CHENNAI: Porur Lake will henceforth be a permanent drinking water source for Chennai, according to the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister S P Velumani who on Tuesday opened the drinking water scheme that will provide the city with an additional 4 million litres a day (MLD).
Now the lake has 100 million cubic feet (mcft) of water which could last for 100 days. The lake’s capacity is 500 mcft.
The water samples of Porur Lake were tested at Kings Institute, Guindy before giving the green signal for distribution to the city. It will benefit the residents of Valasaravakkam, KK Nagar and Alandur.
The water, pumped out using two 50 HP pumps, will go through a three-stage filteration process at the treatment plant built for Rs 1.85 crores.
A Metro Water spokesman said the filters for the treatment plat were being imported from Israel. “We have added 300 m of pipeline to link it with the Veeranam pipeline which passes through the lake, the spokesman said.The lake had a Rs 20 crore rejuvenation work by the Water Resources Department (WRD). At present, the lake has water only along the portion abutting the Mount Poonamallee High Road.
Chennai feeder
Chennai is getting 200 MLD from desalination plants in Nemelli and Minjur
120 MLD is obtained from farm wells
80 MLD is supplied to the city from the Neyveli mines
30 MLD of potable water is delivered to the city from 22 stone quarries in Sikkarayapuram
4 MLD of additional water from Porur lake has been supplied to the city from Tuesday