The Hindu 28.08.2012
An account soon, of every drop of drinking water
To increase accountability in water supply management,
Chennai Metrowater will soon implement a system where the entire
process, from sourcing to distribution of drinking water to residents,
will be monitored through a centralised online network.
The
water agency floated a tender recently to implement the project using
real-time data acquisition and a matrix display system.
According
to sources in Metrowater, the centralised city water supply network
will help the agency monitor the status of supply daily.
Electronic
data acquisition equipment would be installed at the withdrawal points
of five water bodies, including the one at Veeranam, at the four water
treatment plants as well at the 16 water distribution stations to gain
access to the volume of water drawn, treated and distributed. Ultrasonic
open channel-flow measuring units would also be installed at the entry
point of the Kandaleru-Poondi canal near Uthukottai. The data would then
be transferred through a wireless device and received at the head
office in Chintradripet.
Leakage in Chennai, according to Metrowater, is 11-12 per cent of the 830 million litres supplied daily.“The
centralised system will help us assess the exact extent of loss of
water during transmission from one facility to another. We can then
chalk out measures to prevent it,” said an official.
The digital data collected at various points will be made available through a GPRS/GSM-based network.It
will then be processed, and images of reports, charts and tables of
lake storage, volume drawn and transmitted for treatment and the volume
of water pumped to distribution stations and supplied into the piped
network will be displayed.
Once the system is
installed, officials at the headquarters in Chintadripet will be able to
analyse the data and improve the system. The Rs. 2-crore project is
expected to be implemented in four to six months.
Welcoming
the initiative, residents want the project to be expanded to the
pipeline network to deal with water supply complaints. The technology
could be adopted to detect problems of low water pressure, pipeline
bursts and sewage mixing in drinking water, S. Radhika, a resident of
Aminjikarai, said.
Metrowater will implement a system to monitor the entire process, from sourcing to distribution
