Coimbatore Corporation has started testing the efficacy of the improved drinking water distribution system in Jayaram Nagar, near Telugupalayam. The Corporation had recently completed all the works in a portion of the locality, including giving house service connection and fixing of new water meters.
Sources familiar with the development said the Corporation had taken up for the pilot study 74 of the 2,086 water connections in the area, to which it supplied Siruvani water. It started the test since July 1 and in the last 13 days the corporation had found out that not only the supply was good but also the pressure at which it supplied water.
Prior to the study, the corporation supplied once in seven to 10 days in the area at one metre to two metres pressure. But now it supplied water 24x7 – that is the residents could use as and when they wanted – while maintaining the pressure between 14 and 18 m.
The pressure indicated the height to which water reached, without pumping.
Prior to taking up the study, the corporation replaced the old water readying meters. The old metres were of low standard. The new ones were class two, multi-jet meters which showed water consumed with greater accuracy than the old ones, the sources added.
In addition to replacing the meters, the corporation had installed bulk water meters at two critical points. The total reading of the two meters should match the total of the 74 meters and if it did not it meant that there was a leakage or it was non-revenue water, the sources explained.
The corporation had been studying the water supply, quantity consumed, readings from the meters, etc. and would very soon come out with the findings. Thereafter, it would extend the test area to include all the 2,086 connections in Jayaram Nagar and this would be by the end of September, this year.
Though the corporation had first taken up R.S. Puram as the pilot area to test the efficacy of the 24x7 drinking water scheme, it chose Jayaram Nagar because it had completed all the works in the area, the sources said and added that the result from the study would prove that the corporation would be able to supply water 24x7, as and when the residents want. The corporation is implementing the 24x7 drinking water supply scheme through Suez India Pvt. Ltd. in 60 of the 100 wards that constitute the old city area.
At ₹2,972 crore, the corporation has planned to improve drinking water supply to more than 1.50 lakh households and commercial establishments in such a way that they get water 24 hours a day, seven days a week.