Pune: Water Leakage Down From 40% To 16% Due To Meters
Pune, 26th August 2022: When the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) draws water from Khadakwasla Dam, 35 to 40 percent of it leaks till it reaches households. To stop this leakage, the Municipal Corporation has decided to install a meter at every tap under the Uniform Water Supply Scheme.
132 zones have been created in the city, and the installation of meters has been completed in two of them. Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar informed that water leakage has been detected due to the installation of meters in these two zones, and the rate of water leakage has come down from 40 percent to 16 percent.
Equal distribution of water using technician, water audit, unauthorized tap connection, and double tap detection will be easily possible after the installation of the water meter. The aim is to ensure that one and a half hundred litres of water is available every day. The Municipal Corporation undertook the work of the 24 by 7 Uniform Water Supply Scheme in 2018. The work was halted due to the pandemic. But this work has gained momentum in the last few months, and 400 km of new water channels have been laid in place of the old water channels. According to the income tax records of the city, 3.18 lakh water meters will be installed. Till now, 35 percent of the meter installation work has been completed. The Municipal Corporation has claimed that the rest will be completed by June 2023.
Advantages of AMR meters
Till 2001, every tap in the city had a water meter. As these meters are mechanical, they have many disadvantages. As the said meter also rotates due to air, even though the water was not used, earlier billing was being done. Also, the water pressure was decreasing. However, the Municipal Corporation has now decided to buy an AMR meter costing Rs 7,500. Anirudh Pavaskar, Chief Engineer of the Water Supply Department, said that since this is an electric full bore meter, there will be no obstruction in the water flow and no effect on the water pressure.
The life span of these meters is 10 years. All the meters will be connected to the main server of the Municipal Corporation through the GPRS system. He also said that a drop-by-drop account can be maintained.
Suppose 10,000 litres of water is taken from the Khadakwasla dam – How much water comes from the water channel to the municipal tanks, and from there how much goes directly to the house through the pipe connection? The Municipal Corporation will receive all the records of this in fifteen minutes. Areas with less water supply and areas with more water supply – everything will be recorded. The water supply department of the municipal corporation will get this record. Due to this, equal distribution of water can be controlled and excess water or wasted water can be prevented.
