Now, BMC can tell exactly how much water reaches your ward

The civic body’s plan to determine exactly how much water reaches your home has achieved a significant milestone with the completion of the second phase of the water audit project to check wastage of water, reports Poorvi Kulkarni.

The civic body’s plan to determine exactly how much water reaches your home has achieved a significant milestone with the completion of the second phase of the water audit project to check wastage of water.

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In this phase, the BMC has completed the installation of 182 bulk flow meters, which will give hourly readings of the quantity of water released from pipelines, and the demarcation of DMZs which are supply zones earmarked to ascertain the amount of water supplied to each ward.

“254 such zones have been identified and the bulk flow meters that have been installed are giving out readings of the amount of water supplied in these zones. But due to on-site problems, there are still a couple of flow meters that would be relocated soon,” said a senior civic official from the BMC’s hydraulic engineer’s department.

HT had reported in November that the BMC had started compiling flow meter readings for supply zones in three wards (B – Mandvi, Umerkhadi and Dongri; H West – Bandra West, Khar West, and Santacruz West and T - Mulund) to determine the amount of water supplied to these wards as supply zones in these wards had been earmarked.

However, the challenge of metering consumer connections still threatens the completion of the audit. “We are now in the process of tagging the consumer connections to each supply zone so that installation of new consumer meters can be systematically undertaken,” said the official.

The BMC is still in the process of surveying unmetered connections in South Mumbai and is yet to procure consumer water meters to be installed across the city. Officials admit that installing new consumer meters and ensuring that meters are functional are the most difficult stages of the project. As planned, only after accurate measurement of water consumption is complete can the difference between the amount of water supplied to each ward and the amount used by citizens be determined to know the exact quantity of water lost.