With slow and steady steps, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has been able to bring down the Unaccounted for Water (UfW) to an all-time low of 28 per cent. In June 2021, UfW stood at 36.95 per cent. and this came down to 30.05 per cent by June 2022. With this, BWSSB is able to save close to 5,000 million litres of water a month.
From legalising unauthorised connections to replacing a few pipelines, BWSSB is putting in measures to bring down the UfW to as low as 20 per cent.
As a part of the project, BWSSB is taking the tech route to replace the bulk water meters at the subdivision levels with an upgraded version that comes with a host of features.
According to a senior BWSSB official, most of these meters were installed 10 years ago, and an upgrade of new technology might help them bring down the UfW levels even further.
“Now there are new technologies available. With these, we can monitor the water flow better. The bulk meters will help us monitor the water flow into subdivisions every hour and through this, we can narrow down as to where exactly there is a leak or wastage,” said Suresh, BWSSB engineer-in-chief.
He added that the BWSSB officials will remotely monitor the readings from a control room and alert the relevant officials to take immediate action.
However, BWSSB may not be able to bring down the UfW drastically owing to a shortage of funds, sources said. Although the BWSSB estimates that they may need close to Rs 2,000 crore to put in place a robust system without any leaks, the project cannot be implemented owing to a shortage of funds.
“We are taking up measures with the limited funds available. With no revision in tariff, we cannot take up projects to replace old pipelines and UfW cannot be brought down further,” one of the sources said.
UfW is the difference in the amount of water the BWSSB receives against the amount of water that reaches the consumers.