The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which has the largest network of underground infrastructure in the city, claims to have mapped all its pipelines in varying degrees of accuracy.
While officials said all new pipelines are mapped with GIS, older pipeline networks are constantly updated in a map that has been shared with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Nearly 9,000 km of pipelines, even in older areas, have been mapped, said an official.
The board has been helped largely by the Unaccounted Flow of Water project, which replaced old, leaking pipes, as well as projects to replace older pipes when there are complaints of contamination. “We have some degree of reliability for over 95% of the network. Whenever we find an older pipeline, we calculate its rough alignment by drawing a straight line between successive valves or manholes,” says Tushar Girinath, Chairman, BWSSB. This method is not entirely accurate, with an official in BWSSB saying it could predict with a 75% accuracy the exact alignment of the line — that is, within 1-2 metres — while details of depth under the ground cannot be ascertained.
