Chennai: While the water crisis that the city is facing has been much debated about, little did people know that Metrowater officials had foreseen the imminent issue and had selected Retteri lake at Kolathur and two more lakes as possible water sources nearly two years ago.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) had recently announced that a modular water treatment plant will be constructed at Retteri and works have already begun.
Part of the Rs 53 crore project that also covers Ayanambakkam and Perumbakkam lakes, officials will be able to tap 10 million litres per day (MLD) of potable water every day from Retteri that has in total 3,000 million litres of water in hold.
The water drawn from the lake will be sent to the nearest Kolathur distribution station for supply, stated officials, speaking with News Today.
Jaishankar who is an Executive Engineer at CMWSSB (STP) is the person heading the project as he is the special officer for water source augmentation in the city. He is the man who helmed projects that tapped water from Porur lake and from Sikkarayapuram quarries in 2017.
“We began testing water from Retteri two years ago and with help from three institutes, including IIT Madras and The King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, we found that the water can be treated and used for drinking purposes,” said Jaishankar.
“Experts from IIT-M have helped us design the plan and they will also be giving us the final approval before we start tapping water from the lake,” he added.
Although E. coli bacteria was found in the lake, according to officials it was within treatable limits and the treated water is expected to have a total dissolved solids level less than 500 mg per litre.
“This plan is part of our decentralisation project, wherein instead of depending on larger lakes with 3,000 mcft storage capacity, we will be making use of smaller available lakes to feed water to the surrounding locality, thus reducing the stress on larger bodies,” said Jaishankar.
The plan, according to the official is the modern take on age-old tradition of using a small local waterbody and preserving it. If people are supplied water from their neighbouring waterbody, they will not pollute it, thus saving the remaining lakes that are in the city.
“The plan was formulated because we cannot create new lakes in our city now. At least if we start using the lakes, like they were earlier, they would be preserved and the ecology saved,” said the official.
Soil tests have been conducted and works are on for constructing the treatment plant at present. Expected to completed by end of June, the plant will tap 10 MLD of water from the lake for 200 days.
With the news reaching residents, the reaction has been mixed. Sudarsanam, president of Ooruni Maiyam, said, “The water at Retteri is totally polluted. It is nothing but the collection of sewage from residential areas in and around. Even if the officials clean it, it will not be fit for human consumption. Also, the quantity is less for city supply.”
But Ranjith, a student from Korattur, when asked about the project said it is brilliant. “We have time and again failed to stop encroachments from happening at the lakes in and around the locality. If the government starts tapping water from the small lakes and feed it to us, then encroachments cannot happen and people will not pollute the lake for it is their drinking water. This would mean that larger bodies need not be as stressed and they will be able to retain more water throughout the year. It really is a win-win situation for us.”