Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Additional pumping from Aruvikkara produces marginal results

G. Mahadevan

KWA not to continue overloading of plant for long

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM The plan of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to reach an additional 20 million litres of water a day to the Peroorkada reservoir by converting a `transmission main' pipeline from Aruvikkara to a `pumping main' since Wednesday afternoon has resulted only in a marginal increase in the water level in the reservoir.

Managing Director of the KWA T. P. Mohanlal had ordered commencement of pumping on the 1200 mm Cast Iron line during an inspection of the 72 mld treatment plant at Arvuvikkara on Wednesday. Now, 48 hours after pumping began on the line, KWA engineers manning the city's distribution network estimate that the Peroorkada reservoir may have received an additional supply of about 2.5 to 3 million litres of water since Wednesday evening.

Engineers at Aruvikkara for their part have no means of quantifying the additional outflow of water, if any, from the treatment plant as the Venturi Meter installed there in 1970 has long stopped working. A senior engineer at Aruvikkara said on Friday that the 72 mld plant was being overloaded marginally even before the Managing Director ordered the conversion of the transmission main to a pumping main.

A press note issued here on Friday from the office of the Minister for Water Resources indicates as much. The press note says that the treatment plant at Aruvikkara was overloaded on an experimental basis to tide over an emergency situation. "This is not a permanent solution. The pipelines in the distribution network do not have the capacity to withstand the additional pumping. This emergency measure cannot be continued for many days," the press note reads.

Executive Engineer (Aruvikkara division) V. Chandran told The Hindu on Friday a fourth pump will be pressed into action at the 72 mld plant to try and increase the supply of water to Peroorkada.

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