Govt. initiates process to set up desalination plant in Puducherry
The Hindu
Govt. initiates process to set up desalination plant in Puducherry
With the growing complaints of deterioration in the quality of drinking water supplied and the government’s efforts to dig more bore wells as new sources for piped water supply getting delayed, the Public Works Department has set in motion the process to set up a desalination plant in Puducherry.
For a long time, the Public Health wing of PWD was depending on its 380 deep tube wells erected in urban and peripheral areas for extracting ground water from the confined aquifers.
To meet the day-to-day requirements, the water thus drawn is pumped to the nearest sump and eventually raised to the Overhead Tanks for supply to an estimated 8. 50 lakh customers. In Puducherry alone, the requirement amounts to around 120 million litres per day.
The over-extraction of water to cater to the growing need for piped water supply has led to the deterioration of groundwater. PWD officials said the quality of water sourced from around 200 borewells in Puducherry and Oulgaret Municipality limits and supplied to households through around 35 main overhead tanks has started deteriorating.
The findings of a study conducted by the Public Health Lab of PWD in 2019 indicated alarming rise in TDS level. The study showed TDS level going up to 5,800 ppm (a measurement to find the amount of minerals and gases dissolved in water) in Rainbow Nagar. In 2015, test results of water sample collected from Rainbow Nagar, showed TDS levels in the range of 3,000 ppm.
The TDS level, according to an official in 27 odd bore wells, has gone beyond 2,000 ppm. Several of the borewells have been shut in recent times, the official said. “Presently, various physical and chemical qualities such as TDS, PH, Nitrate, Iron, and Chloride are overshooting the permissible limits. We are taking adequate measures, including placing iron removers, before pumping the water to households,” said another official.
As water quality started deteriorating, a few years ago the government evolved a plan to sink around 84 bore wells near Malattar, Guduvayar and Pannayar using funds sourced from the French Development Agency. The agency had agreed to provide around ₹ 454 crore for the project.
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