Power problems could reduce water pumping to city

Power problems could reduce water pumping to city

Afshan Yasmeen
Water supply depends entirely on how well BESCOM is able to function
— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Precarious: Disruption in power supply is likely to affect water supply to 50,000 households in Bangalore.
Bangalore: If you are worried about the erratic water supply to your area, be prepared for worse. With the power crisis in the State and problems in the Southern Power Grid, the ideal frequency — 49.5 cycles per second required to pump the 870 million litres of water per day (MLD) to the city — could be affected by 5 to 10 per cent, BWSSB officials said.

“The Southern Grid is functioning at an average frequency of 48.5 cycles a second now. This is a critical factor for us because even a small disturbance can disrupt power supply thus affecting pumping of water,” a top official told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Reduction threat
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has written to the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) to ensure uninterrupted power supply at its main reservoirs to enable regular pumping. “But if the required frequency is not maintained, the pumping could reduce by 5 to 10 per cent, which could decrease the water supply by 20 MLD to the city,” the official explained.

Cauvery water is pumped from a distance of 100 km from Shivanasamudra, near Mysore. A balancing reservoir in Thorekadanahalli (T.K. Halli) has a water treatment plant where water is clarified and pre-chlorinated. From a depth of 1,100 feet, water is pumped to Harohalli, Tataguni and subsequently to various ground level reservoirs in the city. The Board is drawing 870 MLD from this source and another 60 MLD from the Thippagondanahalli reservoir.

“The reduction of 20 MLD of water supply to the city following power problems could mean 50,000 households could be deprived of their daily quota of water. We could probably have to reduce the supply hours in some areas to ensure equal distribution,” the official said.

The water Board is facing a shortfall of 349 MLD to meet the drinking water requirements of the city. Apart from the core areas in the old 100 wards of the city, the BWSSB is also supplying water to 74 newly-added areas. While the supply in the core areas is once in two days, in the new areas it is once in five days. “With an increasing demand for water, especially in the new areas, this cycle is likely to change during summer,” the official said.

He pointed out that the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company too had assured that there would not be power disruptions during pumping hours in the 42 pumping stations in the city.