Improving the performance of Public Water Utilities

– A case study of Bangalore

N.C. MUNIYAPPA, Chairman, BWSSB

1. Introduction:

Bangalore the garden city and the IT capital of India is situated on

the watershed of two-principle river basins the Arkavathy to the
West and South Pennar to the East. The general elevation of the
city above sea level varies between 900-940 mtrs. The local
topography is characterized by a series of well defined valleys,
which radiate from a ridge of high ground to the North of the city
and fall in a gradual manner towards a wide belt of flat land
extending beyond the limits of Metropolitan area to the South.
The configuration of the valleys and well graded side slopes of
their tributary areas have provided Bangalore with a natural
system of drainage flow by gravity beyond the city.

Unlike many other cities, Bangalore is not blessed with a

perennial river and this could be the reason for construction of
many lakes across seasonal streams. With the rapid urbanization
of the city many of these lakes have been destroyed and converted
into residential localities. These lakes, which were once acting as
source of ground water recharge, have diminished. Consequently,
the ground water table is depleting rapidly.

2. Overview of BWSSB

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board a statutory

authority created by the GOK is responsible for providing water
supply and sewerage, sewage treatment and disposal within the
Bangalore Metropolitan Area. The Board was established in the
year 1964 and since then Board has executed several water
 supply augmentation schemes to meet the ever-growing water
demand from time to time to quench the thirst of Bangalore
citizens.

At present, the Board is supplying potable water to 6 Million

people from a distance of 100 Kms., against an head of 540 mtrs.,
with an average daily supply of 900 to 950 MLD. All the
connections have been metered and revenue collected based on
the regular meter readings. The revenue realization is around
95%. Several customer friendly initiatives have also been
introduced.

However the city is facing the key issues of maintaining a

sustainable self-financing service, to provide equitable access of
safe water to all sections of society and to reduce non-revenue
water to a reasonable level that will allow meeting the
sustainability criteria.
Historical Data
Particulars 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Population served 5.545 5.72 5.90 6.09 6.280
(in millions)

No. of connections 307416 322448 334805 425000 477000

No. of staff 2851 2750 2700 2611 2500

Service Area 250 270 300 330 330

Water Production 247381 260036 274876 317752 360738

(Million Litre)

Sources of water Cauvery and Arkavathy

Water availability 4 6 6 5 5
in hours
Average tariff (1KL) Rs.6.36 for Domestic users (Rs.7 to Rs.40 including Sewerage
charges.

Rs.60 for Non-Domestic users (Rs.40 to Rs.60 including

Sewerage charges.

Particulars 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Annual revenue 2677.50 3687.00 4301.00 4172.90 4709.00

Annual Budget 3143.50 3916.50 4347.00 4028.50 42147

Annual O & M 1968.0 2312.40 2686.50 2876.80 29008

Cost

UFW 33.6 36.7 38.94 34.10 41.33

Sewerage System of Bangalore

The local topography is characterized by a series of well defined

valleys, which radiate from a ridge of High Ground to North of the
city and falls in a gradual manner towards wide belt of flat land
extending beyond the limits Metropolitan area to the South. The
principle valleys are known as Vrishabhavathi, Koramangala and
Challaghatta and they run generally in North to South direction
and divide grater part of Metropolitan area, which lies to the south
of the ridge into 3 separate and distinct drainage zones. A fourth
valley system referred to as Hebbal series forms drainage zones
North of ridge and runs in north easterly direction. 5 Minor
valleys namely, Kathriguppa and Tavarekere to the South,
Arkavathy and Kethamaranahali to the North-west and
Marathahalli to the East lies outside the tributary area of major
valleys and they drain independently to the fringe area which
forms reminder of Metropolitan area.
 The configuration of valleys with well-graded side slopes of their
tributary areas has provided Bangalore with a natural drainage
without recourse to much pumping. Both sewage and storm
water flow by gravity beyond the city. The system of sewers for
conveyance of wastewater through underground drainage system
was introduced in the year 1922, which was initially confined to
thickly populated core area of the city and although gradual
extension took place then onwards, it was not until 1950 a major
programme of sewerage construction was commenced.

