Metrowater to bust buildings sans STPs

Speaking at ‘Chennai Water Management’ conference organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai on Thursday, T Prabhushankar, the executive director of Metrowater said that the sewage treatment plants are mandated by the building rules. “We have decided to serve notices to around to 10,000 buildings that lack sewage treatment plants,” he added.

Explaining the steps taken to recycle and reuse sewage, Prabhushankar said that the detailed project reports are under preparation to treat sewage using Tertiary Treatment Ultra Filtration (TTUF) and let the treated water into more than 200 water bodies in the city.

“We will start a metering system to measure the amount of water supplied to consumers. Already meters are provided to industries. Meters will be provided to 12,500 buildings with commercial connections,” he said.

In order to augment new reservoirs for the city’s water supply, Prabhushankar hinted that the abandoned quarries are being converted into additional reservoirs. 

The water manager is also identifying lakes inside the city to implement a decentralised water distribution system. Presently, the Metrowater is drawing water from Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Redhills and Cholavaram lakes that are located outside the city.

Meanwhile, Harmander Singh, additional secretary, Municipal administration and water supply department said that the government is taking up several water management projects at a total cost of Rs 14,000 crore.

Debunking the reports saying that the city is headed towards ‘zero-day’, Harmander Singh said that the Metrowater was supplying 525 million litres per day and the private players were supplying 250 million litres per day. “Middle-class families, who were over depending on borewells only were affected. The government is preparing water reuse policy,” he added.

According to Metrowater claims, the city would have all-weather the water supply of 1,150 million litres per day by 2025.