COIMBATORE: Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) on Monday launched a smart 24x7 water supply project at Cheran Nagar in Kavundampalayam. According to CCMC sources, this is the first-of-its-kind IoT based water supply project and is funded by Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology - Water Technology Initiative (DST-WTI).
The project was developed by a professor of PSG College of Technology and executed by CCMC along with SMINT TIQ Pvt Ltd. The Rs 2.5 crore project was proposed in 2018 but the implementation was delayed due to the pandemic.
Addressing media persons, CCMC deputy commissioner M Sharmila said 1800 houses will benefit from the project. The first phase will cover 400 houses. Each household will be supplied 675 litres of water in 24 hours. The SCADA based system will monitor the leve in the OHT in the area which has capacity of 6 lakh litres. Sharmila added that the project would be expanded to other areas in the city depending on response from public.
Dr A Soundarrajan, professor in the EEE department of PSG College Technology, who invented the system along with assistant professor B Nishanthi and HoD Kanagaraj, explained, “This is a 2-year pilot project. The system is implemented through 5 DMAs (Distribution Metering Area) where a total of 1,800 houses will receive an equal amount of water. We will supply 675 litres (4+1) to each house 24x7 every day.”
For this, two DMAs and 33 sub-DMAs are installed in the area which will monitor and control water supply.
K Pandiaraja, CEO of SMINT TIQ Pvt Ltd, told TNIE “The distributed water quality is monitored through a Water Quality Analyzer (WQA) panel installed at each stage of the water supply and distribution from the water source to the consumer end. The parameters including are monitored through a remote WQA panel at each stage and are logged in the server and controlled using a smart phone application from any location.”
A few residents, however, voiced doubts over how the project will be implemented. The officials explained that residents can avail of 675 litres at one go or in installments in a 24-hour hour period. Once their alotted amount is supplied the system will cut off supplyIf residents need more water for special occasions, they must inform the contact the respective Assistant Engineer a day in advance and they will be supplied additional 300 litres. They will be charged for the additional water.