After a gap of nearly a decade, a water metering system is set to be implemented in the city. Nearly 10 years ago, Chennai Metrowater tried to introduce water meters. But, it received lukewarm response and was eventually given up. This time, the Metrowater has targeted commercial establishments to fix digital water meters. This will be one of the early projects to be executed by the Metrowater under the Smart City Mission.
As part of its efforts to ensure judicious use of drinking water and check unaccounted water supply, the water agency has identified nearly 12,700 water-intensive buildings, including educational institutions, hospitals, during the first phase. Tenders have been floated for the ₹ 9.7-crore project and digital meters would be fixed in three or four months. While consumers would have to pay for the meter, tariff is yet to be decided for the metering system. This would help in assessing the water consumption pattern and also encourage water conservation, officials said.
Smart card system
Unaccounted water supply and transmission loss are some of the major issues in water distribution. With no proper accounting system, the water agency has proposed to implement smart card based online monitoring system for tanker supply. At present, about 700 lorries operate nearly 6,000 trips daily. Officials said there are chances for water spillage as the valves are being operated manually. As the accounts of daily trips too are being maintained manually, illegal trips are common in some places.
To assess the number of trips and also save the water that otherwise gets wasted, the water agency will install automated water distribution system units that would allow water flow once the smart cards is swiped. The units would be installed in 41 filling stations at a cost of ₹11.75 crore.
Curbing illegal trips
“Funds have been allotted and tender would soon be floated for the project. This will enable us to arrest illegal trips as the system can be supervised from the headquarters. Spillage can be controlled and lorries diverted to areas that require more water,” said an official.
The material of pipeline has changed from PVC to ductile iron over the past decade. But, it has not arrested leakage completely. Officials said that as of now, there was no proper mechanism to assess the volume of water received, treated and distributed. “We assess water distribution only through manual calculation based on pumpset efficiency. There are plans to fix electromagnetic flow meters at all treatment plants and water distribution stations to check the volume of water at every level of treatment and supply,” said an official.
This would enable the water managers to assess the exact volume of raw water received and the volume that reaches the consumers.
The flow meters, which would be fixed in 251 locations at a cost of ₹11.63 crore, would transmit real time data to the online system and used to schedule water supply according to requirement and fix the losses. Metrowater plans to implement both the projects in six or seven months.
