Maradu water treatment plant set to add 20 MLD to Kochi water supply

As water shortage continues to hit several parts of Kochi, efforts are under way to bring an additional 20 MLD (million litres per day) of water from the Maradu water treatment plant (WTP).

The refurbishment work by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) at the Maradu WTP will enhance the production capacity of the plant, making additional water available to Maradu municipality and Kumbalam, Kumbalangi and Chellanam panchayats and the West Kochi area, according to officials.

The project involves bringing in more water from the raw water pump house at Pazhoor, said KWA sources.

The refurbishment project, which is being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is expected to be completed in a year. The project has received financial sanction and is now awaiting administrative sanction.

“The current production capacity of the plant is 100 MLD. Our attempt is to increase it to 120 MLD,” the sources said.

One of the main constraints faced by the utility is its inability to bring the entire amount of water from the raw water pump house at Pazhoor to Maradu. “This is because the diameter of the pipelines carrying water on the stretch from Malekkadu to Maradu is small. They include two 800-mm-diameter HDPE [high-density polyethylene] pipes that pass through the backwaters. Because of this, there is a limitation in the carrying capacity of the pipes. As such, our production capacity is limited to 100 MLD. We are trying to address this by laying a new pipeline to carry additional water,” said a KWA source. For this, a new 1,000-mm HDPE pipe will be laid over a length of 5.2 kilometres.

The other work involves changing the filter beds at the WTP. At present, there are 16 filter beds, of which eight have already been changed to dual-layer filter media. The remaining eight filter beds will also be changed to a dual-layer filter media type.

“With this, we can enhance production as the rate of filtration will be faster, thereby producing clearer water,” said the source. Along with this, one of the old pump sets at Pazhoor will be replaced to improve production.

Supply disrupted

Meanwhile, water supply to several houses in the Perandoor, Elamakkara and Punnakkal areas was disrupted after a KWA pipeline on Edappally Raghavan Pillai Road at Perandoor, Elamakkara, ruptured on Tuesday night.

Hundreds of houses were impacted by the pipe burst, said Seena Gokulan, councillor, Division 27. According to her, temporary repair work was carried out. “Pumping has resumed, but it requires a permanent solution, and additional work needs to be carried out. This will have to be done without affecting pumping to these areas,” said Ms. Gokulan.

According to her, the pipe burst after a private party tried to lay an underground cable, with drilling work leading to the rupture of the water pipeline at four locations.

A KWA source said the work to permanently fix the issue would be done on Wednesday night without affecting pumping.