Superb!! 110 yr old water treatment plant at Kilpauk in Chennai to get refurbished!!
How would you react if you come to know that the water treatment plant at Kilpauk is more than 100 years old and it has been supplying drinking water to 6 zones in Chennai without any interruption all these years? Totally surprised right!!
The sensational piece of news that has now come out is that this water treatment plant of 280 MLD in capacity would get refurbished or modified. It has been confirmed that this is the oldest structure operated by CMWSSB or Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Now after so many years of continuous operation, this water treatment plant has become outdated and inefficient. As a result, the TN govt is in the process of preparing DPR, project design and estimation for the project to refurbish the plant. Not many would be aware of the fact that Kilpauk water treatment plan is one of the biggest in Chennai and it was constructed in the year 1914.
It is important to note that water from the Poondi reservoir is sent to Red hills reservoir through a closed pipeline. From the Puzhal Lake, CMWSSB pumps 350mld to 360 mld of water per day. Water gets treated by conventional methods like sedimentation and rapid gravity filtration etc.
An average of 230 mld of water is being contributed by the water treatment plant at Kilpauk now to Chennai`s water supply system. Though the plant is an old one but it helps to meet the water demands in Chennai. The Kilpauk plant supplies drinking water to the residents belonging to Tondiarpet of zone 4, Royapuram of zone 5, Ambattur of zone 7, Anna Nagar of zone 8, Teynampet of zone 9 and Kodambakkam of zone 10.
In this 110 yr old plant, many electromechanical components and systems need to be replaced by new ones. There is also a huge need to enhance the capacity of the plant to meet the demands for 2060 and beyond taking into account population growth, industrial activities etc.
The structure needs to be modified as it is the oldest treatment plant in Chennai. This was according to a senior official belonging to CMWSSB. He hinted that a proposal to renovate the water treatment plant has been sent to the government and preparation of reports has been going on. He assured that the plant would not be shut down as the pipelines are good and undamaged even after many years of continuous operation.
