The Hindu 04.04.2013
Water quality monitors at 50 spots soon
In
a few months, Chennai Metrowater will introduce automated inline water
quality monitoring system to constantly check the quality of water
supplied to residents.
On Tuesday, municipal
administration and water supply minister, K.P. Munusamy, announced in
the State Assembly that the monitoring devices would be fixed at 50
spots across the city, at a cost of Rs. 1.8 crore.
At
present, field staff members of Metrowater manually collect 3,500 water
samples every day, from water distribution stations to domestic service
connections.
According to an official, once the
GSM/GPRS-enabled integrated water quality monitoring system is in place,
Metrowater will be able to continuously monitor the quality of drinking
water.
The devices that will be attached to
pipelines in various places, including MRC Nagar and Anna Nagar, will
test quality during the hourly flow of water. The sensors in the device
will transmit the data to a central control room to be set up in the
head office.
Three parameters — turbidity, residual
chlorine and PH levels — will be monitored at regular intervals during a
day. At present, it takes time to test samples in a water lab, detect
contamination and communicate to the authorities concerned. This causes a
delay in the rectification process.
With the new
system, officials need not wait for complaints on contamination or lab
test results to rectify a contamination problem.
Similarly,
sewage overflows are expected to be minimised, particularly during the
monsoon. For the first time in the State, Metrowater will implement
automated operations in the 218 pumping stations across the city. Now,
the sewage stations are operated manually.
Ultrasonic
level detectors will be installed in sewage-collection wells to
automatically pump sewage when the level is high and stop when the flow
is low.
Minister Munusamy said in the Assembly that
the amount of drinking water supplied to city residents would be
increased from the existing 831 million litres a day (MLD) to 1,000 MLD
by 2016, when the various projects to create new water sources are
completed.
