TN CM inaugurates water-recycling plant in Chennai

A water-recycling plant to meet the needs of the industries and domestic consumers was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami here on Friday. The plant would ensure water security for industries in south Chennai and also produce high-quality treated water fit for drinking.

The facility would help save over 1,600 crore litres of fresh water every year. After inaugurating the plant, Palaniswami said late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa made an announcement in the Assembly that such projects would be rolled out at Koyambedu and Kodungaiyur in 2012-13 and 2014-15 respectively.

"Under the first phase, I inaugurated a plant at Kodungaiyur in October. Through this initiative, (recycled) water is being served to industries in north Chennai, including those at Manali", he said.

"Today (Friday) I launched the plant that has been set up at a cost of Rs 486.21 crore. Through this plant, industries present in north Chennai and Sriperumbudur would receive the (recycled) water," he said.

With the two plants coming into operation, nearly 20 per cent of sewage water would be recycled making Tamil Nadu as the only state in the country to recycle such quantity of water, he said. Noting that the water presently supplied to the industries would be used for domestic consumption, Palaniswami said along with other projects that are being taken up to benefit the residents, the demand for domestic consumption of water can be met even during monsoon failure.

Also, the Chief Minister unveiled a new scheme for the public by providing drainage connection to residents of the city through a phone call. He said the CMWSSB (Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board) would provide underground drainage connection to those residential units which does not have such a facility. The two projects would be implemented from December 2, he added.

For the water recycling plant, a consortium of desalination and water treatment solutions provider IDE Technologies and VA Tech WABAG bagged the order from CMWSSB. The project was funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme.