BENGALURU: The high presence of silt in Cauvery water due to the rain has forced Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to reduce the supply of water to the city by 23 million litres of water per day (MLD) for the last couple of days. As a result, complaints of water shortage have trickled in from Bengaluru South.BWSSB draws water from the Shiva Anicut Reservoir, which is nearly 100km from the city, and pumps a maximum of 1,453 MLD to the city.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, engineer in-chief, BWSSB, Kemparamaiah said that heavy rain in the catchment areas of the Krishna Raja Sagar as well as Kabini dams has ensured release of additional water from them. “Due to the force in which water gushes, there has been much soil erosion resulting in high turbidity (huge silt deposits) in the water that reaches TK Halli dam. Also, due to the enormous force, a lot of weed and other floating matter has joined the water. These two factors have resulted in reduction in the amount of water that can be supplied to the city,” he said.
BWSSB used to pump 1,453 MLD of water until last week. “From Sunday, we have only been pumping 1,430 MLD of water. This situation is likely to continue for a short while,” he said. Asked about the impact of it on the water needs of Bengalureans, Kemparamaiah said that complaints were received from Jayanagar, Koramangala and Ejipura on Monday and Tuesday. “The water stored due to rainwater harvesting systems at homes and improvement in water levels in borewells due to recharge of groundwater caused by rains are helping in dealing with the shortage and there is no major crisis,” the Kemparamaiah added.
BWSSB’s chief engineer of Kaveri Division S V Ramesh said normalcy in water supply would be restored by Friday (August 16). “The deposit of sludge due to the turbidity in water is high and this has resulted in a reduction in rate of filtration. For the last three days, engineers of the Kaveri division have been working day and night to clear the dissolved air flotation nozzles attached to the aeration tanks in TK Halli.”
He said the turbidity was 205 NPU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) on Sunday which reduced to 86 NTU by Tuesday. “We expect it to touch between 10 and 12 NPU within the next three days, which is the normal level,” the CE said.