In a bid to reduce wastage of water and identify leaks, Metrowater will fix flow meters along the distribution network transporting water from the desalination plant in Nemmeli.
Besides catering to areas such as Thiruvanmiyur and Akkarai, water is tapped to supply to added areas such as Sholinganallur, Ullagaram and Neelankarai.
The network has four distribution stations — in Akkarai, Thiruvanmiyur, Velachery and Nemmeli — and desalinated water is sent to various areas through a pipeline covering 64 km in south Chennai.
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About 100 million litres of water is treated at the Nemmeli desalination plant every day and fed into the pipeline.
Water supply through the transmission pipeline is measured based on the volume received alone. So far, any leaks or illegal tapping could not be ascertained.
Water from this network is significant to added areas such as Kottivakkam and Vettuvankeni as availability of groundwater and surface water is limited there.
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As part of its efforts to assess leaks in pipelines and public taps and improve supply, the water agency plans to fix bulk water flow meters enabled with telemetry system. Flow meters have already been fixed along the pipeline in various parts of the city.
The telemetry system will help officials monitor water meter readings and identify leaks. Sensors built in with the flow meters will be used to communicate data to the control room and send text messages to mobile phones.
Battery-operated
Battery-operated flow meters are expected to be fixed to transmit data even during power failure.
The work will be taken up at a cost of Rs. 1.5 crore, including provision of 10 electromagnetic flow meters, along with telemetry system. This will be integrated with a centralised matrix display system functioning at the Metrowater head office, said a press release.