KWA new treatment plant by 2024 to meet demand for drinking water

Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials have received technical sanction for the construction of a second water treatment plant at Aluva with a 142 million litres per day (MLD) capacity.
Representational Image. (File Photo)
Representational Image. (File Photo)

KOCHI: Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials have received technical sanction for the construction of a second water treatment plant at Aluva with a 142 million litres per day (MLD) capacity. The plant will cost Rs 180 crore and is expected to be completed by 2024.

“The new water treatment plant will provide water supply to Aluva, Kalamassery, Thrikkakara, and Eloor municipalities, as well as Edathala and Keezhumad panchayat. Once the plant starts operation, the supplies from the main Aluva plant will be detached. This will bring an increase of over 50 MLD to Kochi city, “ said Jochan Joseph, superintending engineer, KWA, Kochi.

“The tenders for the plant will be called within a week. By June, the construction work on the plant is expected to begin, “ he added. Jochan also said that with the commissioning of the new plant, the rising demand for drinking water by 2050 can be achieved.

Apart from the demand gap, another major issue faced by the KWA is rectifying the leakages.
“At least 15 to 20 per cent of the water is lost during transmission. To identify the leak, we dig up roads and check pipes for any leaks. While the whole process is going on, sometimes to identify the suspected leaks, the nearby areas are also dug up. Till the rectification is done, the supply is disrupted, and it’s a time-consuming process, “ said a KWA engineer.

As a solution to end the time-consuming process, Jochan said that KWA has introduced a water stethoscope, a device to identify water leaks without digging roads. “The device needs to be connected to the suspected water metre in the supply line of the consumers to detect any leak. If the pressure is low, it means the line has a leakage and it can be rectified, “ he said. “This will prevent us from manually going and digging up roads, which has a huge cost,” he added.

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