Showers improve drinking water supply

Coimbatore: The city residents could heave a sigh of relief, as the drinking water supply situation has improved in the corporation limits. Now, the gap between two cycles of water supply has come down to a minimum of once a week from once in 15 days, thanks to the widespread rainfall in the catchment areas of Siruvani and Pillur reservoirs, which provide water to the city.
On Friday, water level in the Siruvani dam was recorded at 9.28ft, while it was 85.45ft in Pillur, the two main sources of drinking water for the city.

Corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said the frequency of water supply before June was once every 15 days. Thanks to the recent showers, the gap between the two cycles of water supply has come down to less than five days in 75 wards of the city, while 25 wards receive supply once a week.
Water is provided to the city from the six master storage reservoirs, from where it is pumped to the storage reservoirs in the wards. From there, water is distributed to the households. “Previously, we were first filling the storage reservoirs and then supplying water to the households. Each time, it takes a minimum of four hours to fill each service reservoir. Now, we are supplying water to the and filling the storage reservoirs simultaneously,” the corporation commissioner said.
Recently, the civic body successfully conducted a trial run in seven wards in the south zone, where water was supplied every three days, thanks to the Pillur-III scheme.
“People no longer need to wait for the storage reservoir to fill. We plan to follow the same strategy in other wards to further reduce the gap between two cycles of water supply,” the corporation commissioner said.
Once the 24x7 drinking water supply project is implemented, the demand for water would reduce, he said. “Initially, the demand may increase, but it will stabilize as people become aware of the availability and use water only as needed. Water usage will be measured for each household using automatic meters, and charges will be collected accordingly.”
The corporation is now receiving only 44 million litres of water per day (MLD) against the designated quantity of 98.12 MLD from Siruvani. “During normal days, we receive approximately 80 MLD from Siruvani. We expect more rain this monsoon, which will further improve the water level and increase our supply,” the corporation commissioner said.
He said they were also planning to carry out maintenance work at the Siruvani reservoir. “In this regard, the Kerala government has sent a letter to the dam safety authority in Pune. They will come to inspect and suggest methods to maintain the dam. The Kerala government will execute the work and we will deposit the amount required for the same.”