Water tanks in Thiruvananthapuram are nearly empty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Considering the drinking water crisis in various parts of the city, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has started pumping five million litres of additional water daily and plans to increase it to 10 mld within a week. Though these steps are expected to solve the current drinking water crisis, the water level in major tanks suggests otherwise.
One of the major tanks - the overhead tank at Observatory which has a capacity of 7 million litre, has a level of only 0.2m. The maximum level of the tank is 4m. Sources said that the diameter of the outlet pipe is 0.9m, which means that the water level is not even half the level of the outlet pipe.

Surprisingly, the 4.4- million litre water tank of Japan International Corporation Agency-assisted water supply scheme at Observatory has no water in it. It is learnt that water is being diverted by providing direct connections from the transmission line.

Similarly, the water level in another major tank in Peroorkada has a level of only 0.5 million litres. The water level in Attukal, Iranimuttam and Thirumala tanks is only 1.3m.

Though water level is low, the KWA officials has claimed that the situation was improving due to the increase in the quantity of water pumped from Aruvikkara. "Now there is a 5 mld increase in water level.So the water level in Peroorkada tank has improved, mostly during the night when the consumption is low. Steps were taken to supply 10 mld within a week. The KWA has submitted a report to water resources minister on this," said KWA officials.

KWA is now conducting a trial of a new chemical to reduce the iron content in water, which gives a yellow colour to it. The KWA is using poly aluminium chloride during a five-day trial.

If the trial is successful in reducing the iron content, KWA will utilize it to check the menace, which is trouble during summer. Currently, KWA can supply only 5 mld as it requires more time to treat water due to its iron content. "Some water is used for washing out. Once the iron content is reduced with the treatment, we will be able to recycle the water which is now used for washing out," KWA officials said.