Chennai Metrowater to soon roll out smart water meters in one lakh buildings to promote efficient use

The Hindu

a day ago

In a shift towards demand side water management, smart water meters will soon be introduced in nearly one lakh buildings across the city to track consumption in real time and promote efficient water use.
Chennai Metrowater is set to finalise tender by this month end or early July for the project, which involves installing smart water meters in those buildings, including commercial, partly commercial, industrial and multi-storey apartment buildings identified as water intensive users. Individual houses measuring more than 2,500 sq.ft. too would be covered in the project.
With water resources availability strengthened through various initiatives, the water agency has now turned its focus towards demand management and equitable supply. Nearly 13,000 devices have already been fixed in existing buildings.
The Rs.392.68 crore project will adhere to water meter policy 2022, aiming to improve cost recovery for water supply and obtain volumetric data on water distributed to consumers. Currently, treating one kilo litre of freshwater costs Rs.8 and production cost of desalinated water stands at Rs.46.
H.Prem Anand, a resident of Anna Nagar said, 'The water metering system will be efficient and help control overuse in areas that have sufficient piped water supply. Water distribution infrastructure must also be improved for a lasting impact.'
Officials noted that the water agency is finalising the tender that received bids from across the country. The project aims to fix smart water meters integrated with IoT technology for communication and billing system under the Hybrid Annuit Model (HAM).
Under HAM- a public private partnership model on the lines of Adyar river restoration project- the State government will contribute a portion of project cost during implementation. 'It is the responsibility of the concessionaire to fix smart water meters, undertake meter reading and maintain the meters for 15 years. The smart meters, equipped with advanced interface, will transmit real-time data on water usage to support billing and monitor consumption,' said an official.
Sekhar Raghavan, Rain Centre's director, said water metering is essential for judicious use of water and promote rainwater harvesting. 'People will tap shallow groundwater table to reduce water bills. This will create more space for harnessing rainwater and reduce waterlogging,' he said.
Sources noted that this was one of the development link indicators of the World Bank programme to improve operational efficiency of water supply. It was one of the announcements made during the 2024-25 budget demand. Preparation of detailed project report, field study, and the wait for advanced smart water meters had slowed down the implementation process.
Metrowater now serves nearly 17 lakh consumers, and the metering policy aims to cover 80% of domestic connections by 2027.