The Hindu 05.04.2013
KWA to install 450-hp pump at Sasthamcotta
Going down:The pump house of the Kerala Water Authority on the banks of
Sasthamcotta Lake. The level in the feeding channel has come down.—
Photo: C. Suresh Kumar.
Water supply to Kollam city to be improved.
In order to improve water supply to Kollam city, the
Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is installing a new 450-hp pump to draw
water from Sasthamcotta Lake. The pump, expected to start operating in
two weeks, will complement the existing 250-hp pump at the KWA pump
house at Sasthamcotta.
According to the KWA, the new
pump is being installed because the flow through the feeding channel of
the pump house has become weak following a big drop in the lake’s water
level. The water level has fallen by over one metre compared to the
level in the same period last year. This has affected supply to the city
badly.
While earlier the city was provided with
daily water supply for a couple of hours in the morning, following the
fall in the channel’s flow, the city was bifurcated into two zones by
the KWA and supply provided on alternate days to each zone. The system
is operating without much complaint as the supply is largely seen to be
satisfactory.
The new pump has been installed at a
location where the water has appreciable depth. It will feed the feeding
channel of the pump house.
This will improve the
water position in the pump house well and in turn enable the pump house
to supply more water to the treatment plant and in the process improve
supply to the city. Since the water wells in many areas of the city have
gone dry because of the drought situation, people are depending more
and more on the KWA supply.
The water treatment plant
at Sasthamcotta has an installed capacity to treat 37.5 million litres
of water per day. But the current water level in the lake permits an
intake of only 28 million litres per day. Since the flow through the
feeder channel has fallen considerably, only about 15 million litres of
water per day is being pumped now.
KWA authorities
hope that when the new pump is operated the pump house will be in a
position to draw 28 million litres of water per day. But if the water
level in the lake continues to drop, that much intake may not be
possible. Still, the supply to Kollam will be comparatively better.
