The Hindu     17.08.2012

Plant nears completion

The city will soon get another source to meet its drinking water demand. The upcoming desalination plant at Nemmeli, about 35 km south of Chennai along the East Coast Road, will be operational in two or three months.

The second desalination plant in the city, it will have a capacity to treat 100 million litres of water (mld) a day. Sources said that nearly 92 per cent of the work had been completed. The project will be completed by September-end, an official said.

The first desalination plant is located at Minjur and can treat about 100 mld of water.Sources at VA Tech Wabag, which has been entrusted with the construction of the plant, said the operation and maintenance of the plant is expected to be commissioned by October or November.

On Thursday, municipal administration and rural development minister K.P. Munusamy inspected the Nemmeli plant . In a press release, he said treated water from the facility would be supplied to residents soon.

At present, Metrowater supplies about 830 million litres a day to the city through pipelines and tankers. Water from Nemmeli plant would help balance the loss of supply from Veeranam tank for want of sufficient storage.