The ongoing unaccounted for water (UFW) project being carried out at Bangalore South division of the BWSSB has so far managed to reduce an average 20 per cent of leakage of water at various locations in the division.
The project being carried out by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) that has estimated more than 45 percent leakage has managed to plug leakage to less than 20 percent. According to the board’s latest progress report on the project, of the 82 district metering areas (DMA), 36 DMAs have been covered.
DMAs are the areas demarcated for identifying the inflow of water which is metered and finding the consumption of water from individual houses through their individual meter records. Pressure test conducted in each of the DMAs will show the leakage points based on the inflow and outflow pressures in a DMA. The project also includes identifying faulty meters, detection of water theft and replacing old and corroded pipes.
A board official said that 46 DMAs are under assessment where work is still being carried out. There is a need for constant monitoring to ensure leakage is reduced and the target of leakage percentage of 16 percent is achieved, he added. The project in south division is likely to be concluded in the year 2015 after which the percentage of leakage will have to be maintained for the next three years.
There are about 1,05,696 consumers in Bangalore South which will have at least 75 percent of house service connections replaced, about 40 percent new consumer meters, 54 per cent of the existing consumer meters will be tested and about 636 pressure monitoring points will be established.
An estimated Rs 173.49 crore will be spent on the project covering 52 sq km with areas including Kempe Gowda Nagar, Basavanagudi, Humanthanagar, JP Nagar, BTM Layout etc.
Similarly, the BWSSB has taken up the project which is in the initial stage at Bangalore West division that has around 1,33,000 consumer connections. The project expects to reduce the leakage percentage from 45 to at least 20. Rs 294.1 crore will be spent on the project which will replace at least 99,750 house service connections, will fix 59,856 consumer meters and establish 664 pressure monitoring points.
In Bangalore Central, which has around 63,746 consumer connections, is expected to reduced the leakage percentage from 45 to 20. Nearly 38,334 house service connections will be replaced and 23,011 consumer meters fixed and 260 pressure monitoring points will be established to check to monitor water leakages.