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Water Supply

New wards may get more drinking water soon

Monday, 01 April 2013 07:08 administrator
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The Hindu                        01.04.2013

New wards may get more drinking water soon

S. Ganesan

Commissioner asked to initiate a feasibility study on the scheme.

The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has decided to prepare a feasibility report and design a new scheme, either through the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board or a private consultant, to augment drinking water supply to residents of the five new wards on a par with other parts of the city.

The corporation has decided to execute a new drinking water scheme for the five new wards that have been added to it recently. The wards – 61 to 65 – are spread over Tiruverumbur Town Panchayat, and Pappakurichi, Ellakudi, Keezha Kalkandarkottai, and Alathur panchayats, all in the eastern suburbs of the city, were merged with the corporation following delimitation.

Though the areas are served by two combined drinking water schemes from Tiruverumbur, the corporation intends to increase the per capita water supply to the residents of the five wards to 135 litres a day on a par with other parts of the city and in line with the norms of Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation of the Union Urban Development Ministry.

At present, residents in the new wards are getting about 70 to 100 litres a day. The drinking water supply augmentation scheme under execution in the city with an investment of Rs. 221.42 crore with assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency, designed prior to the merger of the civic bodies, will not cater to the five wards.

The council at its recent meeting approved a resolution empowering the Commissioner to initiate necessary action.

The TWAD Board or the consultant would be asked to prepare a feasibility report and the detailed project report and design the new water scheme and identify funding options.

The council approved tenders for hiring private water tankers to fill the PVC tanks, each of 2,000 litres capacity, at 56 places in the five wards. The move is a temporary measure until a new scheme is executed.

 

Proposal to augment water supply to five added areas

Monday, 01 April 2013 05:37 administrator
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The Hindu                     01.04.2013

Proposal to augment water supply to five added areas

 
Pipelines to be laid for 327.64 km.

There is good news from the Coimbatore Corporation to the residents of Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli, Veerakeralam, Kurichi and Kuniamuthur. The civic body has readied a proposal for improving drinking water supply in the five areas, which, until recently, were outside the Corporation limits.

The new proposal is consequent upon a resolution the Corporation passed in the recent past.

According to sources, the Corporation’s proposal for a little over Rs. 28 crore is aimed at improving the drinking water supply in the aforementioned localities by laying new pipelines (distribution main lines) to convey drinking water.

Distribution main

At present, the sources say, the Corporation is forced to supply potable and non-potable water through the same pipeline network, because of which the quality, regularity and uniformity of drinking water gets affected. The size of the distribution main is also insufficient to meet the future needs.

The proposal says that the civic body will lay pipelines for 327.64 km – nearly 100 km at Rs. 6.36 crore in Kavundampalayam, nearly 100 km at Rs. 6.69 crore in Vadavalli, 57.93 km at Rs. 5.02 crore in Kurichi and nearly 77 km at Rs. 6.35 crore in Kuniamuthur.

The Corporation is also planning to link the Pilloor II pipeline network with the Aliyar’s.

As per the new proposal the Corporation will increase the water supply from the current 70 litres per capita per day (lpcd) to 135 lpcd, increase the size of the distribution main to 110 to 160 mm diameter, use HDPE (high-density polyethylene) pipes instead of the current PVC and have a metered tariff system.

Another reason for the Corporation to revamp the pipelines, the proposal justifies, is that the five localities have a population that they were expected to reach only in 2021.

Fund

The sources say that the Corporation has asked the State Government to sanction the funds under the Integrated Urban Development Mission scheme as it will be not in a position to take it up on its own, given the financial commitment it has. The sources add that the civic body will forward soon the proposal to the Government for approval.

 

Borewells to be revived to augment Chennai’s water supply

Monday, 01 April 2013 05:33 administrator
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The Hindu                           01.04.2013

Borewells to be revived to augment Chennai’s water supply

K. Lakshmi

Focus on well fields in Poondi, Tamaraipakkam and floodplains near Kosasthalaiyar river

This summer, Chennai Metrowater’s well fields in Tiruvallur district will be rejuvenated after a gap of nearly a decade to tackle water shortage in the city.

The fast-depleting resources in the reservoirs, the major suppliers of drinking water to the city, have set the focus on well fields in Poondi, Tamaraipakkam and floodplains near Kosasthalaiyar river. Besides rejuvenating the 20 borewells in these well fields, the water agency plans to sink 16 more borewells to augment water supply.

The water agency recently called for tender to revive the well fields. At present, the four reservoirs in Poondi, Cholavaram, Chembarambakkam and Red Hills have a combined storage of 4,090 million cubic feet, which is 37 per cent of their total capacity. Supply from Veeranam tank and Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh too has been minimal for want of resources.

With surface water resources fast drying up, the water agency is now tapping the groundwater potential in its well fields in Tiruvallur district to sustain the drinking water supply of 831 million litres a day (mld). Some areas, including Sridevikuppam and Brindavan Nagar in Valasaravakkam and T. Nagar, are already complaining of low water pressure and reduction in piped water supply.

The water agency owns six well fields in Minjur, Tamaraipakkam, Panchetti, Poondi and Kannigaiper and floodplains in various areas along the Kosasthalaiyar river.

Of the over 60 borewells in these well fields, water is being drawn from only 20 borewells. Metrowater stopped extracting water from Panchetti and Kannigaiper and most parts of Minjur a decade ago as the yield had reduced. The water table has dipped in these areas as several farmers too use groundwater for agriculture. A limited amount of one to two mld is being extracted from the Minjur well field to provide water to industrial belt. Similarly, a negligible amount is being drawn from the southern aquifer along the East Coast Road.

Officials of Chennai Metrowater said about 20 mld of water would be drawn from the new borewells that would be sunk up to a depth of 100 feet.

“We take up regular maintenance of the borewells. But this work worth Rs. 4 crore will involve flushing of aquifer and also improving infrastructure for drawal,” said an official. The water extracted from the wells would be transmitted to the treatment plant in Poondi and then provided for drinking water supply. “We plan to complete the work within two months to tackle water shortage this year,” said an official.

 
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