BENGALURU: The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has set up four separate teams along with scientists of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to modernise its water supply network and boost its efficiency across the city. Top BWSSB officials, scientists and engineers from IISc have been roped into these teams.
BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath told TNIE that the objective was to benefit from expert guidance in managing various aspects of the water department. “We want to use cutting edge technology to modernise the systems in place at the water board. Orders to create such teams were issued a week ago,” he said.
Each team will deal with hydraulics, sensors, unaccounted for water supply and leakages, electrical systems and upgrades. “We are looking at a long term partnership with these top officials. Initially, the ideas will be implemented in specific projects. They can be extended to other projects in the long run,” the chairman said.
Some of them are already members of the technical committee of the Water Supply Board which scrutinises projects, Girinath added.
The Unaccounted For Water Project was started in the city in 2013 to drastically reduce the wastage of water in the city. “We have now brought down the UFW in the city to nearly 37%,” said a senior official.
Professor Mohan Kumar of the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Department at IISc, said, “The idea is to boost the efficiency of the overall water supply network by reducing leakage and improving electrical supply systems used for pumping. It is at an initial stage only.”