Bengaluru: Every drop of saved water counts in a water-starved city like Bengaluru and nothing can substantiate this argument better than the unaccounted for water (UFW) project. The success of this project and the water saved, helped Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launch an ambitious Rs 1,507 crore scheme to supply water to 110 villages on Wednesday.
The BWSSB is confident of saving 250 MLD water from the UFW project by 2019 and supply the same to the 110 villages, now part of BBMP, once the pipes are laid. At present the board is able to save 80 million litres of water per day (MLD).
Speaking to DC, a senior engineer associated with the UFW project on the condition of anonymity said "We have reduced the UFW percentage from 46 to 42 per cent now. We are saving 80 million litres of water (MLD) per day."
The UFW project faced too many hurdles in the core parts of the city as the roads were narrow and highly populated. The water pipes in core areas were 50 years old. They had to be phased out and leaks had to be plugged. "We have phased out 522 km of old pipelines since the commencement of the project," he said.
Stating that plugging leakages isn't an easy task, the senior engineer compared his work to an ill, old man. "It is like a old man visiting a dentist to get his tooth fixed. After fixing his tooth, due to weak immunity, another problem might arise and he may have to visit the doctor again and again. No different is the state of the project. If we plug leakages, another problem might arise in the supply chain which has to be addressed," he said.
"Even though it is challenging we are progressing steadily. The aim of the UFW project is to bring down the loss percentage to 16 percent. Even if we bring it down to 20 percent the board will be easily saving around 250 MLD of water," he explained.
He clarified that the in proportion to the water getting leaked, a large portion of water is guzzled by illegal connections and faulty meters which do not record the exact amount of water consumed and added that it will also be addressed by the board.
The project unwrapped
- Unaccounted for water project was launched in 2013 at an cost of Rs 700 crore.
- Aim of the project was to reduce the UFW percentage from 46 to 16 percent.
- Till date from UFW project, 80 MLD was saved. BWSSB supplies 1350 MLD to the city.
- Apart from leakage in the supply line, most of the water is guzzled by illegal connections and faulty meters.
- Water conserved through UFW will be supplied to 12 lakh people residing in 110 villages.
