Chennai can save up to Rs 1,000 crore per year in water: Expert

Chennai: Chennai can save up to Rs 1,000 crore per year if it reduces 20 per cent of non revenue water (NRW) loss, according to Ashok Natarajan, CEO, Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company Limited.

Speaking to DC on the sidelines of a workshop here, he said, the Tamil Nadu government was interested in reducing NRW loss, but the recent floods in Chennai have temporarily stopped the initiatives.

Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is supplying 1,400 million litres per day and one-third of the water is coming from  desalination plants.

“Chennai is having about 50 per cent of NRW loss where ideally the loss should be around 15 per cent. Even if we are able to reduce the NRW to 30 per cent we can save up to 300 million litres per day and we can save around '1,000 crore per year,” Ashok Natarajan said.

Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, six cities in Tamil Nadu, including Vellore, Coimbatore and Hosur, will have improved water supply system. “We have given the report to the state government,” he added.

He said water would be measured from the source to end connection in these cities. Assets mapping will be done and to detect leakage and corrosion of water pipes, localisation and trenchless technologies will be used.

“If we reduce 25 per cent of consumption, we can supply water to the periphery areas of Chennai, which are newly added to the corporation,” he said.

“Even for smart cities, reduction of NRW is an important factor. We will come out with schemes for recycling of water and better distribution management, segregation of customers, accurate metering and pipelines without leakages,” he added.