With the formation of the Board, the programme to provide

sewerage system in the un-sewered areas were taken up in a
phased manner and the treatment of sewage before it is led into
natural valleys was also tackled. At present Bangalore has a well-
designed and regularly maintained UGD system and 14 No. of
STP’s and 2 No.s of recycling plants of total capacity of 718 MLD
and 70 MLD respectively.

3. Future developments plans and their linkage to population

growth

The population of the city as at the end of 2005 is approximately

6.28 Millions and the demand for potable water is in the order of
1153 MLD in a service area of 330 Sq. Kms. However, the present
supply is about 900 MLD with a per-capita supply of 90-100
litres. The gap / short fall is about 253 MLD and therefore the
supplies are being made every alternate day for a period of 6-8
hours depending upon the service area and topography. The UFW
/ NRW is in the order of 40-45% thereby affecting the self
sustainability of the utility.

The population of the city by the year 2011 has been projected to
be around 7.34 Million, which includes the population coming
under the jurisdiction of 7 City Municipal Council and 1 Town
Municipal Council located on the peripheral areas of the existing
Bangalore Mahanagara Palika jurisdiction. The service area is
expected to cover 598 Sq. Kms. As against the present average
supply of 900 MLD, the water demand by the year 2011 would be
in the order of 1576 MLD.

To bridge the gap between the demand and the supply, BWSSB is
on the process of implementing Cauvery Stage IV Phase II to
augment 500 MLD of potable water at an estimated cost of
Rs.17590 Millions. The sewerage component consists of 11 STP’s
8 ISPS and laying of 90 Kms., of trunk sewers at an estimated
cost of Rs.8320 Millions. The project also consists, the
components of management improvement, distribution
improvement etc., and the entire project is being funded by JBIC,
Japan. The water component of the project is programmed for
commissioning by the year 2011 and the sewerage components by
the year April 2012.

With the objective of providing water supply facilities to the 7

CMC’s and 1 TMC located around periphery of Bangalore city,
greater Bangalore water supply project is taken up at a cost of
Rs.4100 Millions. The works are already in progress and the
same is programmed for completion by the end of December 2006.

The UGD / sanitation component along with miscellaneous works

like road restoration etc., have been estimated to cost Rs.3920
Millions and the same is being funded by World Bank under
Karnataka Municipal Reforms programme. The work is expected
to commence by January 2007 and completed by the end of
December 2009.
 Rapid urbanization of the city has lead in to vertical growth
putting more stress on the adequacy of the existing water supply
and sewerage infrastructure assets requiring either replacement
with enhanced diameter or rehabilitating the existing ones. As
part of environmental action plan, replacement / rehabilitation of
main sewers, action has been taken to replace / enhance the main
sewers within the core area for a length of about 22 Kms., at a
cost of Rs.463 Millions. Further it is programmed to replace /
enhance / rehabilitate main sewers for a length of about 100
Kms., at a cost of Rs.1950 Millions for which the Detailed Project
Report (DPR) is under preparation.

Some of the assets created have served their useful life and the
same needs to be replaced / rectified wherever necessary in a
phased manner. As part of the same some distressed ground level
reservoirs within the water supply distribution system,
replacement of corroded lines have been taken up and rest are
programmed for rehabilitation/replacement in a phased manner.

4. Institutional and policy reforms introduced in the utility and

their impacts on the utilities performance

With a view to ascertain the quality and quantity of assets being

maintained by the Board, a comprehensive geographical
Information System (GIS) for the first time in the country was
commissioned in the year 2002 duly computerizing/ digitizing the
entire data of the assets and the same is being upgraded
periodically. This is helping the utility as a management tool for
managing the entire water supply and sewerage system, condition
of the assets, their age etc., to facilitate suitable decisions.
With a view to conserve precious potable water i.e. presently being
supplied to various industries and non potable consumers, two
wastewater recycling plants are established and recycled water is
being supplied to industries and other non potable users located
within the radius of 4-5 Kms.

