The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is planning to implement a round-the-clock drink-from-tap water supply in core parts of the city instead of supplying to storage sumps in houses.
The water board is preparing a detailed project report to identify deficiencies in the water distribution network and chalk out improvement plans. The 24x7 facility has been implemented in cities like Puri in Odisha where water can be used directly from the tap for drinking and cooking, the officials said.
The pipelines made of cast iron or PVC in most areas are more than three or four decades old. This often led to problems in water reaching houses in the tailend of the network, besides causing leaks and contamination. At present, most pipes get choked as water supply is intermittent.
Officials said there were plans to improve the existing distribution system in core parts of the city such as Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar. This would be done as part of the project to set up a 400 million litres a day capacity desalination plant at Perur on the East Coast Road.
With an aim to provide round-the-clock equitable water supply, the water board plans to replace old pipes and provide additional ones in uncovered streets.
Overhead tanks
“We will construct overhead tanks and divide core parts as district metered areas (DMA) where boundary valves will be closed and pipes to neighbouring areas will be disconnected. This will help monitor the flow and leaks, water supplied and consumed and reduce non-revenue water,” said an official.
Only a few areas like Kilpauk, K.K. Nagar and Valluvar Kottam have the concept of supply from OHTs. However, as the supply is done only for limited hours and water is stored in sumps, consumers in the tailend areas of the network may not get sufficient quantities. Drinking water pumped into lines may flow to adjacent areas.
In the new system, more overhead tanks will be built and water supplied to only a particular ward after disconnecting all interlinked pipelines. Besides fixing flow meters in the pipelines, all the households will be provided with metered connections to tally supply and consumption.
The system has been designed to cater to the city’s projected population in the year 2055. The existing pipelines run for about 5,000 km in core areas. The CMWSSB has engaged a consultant to study the condition of pipelines, length of pipes to be replaced and the requirements for converting the existing system into a 24x7 water supply system.
Once the detailed project report for some core areas is completed by March, work will commence in the coming fiscal. Project report for the remaining areas will be completed by the year-end, the officials added.
