Chennai Metro Rail launches recovery and reuse plant to preserve water

CHENNAI: As a step towards achieving its sustainable goals, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on Monday launched an air conditioning condensate water recovery and reuse plant in Nandanam.

As per the CMRL press note, the condensate water recovery and reuse plant is conceived and designed to collect the condensate water from all the Air Handling Units (AHUs) and Ceiling Suspended Units (CSUs) located in all the floors and reuse it for domestic usage.

This project enables CMRL to generate an average of 10,000 litres of water every day, which amounts to approximately 25% of the total water consumption of the building. The plant was designed and installed by CMRL electrical and mechanical (O&M) wing at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakh and the plant results in a generation of 3,650 kilo litres water every year (average) and a recurring annual savings of Rs 6 lakh every year towards water charges.

This initiative aligns with CMRL’s ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ principle and marks a significant step towards preserving water. Meanwhile, CMRL building is certified with Indian Green Building Council – platinum standards, for the design of the structure. The building has 43 AHUs and 29 CSUs for providing air conditioning and cooling across all the floors and critical rooms with an installed capacity of 1,750 TR.

“During the air conditioning process, humid air condenses while passing through the cooling coils of AHUs and the water droplets are captured in the drain pan, which in normal course would be discharged as wastewater,” the note added.