The Hindu 11.09.2009

NIC roped in to help monitor water quality

J.S. Ifthekhar

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has decided to keep a tab on its staff who collect water samples and test its quality. An average of 1,500 samples are collected everyday and the same tested for presence of residual chlorine.

But the authorities are not sure from where exactly these samples are taken and how many tests done everyday.

With a view to fixing responsibility, the sample collectors will now be asked to feed the information and forward it to the head office immediately.

The National Informatics Centre has been roped in to develop a simple, but effective application that can be put in the mobile phones carried by the sample collectors. All that they have to do is to key in the door number, area and residual chlorine in the water sample collected by them and send it across to the Board office.

“This is an easy solution. At the end of the day we will know how many samples are collected and from where,” says Board’s managing director M.T. Krishna Babu.

There are about 30 sample takers who go around the city and randomly collect the water samples. About 300 to 400 points are examined daily by the Board’s Quality Assurance and Testing wing. And on the basis of the monitoring data, managers of different reservoirs are advised to adjust the booster chlorination to ensure the presence of a minimum of 0.2 ppm of chlorine in the tail-end taps.

The NIC has already developed the application and it will be put to use after giving training to the staff. “Next week we will start working on this device,” Mr. Krishna Babu said.

After the Bholakpur incident, people are not ready to accept the Board’s word and are checking the chlorine level in water on their own. Therefore, the Board has decided to improve monitoring of quality of water supplied by it.

With a large number of water-borne diseases, including viral fevers, dengue, chikungunya prevailing in the city, authorities do not want to take any chances with the quality of water.

The NIC application would help keep a close tab on its staff and also generate a data base at the end of the day, it is said.

The Times of India 10.09.2009

Ahead of monsoon, Metrowater seeks to create awareness about RWH among city residents

Vivek Narayanan, TNN 10 September 2009, 04:51am IST

CHENNAI: Did you know that if rainwater harvesting (RWH) is implemented properly across the city (174 sq km), nearly 42 lakh people can receive 150 litres everyday? To create awareness about such benefits and to educate people about the maintenance of RWH structures, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) conducted a training programme on Wednesday for Chennai residents at it's training centre in Aynavaram.

Nearly 100 members belonging to various residential associations attended the training programme. Speaking at the inauguration, CMWSSB managing director Shiv Dass Meena said that due to increase in groundwater very little water was being drawn from lakes around the city. "Before 2005, we were drawing nearly 125 million litres from Poondi, Araniyar and Kosalaiyar lakes. Since we have saved rainwater over the years, only 30 million litres are being drawn now," he said.

According to Meena, the water needs of two municipalities can be met if a minimum of six million litres is saved a day. "With the northeast monsoon expected from October, RWH must be practised by all residents. This year, the southwest monsoon rain was very less in Chennai, only 56% of the normal rainfall," he said.

According to the engineering director, CMWSSB, G Elangovan, the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in Minjur had reduced from 2,000 TDS to 600 TDS after groundwater got recharged, thanks to RWH.

Among those who attended the programme were members of the Rotract Club, Chennai. They propose to create awareness about RWH and maintenance of RWH structures in nearly 60 colleges and 100 schools in Chennai. They have sought permission from CMWSSB to do so.

"We conduct a meeting of college Rotract Club presidents frequently. At these meetings, we suggest projects that can be highlighted. This time, we will ask them to create awareness about RWH among college students and, through them, among society at large," said David, one of the members of the club.

A Thangam, organiser of the Integrated Child Development Scheme in Mogappair said that water levels had improved in schools in Mogappair where RWH was conducted.

"Earlier, there was a lot of problems when RWH structures were not installed. It was hard to get water. Now we are at ease. We will be spreading the message about RWH in other centres too," said Thangam.