World Lake Day: JS-WEL Restores Lakes, Boosts Dissolved Oxygen by 152 percentage
Gurugram, Aug 27: On World Lake Day, JS Water Energy Life is highlighting its work in restoring polluted water bodies across India, with a focus on improving water quality, reviving aquatic ecosystems and enabling treated water to be put back to productive use.
At four community ponds in Kasna, Greater Noida, JS-WEL recorded an average 152 percentage improvement in dissolved oxygen, with levels rising from 0.8–1.2 mg/L to 2.5–4 mg/L. The intervention has also enabled approximately 17.31 million litres of water to be saved annually, with treated pond water being used by community farmers for irrigation. Importantly, no fish mortality was observed across the four ponds during the monitoring period.
The work in Kasna combines removal of existing water hyacinth with biological treatment and algae management, addressing not just the visible weed growth but the excess nutrients and poor water conditions that contribute to its recurrence. The approach is designed to improve the overall ecological balance of the ponds while supporting their continued use by local communities.
In Kharar, Punjab, JS-WEL worked on the heavily polluted Jayanti Ki Rao Choe, a water channel historically used for irrigation. The intervention has treated approximately 47.7 MLD of polluted channel flow, equivalent to roughly 17,400 million litres annually, and restored it for irrigation reuse. Dissolved oxygen improved from 1.2 to 5.5 mg/L, while BOD reduced from 196 to 25 mg/L and COD from 576 to 90 mg/L. Fecal coliform levels also fell from more than 2,400 to below 230 MPN/100 ml.
The Punjab intervention has also received independent preliminary validation from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology. Its assessment recorded an 85% reduction in BOD and 79% reduction in COD, along with reductions in certain heavy metals and a substantial improvement in dissolved oxygen over the monitoring period. TIET’s field assessment further noted improved water quality for agricultural irrigation, revived ecology and biodiversity, and usable water for local agricultural purposes.
JS-WEL’s work has also extended to lake restoration and algae management. During a pilot at Karma Lakelands in Manesar, Haryana, blue-green algae levels fell from approximately 400 to 6 cells/ml within 14 days. Dissolved oxygen increased from 1.1 to 7.3 mg/L, while turbidity and suspended solids reduced by more than 96%. Fish and aquatic plants remained healthy throughout the trial.
Across these interventions, JS-WEL’s focus has been to move beyond simply removing visible pollution. Its restoration approach combines biological treatment, nutrient management, microbial activity and algae control to improve the underlying health of water bodies and enable their sustainable reuse.
Dr. Sunil Nanda, Managing Director, JS Water Energy Life, said:
“India does not need more water bodies that are merely cleaned; it needs water bodies that are restored, revived and made usable again. The real measure of water restoration is whether we can bring back ecological health while putting the resource to productive use. That is the standard we are working towards at JS-WEL.”
The company’s documented interventions demonstrate the potential of restoration models that can be adapted across community ponds, lakes, drains and irrigation channels, particularly where the objective is to improve water quality while bringing degraded water resources back into productive community use.
From community ponds in Greater Noida to a polluted water channel in Punjab and a lake restoration pilot in Haryana, JS-WEL’s interventions demonstrate measurable improvements in water quality, aquatic health and water reuse.