with pre-treatment system (biological oxidation system based on activated sludge process), reverse osmosis system and mechanical evaporator for RO reject handling.

Sectional views of CETPs in Tirupur textile dyeing cluster

Diversifications
TWIC has done commendable work on treating effluents from tanneries and Paper. “We have done project management services for ZLD based three common effluent treatment plants with capacities ranging from 1 MLD to 4 MLD (aggregating 7.2 MLD) in Ambur and Vaniyambadi Tannery cluster,” adds Mr. Phanindra Reddy, elucidating that tannery effluent is one of the most difficult effluents to treat. “Also TWIC last year completed the feasibility for 2 Nos Desalination plants at Ramanadapuram and Thoothukudi and Twic’s response in completing the study in 3 months was very satisfying,“ adds Mr. Phanindra Reddy. TWIC’s achievements in water supply and sewerage project also deserve special mention. Twic initially promoted the New Tirupur Area Development Corporation Ltd (NTADCL) for development and implementation of the Tirupur Water Supply and Sewerage Project. It is the first water sector related project under the public-private partnership in the country.

The project is in operation since 2005. TWIC recently has done the design of 24×7 water supply to about 26 urban local bodies as well as major corporations like Vellore, Coimbatore extended areas including master plan for Coimbatore City where a major 24×7 water supply project first of its kind in TN, is being planned. TWIC has developed unique solutions to address these opportunities and have implemented under a pilot water management system & has developed expertise on district metering and Non revenue water loss management so that these solutions can be implemented in TN as well as other states.

Engineering prowess
TWIC is also eminently placed to handle large water, wastewater and desalination projects and has a team of engineers doing detailed engineering and project management. It has already done consultancy to conduct pre-feasibility & planning studies for a 100 MLD desalination plant in Ramanadhapuram & Tuticorin districts. The client is Tamilnadu Water Supply and Drainage Board. The project involves catering drinking water to the water stressed areas. “Though desalination sounds to be a good source of water for a country like India with a vast coastal line, it is a costly proposition. Other than TWAD desalination plants, a 400 MLD and 250 MLD plants in Chennai are being planned by Chennai Metro Water and Sewerage Board,” says Mr. Phanindra Reddy.

TWIC has the distinction of having introduced new technologies in the field of water & wastewater management. It has spearheaded technological innovations to ensure zero discharge facilities comprising a host of state-of-the-art systems and processes such as Activated sludge process, Membrane bio-reactors, Ultra-filtration, Reverse osmosis, Mechanical vapor recompression type evaporators, Crystallizers and Adiabatic Chillers, etc. in highly polluting industries such as textile dyeing, tanneries and paper & pulp. Most of the facilities created have a high level of online instrumentation, metering and automation. The ZLD facilities created are perhaps the world’s first. With all these capabilities, TWIC is now fully geared to offer integrated, customized solutions in its chosen field.

Project work is highly people-oriented. TWIC takes ordinary people with basic background and grooms them to accomplish extraordinary jobs. It has a dedicated team of workforce trained and well versed in handling projects. “We are a highly motivated, proactive team with a sense of ownership and a passion to excel. Our people perform under arduous environmental conditions. At the end of the day we have this satisfaction that we are doing something for the betterment of society at large,” remarks CEO Ashok Natarajan.

-P.K. Balasubbramaniian