With a view to assess the UFW and reduce non re venue water a
pilot project is taken up in the Central core area of the city
covering 33000 connections and 362 Kms., of pipeline of various
diameter ranging from 80mm to 600mm at a cost of Rs.480
Million. The studies have been made by creating 21 District
Metering Areas which have revealed unknown leakages, unknown
lines and links and valves, encrusted pipelines, defective
connections and meters, corroded house service connections etc..
This pilot project has accrued the benefit of control over
distribution losses, reliability in supply, increase in system
pressure, no possibility of water contamination, improvement in
water quality and increase in water revenue.

With a view to improve the capacity for the Delivery of water,

Sewerage and Environmental Sanitation Services to Bangalore,
with an emphasis on the Urban poor and vulnerable groups with a
process of long term Environmental, Economic, Social and
Institutional sustainability, preparation of a Master Plan with
project horizon was taken up with the assistance of AusAID at a
cost of Rs.192 Millions. The project was completed in July 2002.
The major outcomes from the Master Plan studies include (i)
Planning for water supply, sewerage and environmental sanitation
(ii) Service upgrading and extension for the urban poor and
vulnerable poor communities (iii) Institutional capacity building
and strengthening (iv) Water supply and sewerage service pilot
studies.

The Master plan studies helped in ascertaining the status of

existing infrastructure, condition of assets and its timing of
replacements, investments required, availability of raw water
resources to bridge the gap between demand and supply of
potable water of the growing population etc. Under the
Institutional Capacity building and strengthening component of
the project 78 workshops / conferences under different themes
and 4 institutional workshops and 5 studies tours were organized
in which 1295 male and 394 female participants took part in a
duration of 159 days covering a total training of 2546 days. This
gave exposure to the staff in the various fields and a better
understanding of the latest technologies available for
implementation. Under the water supply and sewerage pilot study
component services to the urban poor in 4 identified slums were
taken up wherein group water and sanitation connections were
provided for better living standards in the slums. About 5928
populations, which included 2963 male 2965 female, were the
direct beneficiaries. These pilot projects demonstrated alternative
and affordable service options, if replicated could benefit residents
in about 130 un-serviced slums settlements in the city. The
surveys have indicated that people are willing and able to pay for
improved sanitation and water supply services if initial connection
charges are rationalized and made more affordable and if
procedural barriers imposed by tenure and property taxation
norms are simplified. Based on these learning’s, providing better
water supply and sanitation facilities in a phased manner have
been taken up in various slum settlements.
 Many transparent measures as customer friendly initiatives have
been introduced for the benefit of the customers during the past
3-4 years. The procedure for sanction of water supply and UGD
connections has been simplified. A Customer charter is launched.
An informative website is in position. Monthly water Adalat is
working effectively to settle billing disputes, long pending cases
etc. 24 x 7 multi utility fully automated bill payment Kiosk
(KaverE-com) have been established all over the city to facilitate
payment of bills. Web enabled online payment facility is also in
operation.

With a view to improve the efficiency and to reduce recurring cost

private sector has been involved through service contracts towards
O & M of water treatment plants, Sewage treatment plants, Pump
houses, Chlorinators, leak repairs, repairs to water meters etc.

5. Key areas needing strength and capacities

Though the AusAID Master plan studies had a component on

Institutional capacity building, the exposure of the various staff to
the modern techniques of management, advanced technologies
etc., was inadequate. Only very few staff got repeated exposures,
which they are not able to continue to practice and implement the
same in their day to day activities. Board has been approaching
various consulting agencies for additional technical assistance
wherever called for in managing its activities. Board (utility) being
a statutory authority of GOK, however cannot completely follow
the management skills of a private sector utility because of
inherent difficulties associated in bringing such changes. There is
a need for institutional capacity building by identifying suitable
staff to be trained in a particular area of interest and allow them
 to work in their area of expertise to the best advantage of the
utility. The burning issue affecting the self-sustainability of utility
is the enormous amount of UFW / NRW, which is putting very
much stress on the financial capability of the utility. There is an
urgent need for training the staff associated in operation and
maintenance of the distribution network on the ways and means
of reducing UFW / NRW levels by creating suitable district
metering areas and fixing the jurisdictional maintenance areas
according to DMA’s. Privatize the meter reading, billing etc., and
provide incentives for improvement in demand and collection of
water revenue.

