Hosur , 22 Mar 2004
Under the inspiring leadership of Dr. J Jayalalitha, Honourable Chief Minister, the Tamil Nadu Government partners TVS Motor Company in a pioneering initiative for cleaner and cheaper drinking water for Hosur Town
In a brief ceremony held at Hosur today, and
amidst the presence of esteemed officials of the TWAD Board, District Collector
- Krishnagiri, Mr.Manjathram Sharma, Dr. Sundaramoorthy, eminent water
Management consultant and other senior officials at TVS Motor Company, clean
drinking water was officially released to the Hosur Municipality area.
Having witnessed the problems faced by the residents of Hosur with regard to
erratic supplies and unclean drinking water facing the people of Hosur, Shri
Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor Company approached
Dr. J Jayalalitha, Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu expressing his
interest in resolving this issue with the intention of bringing clean and
healthy water to the people of Hosur. The Hon'able Chief Minister showed her
generosity and graciousness by immediately extending the required support and in
a matter of a month's time the project was completed. This effort
aimed at improving the availability of potable water for the residents of Hosur
has been successful only due to Dr. J Jayalalitha, Honourable Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu's initiative support. With the cooperation of the Tamil Nadu
Government and TWAD (Tamil Nadu Water Authority Development) Board, TVS Motor
Company acted as the catalyst in reviving the Kelavarappally Dam water by
implementing, for the first time in India, an advanced water treatment process
of International Standard to ensure clean water for domestic use. This proactive initiative will help address the large shortfall of water faced
by the people of Hosur otherwise dependent on ground water or external water
supply. Approximately 95,000 people reside in Hosur and have been faced with
severe water shortage since many years. The inconsistent rainfall and depleting
ground water had added to the woes of the increasing populace forcing them to be
depended on expensive and poor quality water. Over the past years, water
withdrawals had increased in an alarming rate due to increase in population,
which in the long term would have affected the ecosystem of the region. Originally the Kelavarappally dam was constructed to ensure water supply for
Industrial and domestic use. However, due to strong ammonia content it was no
longer possible for the domestic use. Though the Kelavarappally Dam possessed a
state of the art water treatment plant it was not completely adequate to ensure
cleaner water for domestic use. With the completion of this project the people
of Hosur can now look forward to better quality of life.
REVIVAL AND UPGRADATION OF KELAVARAPPALLI DAM WATER TREATMENT PROJECT FOR
POTABLE DRINKING WATER FOR THE RESIDENTS OF HOSUR, TAMIL NADU
- Location: Hosur, Tamil Nadu. (Approximately 40 KM from Bangalore)
- Population: Approximately 95,000 people
- Altitude: 950 mtrs above sea level
- Average Rainfall: 892 mm per annum,
- Recent rainfall: 605 mm per annum
- Water requirement: 66,50,000 litres /day
- Present Supply: 31,00,000 litres/day (before project implementation)
- Water Source of Kelavarappally Dam: Ponniar River
Issues
- Kelavarappally Dam reservoir is the key source of water for the Hosur
region. Due to high Ammonia and Phosphate contents the water was found
unclean for domestic use. Only SIPCOT industries used this water for
industrial purpose.
- Poor quality of drinking water for the people of Hosur forced to rely on
bore wells and external water supply. This led to depletion of groundwater
and affected the eco-system of the region
Objective of the Project
- Provide clean and cheap drinking water for the People of Hosur
Process of Implementation
- TVS Motor Company conducts feasibility study
- TVS Motor Company consults with the Tamil Nadu Government
- TVS Motor Company appointments Creative Environmental Consultants as
Project Managers
- TVS Motor Company join hands with Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage
Board (TWAD Board)
- The team undertakes upgradation of Existing Water Treatment Plant with
application of advanced technology of International standard, first time in
India.
- The team undertakes cleaning and rectification of pipe which include
flushing out the contamination
- Approvals of test results of 'treated water' from Department of Public
Health and Preventive Measures
- The District Collector, Krishnagiri District releases clean water to the
Residents of Hosur
This project was implemented to international standards within 30 days by
TVS Motor Company's project team
TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION
The Water Management Consultants appointed by TVS Motor Company, after
studying the Kelavarappally dam water quality conducted treatability experiments
and evolved a treatment process of International Standards suitable for the
local conditions using indigenous equipments.
This technology utilizes Lime to raise the pH of the water to beyond 11 and
whereby the water is rendered free of pathogenic organisms and colour and odour
and simultaneously the Ammonia is converted to gaseous form and which in turn is
stripped off through high pressure nozzle sprays of the high pH water, whose pH
is reduced by blowing Carbon Dioxide into it through a system of diffusers and
thereafter filtered in rapid sand filters and given break point chlorination
before distribution. The treated water has been tested by the TWAD Board
laboratory and is found to be safe.
This water treatment process used in Kelavarapally Dam, Hosur will
be the first time ever used in India. Similar technology has been used
internationally before in very few places like Occoquan in Virginia State,
Passaic basin in New Jersey State in USA, the city of Windhoek at Namibia and
Orange County at USA, SINGAPORE