With complaints of irregular, polluted and insufficient water supply pouring in, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is considering restoring the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system – a software-enabled project to fix issues pertaining to supply of quality and quantity of water to residents, according to senior officials.
As part of the system, sensors are installed at head water works, reservoirs and distribution networking points to asses the quantity and quality of water supplied from a source point to various residential areas. The system measures and records parameters like quantity, quality, processing and time-stamping of water supply.
In addition to quantity measurement like flow rate and water level, the system also checks the chlorine content at the water treatment plant as also during distribution. The system was installed by the corporation in 2010. But, owing to financial constraints, the project was shelved.
Of late, the city has been facing problems such as overflowing pipelines, leakages and variations in chlorine level. A large quantity of treated water is lost owing to overflows and leakages at service reservoirs. Residents had complained about them during the Dial Your Commissioner programme early this week.
“Giving in to the demand to ensure prompt, regular and sufficient water supply, the VMC now is proposing to restore the SCADA. The system generates reports on early or late filling of reservoirs, early or late distribution, low or high chlorine and overflows, and the water supply engineer can rectify the same,” VMC Commissioner G. Veerapandian said.
Further, the chlorine chart informs the user of the quantity of chlorine to be mixed with water during distribution. A private company was identified through tenders to install and maintain the system, and corporation had paid Rs. 8 lakh for the purpose. Efforts are onto restore the system and tenders would be invited shortly, he added.