6. Summery of standards being applied to manage water quality

to meet the basic requirements

The water that is being supplied to the citizens of Bangalore is

treated to the quality stipulated under WHO standards. The
treated water is since being pumped for a length of about 100
Kms., The availability of residual chlorine at the receiving end of
the city reservoirs would be less and hence chlorine is injected at
identified city reservoirs before being distributed. Generally, the
water quality is good at the consumer end except in case of some
old areas where the quality of pipelines have deteriorated and in
some poor settlements in slums due to prevailing unhygienic
conditions. However, the Board is checking the water quality at
various distribution points regularly and testing for its potablity.
Wherever the quality is affected, the source of contamination
would be traced and rectified by way of cleaning the pipeline
through scouring, attending to leakages, disinfecting the pipeline
etc. On an average 1500-1600 Nos., of samples are collected
monthly from the service areas collected and tested every month
both at the Central Water Testing Laboratory (CWTL) and mobile
 testing laboratory. About 2 to 3% of the samples are found to be
not suitable for potable purposes under bacteriological test. The
parameter tested at the CWTL include bacteriological te st
Turbidity, pH value, Electric conduction, Nitrate, Iron and
Residual chlorine etc.

7. An overview of water management measures being

implemented and their impact

The population as at the end of 2005 is 6.28 million and the

demand for water is about 1153 MLD, whereas the present supply
is only 900 MLD living a deficit of 253 MLD as on date. The per
capita supply is about 90-100 LPCD. To manage the water
demand water is being supplied on alternate days and wherever
feasible use of recycled water for non-potable uses is being
promoted to conserve the potable water presently being supplied
to industries and non-potable consumers. Further extensive UFW
studies are being carried out within a pilot area to identify NRW
and sustain the same at reasonable levels. Consumers are being
discouraged using more water and wasting the same for non
potable uses by way of increasing the water tariff at the lowest
slabs as well as higher slabs in the domestic sector also.

8. Strategies to generate resources to meet the financing gap

60% of the Board revenue is spent towards power charges alone

for pumping the treated water from source to the city as well as
the distribution network and treatment of wastewater generated in
the city. The Board is managing finances to meet the regular O &
M cost, administrative charges etc., from the revenue generated.
However, it is not in a position to repay the loans availed for
implementing various schemes or finance capital works. The
wastewater generated in the city is presently going as a waste,
 which the Board cannot afford to go waste and as a first step in
this direction 2 recycling plants have been setup and sale of
recycled water is being promoted for industrial and non potable
uses to generate additional revenue.

9. Nature and extent of private sector participation

Since a decade, the Board has made attempts with various PSP
operators in exploring various strategies to attract PSP, which
would lead to improvement in efficiency. However, the efforts
made on entrusting pilot areas of the city on a Delegated
Management Contract for a 5-year period with the objective of
Water Audit and reduction of UFW did not materialize. The efforts
made towards augmentation of treated water from river Cauvery
under BOOT also did not materialize.

As of now. PSP is limited to service contracts. The private sector

is involved in O & M of water treatment plants, wastewater
treatment plants, pump houses, attending leaks, maintenance of
GIS etc.
10. Nature of partnership and other utilities

BWSSB is a role model for other water utilities in India to emulate

some of the innovative measures initiated and its success stories.
Several Indian water utilities are regularly visiting BWSSB and are
holding interactions and exchanging their expe riences for mutual
benefits of both the utilities.

Key recommendations

• Creating public awareness in economic use of water with improved

flushing techniques.

• Adoption of rainwater harvesting methods of new constructions.

• Introduction of dual water supply system in new multistoried
buildings by reuse of wastewater

• Reduction of non-revenue water by upgradation of systems by

continuous proactive maintenance.

• Restoration of Lakes

• To provide individual connections to all urban poor, specifically in

slums.