New layouts to have dual water supply system

New layouts to have dual water supply system
The Hindu

BWSSB has drawn up a plan to boost use of recycled water and prevent ground water exploitation

# The system will have lines for potable water and recycled water
# Committee to be set up to monitor the system
# BMP, Pollution Control Board and other agencies to be involved
# BDA will draw dual lines in its new layouts, including Arkavathy Layout

BANGALORE: To ensure use of recycled water and prevent over-exploitation of ground water, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has drawn up a plan to put in place a dual water supply system in all new layouts and apartment complexes coming up in the city.

The new system will have two water lines — one for potable water and the other for recycled water.

BWSSB officials are working on a proposal to set up a committee to monitor the implementation of such a system in new buildings.

It is also thinking of involving all the other service providers, including the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and the State Pollution Control Board, in this endeavour, according to the officials.

To start with, BWSSB has asked the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to set up a dual water supply system in all its new layouts.

The BDA has decided to put up lines for potable and recycled water in all its new ventures, including the Arkavathy Layout, a senior BDA official has said.

Though builders of over 30 new apartment complexes coming up in and around the city have also been asked to install dual lines for potable and recycled water, the officials said they are unable to strictly enforce the system as they have no powers to do so.

BWSSB Chief Engineer (Corporate Planning and Waste Water Management) T. Venkataraju told The Hindu on Monday that a dual water supply system would be inevitable in the next five years as the use of water would become intensive.

"We want such a system mandatorily put in place by then. Only then it will be possible to meet the water needs of the growing city," Mr. Venkataraju said.

Pointing out that recycling and re-use were necessary, he said the depleting sources of water could not give the projected 2,171 million litres of water a day the city would need by 2025.

Recycled water

To boost the use of recycled water, BWSSB has reduced the rate of treated water from Rs. 19 a kilolitre to Rs. 10 a kilolitre. It has also set up "dispensation points" at its sewage treatment plants.

"We are stressing on the use of recycled water for all construction activities. Two private establishments, including an amusement park on Mysore Road, have been buying water treated at the Vrishabhavathi tertiary treatment plant. They discontinued because of transportation problems," Mr. Venkataraju said.

Similarly, water treated at the Yelahanka tertiary treatment plant was being supplied for the construction work of the international airport at Devanahalli, he added.

Regulation

A senior official in BWSSB's Borewell Division said the board had urged the Government to bring in legislation to check the current unregulated borewell-digging that accompanied every development project and almost every new construction.

He pointed out that over 190 million litres of water a day was being extracted through borewells in the city.

This had drastically reduced the ground water table, he added.