Mohandas Seneviratne

Mohan Seneviratne Consulting Pty Ltd is an independent company providing customized consulting services on sustainable water management, policy development, water reuse/recycling, water treatment and water efficiency to a wide range of industries including textile and apparel sector, oil and gas plants, steel mills, water utilities, local government councils, research agencies and food manufacturing industries in Australia and internationally with a focus on Asia.
The prime objective of the company is to offer value added services in its core expertise areas of water and wastewater management, related energy efficiency fields, trade waste and program development.

Organisational Capability

Mohan Seneviratne Consulting Pty Ltd is an independent company providing customized consulting services on sustainable water management, policy development, water reuse/recycling, water treatment and water efficiency to a wide range of industries including textile and apparel sector, oil and gas plants, steel mills, water utilities, local government councils, research agencies and food manufacturing industries in Australia and internationally with a focus on Asia.
The prime objective of the company is to offer value added services in its core expertise areas of water and wastewater management, related energy efficiency fields, trade waste and program development.

Projects

Partnership for Cleaner Textiles, Bangladesh (PaCT)
Bangladesh apparel sector has over 6000 factories contributing to groundwater reduction and wastewater pollution. The program envisaged working with 200 suppliers to address the issues. The program saved over 17 billion liter/yr water and resulted in US$39 million investment. DFAT is a program sponsor now. www.textilePaCT.net
Partnership for Cleaner Textiles Pakistan
Pakistan is a water scarce country. Its textile sector is a key industry for exports. The water use efficiency and wastewater treatment of the industry is low. The project envisaged working with key strategic textile suppliers in Karachi and Lahore.
Every Drop Counts Business Program, Sydney Water
In 1999, Sydney Water was mandated to reduce water demand by 35%. The Every Drop Counts Business Program was conceptualized and implemented by me to work with industrial customers, government institutions, commercial office buildings and small business. As a result by 2007, the water conservation and recyling program had saved over 57 billion L/year.
Water Footprinting, Tata, India - 2012
Tata requested IFC to carry out a comprehensive water footprinting program of 11 of their facilities including steel mill, 3 automotive plants, a urea and ammonia plant, chemical plant, iron ore mine and 2 thermal power plants. The project included defining the parameters for blue, green and grey water; identification of major water users and recommendations for water reduction and recycling. The holistic approach also gave recommendations for river basin management and integrated urban water planning.
Level 6 Water Restrictions, Queensland Water Commission
South East Queensland was in a drought in 2004 - 2010. As Director Water Efficiency and Substitution, my task was to develop level 6 restrictions and implement them through the 14 councils including Brisbane Water. This involved developing policy options, assessing of practical measures to reduce water use; assessing penalties for abuse and over use and financial impacts on the community as well as drafting the required legislation and implementation of Level 6 restrictions
The existing Trade Waste Policy in 1999 was based on concentrations. The policy was prone to abuse through dilution of effluent, and was not sufficiently sensitive to the type of dischargers. Small and large businesses were paying similar administrative charges irrespective of the type of contaminants discharged. I designed a risk based Trade Waste Policy that took account of the mass of contaminants discharged and hence could not be circumvented through dilutions; large discharges had to pay higher administrative charges; the type of sewage treatment plant it discharged; charges on contaminants in addition to domestic contaminants etc. The policy was approved by IPART in 1999.