Sustainable water and waste water

management in Chennai Basin

 Chennai’s Administration

CMA (Chennai Metropolitan Area) – 1189 Sq.Km

Chennai city Kanchipuram Tiruvallur

corporation – 176 Sq.Km District- 376 Sq.Km district- 637 Sq.Km

CMA comprising Chennai City corporation, 16 Municipalities,

20 Town panchayats, and 214 Village panchayats
Governmental agencies responsible
CMWSSB – Water supply and sewerage facilities for CMA
region
(Currently only in Chennai City Corporation including IT
corridors, Ambathur, Manali Town areas and Mugappair)
PWD – Implementation & maintenance of macro drainage
system (CMA)
TWAD board – Responsible for water supply and macro
drainage in parts of CMA within Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur
district. (entire Tamilnadu excluding Chennai city)
CMDA – Metropolitan planning and coordination of
infrastructure projects within CMA.
TNSCB – Removal of slum/encroachment in the vicinity of
water ways. (CMA)
Municipal council, Townships, Village &Town panchayats in
CMA- Operate and maintain systems in their area.
Sources of City water supply
 City water supply sources- Network
Kandaleru diversion
Poondi well fields

Poondi reservoir Tamaraipakkam well Kannigaiper well fields

fields
Diversion Flood plains well
Link channel Panjetty well fields
fields
Feeder channel Cholavaram tank

Pumped & taken via

Chembarambakkam
underground conduits
tank
Redhills tank (treatment &
distribution)
Porur tank Errata eri Manali industry
(distribution system)
Underground conduits

Kilpauk (Water treatment & Minjur well fields

distribution System)

Other Water distribution Southern Coastal aquifer

systems

Pumped after treatment &conveyed

in closed conduits

New Veeranam tank

Water Distribution Stations in Chennai City
1. Kilpauk
2. Anna Poonga
3. Kannappar Thidal
4. Triplicane
5. K.K.Nagar
6. Velachery
7. Ekkaduthangal
8. Choolaimedu
9. Kolathur
10. Vysarpadi
11. Patel Nagar
12. Pallipattu
13. Nandanam
14. Mylapore
15. Valluvarkottam
16. Southern Head works
 City water supply distribution- Network
Minjur well field

Vyasarpadi Anna Poonga head

works
Red hills distribution
system
Kolathur Kannapar thidal

Choolaimedu
head works Triplicane head works
Kilpauk head
works Valluvarkottam head
works
Patel Nagar
K.K.Nagar
head works
Southern head Mylapore
works

Porur tank (Distribution

System)
Nandanam

Pallipattu head works

Ekkattuthangal head works

Veeranam source
Velachery head works
 Augmentation of water supply sources
–Time line
Till 1870 – Unprotected supply from
shallow wells
1914 – Commencement of Kilpauk Water
works operation. (Protected water supply)
1946-1959 – Improvements to
distribution, treatment, and conveyance
system was done from red hills to Kilpauk
and to southern Chennai
1969 - Development of well fields at
Minjur, Panjetty & Tamaraipakkam (125
MLD)
1972 – Combined capacity of 3 reservoirs
increased by 700 Mcft (6296 Mcft)
1872 – Water supply from Red hills &
Cholavaram lakes
1944 – Operation of new reservoir at
Poondi. (Combined capacity of 3 reservoirs
– 5596 Mcft)
1962 -1973 - Additional Head works
started at (Anna Poonga) Robinson Park,
Southern Head Works, K.K.Nagar
1962 - Irrigation rights of Red hills &
Cholavaram lake acquired to water supply
1975-1977 – Southern coastal aquifer
along Thiruvanmiyur to muthukad by
TWAD board
1978- CMWSSB (metro water separated
from PWD)
 Augmentation of water supply
sources….continued
1978 - 12 Panchayats - Kodungaiyur, Vyasarpadi,
Erukkanchery, Kolathur, Villivakkam,
Thirumangalam, Virugambakkam, Saligramam,
K.K. Nagar, Velachery, Tharamani and
Thiruvanmiyur are taken under CMWSSB to
provide water supply and sewerage services to these
areas.
1982-1987 - UNDP/UNTACD Aided Hydro
geological and Artificial Recharge studies
completed on Poondi, Kosasthalaiyar Flood Plains
& Kannigaiper well fields (potential of 55MLD)
Till 1996 – 3 surface reservoirs and 6 ground water September,1996 – Poondi received
fields extracted 318 MLD including 45 MLD to
industry at Manali plus 273 MLD to city supply.
1984 – CMWSSB has taken over
southern aquifer operation
(Thiruvanmiyur to muthukad) Safe
yield is 10 MLD. Present withdrawal
restricted to 1.5 MLD.
1991-1992 – PWD increased storage
capacity of 3 reservoirs. Poondi -3231
Mcft , Redhills -3300 Mcft &
Cholavaram - 881 Mcft. (7412 Mcft)
flows from Kandaleru reservoir from
river Krishna (As per Srisailam pact
signed on 19th April,1983 for 15 TMC)
Augmentation of water supply
sources….continued
January, 2000 – Chembarambakkam lake used as
supplementary source. Rettai eri and Porur lake
used during rainy season.
2000-2001 – GW from Neyveli, Mamadur, Palur,
Water from Cauvery river near Erode, GW from
suburbs of Chennai are transported via road and
rail to solve water scarcity
2002 – RO plants installed in Coastal
fisherman hamlets at North Chennai (Ayodhya
kuppam & Kasimedu kuppam)
2003-2004- Drought stricken state goes for
Veeranam Supply project commissioned for
180 MLD supply
2004-05 – Proposal of Desalination plant for
Chennai in Coromandal Coast
2007 – New plant at Chembarambakkam tank
for treating Telugu Ganga inflows.
2002-2004 – Detailed study of GW
extraction potential of Araniar –
Kosasthalaiyar basin concluded 100
mcm/year (normal year) & 80 mcm
(drought year) as safe extraction.
Report (Scott Wilson Piesold)
2008 - 2009 – Ambathur and
Manali New Town areas taken
under CMWSSB for water supply.
(12 head works functioning to
distribute the water & 4 head works
under improvement)
2011 – 9 Municipalities, 8 Town
panchayats & 25 Village Panchayats
included in Chennai city
Corporation (426 Sq.Km)
 Issues & Problems
• Dependence on rain fed rivers causing scarcity
in summer
• Major Droughts during years 1983 & 2003-
2004.
• Augmentation of new sources like Telugu
Ganga Project (1983 Srisailam pact), Veeranam
project (2004), Desalination plant at Minjur &
Nemmeli (2005-06) made after experiencing
droughts.
 Issues & Problems… continued
• Delayed inflows from Telugu Ganga Project
and Veeranam Lake worsening months from
March to June – uncertainty of flows, timing
• Acquisition of Irrigation rights from Peri
Urban farmers for City water supply causing
depletion of aquifers.
• Environmental flows to be maintained in the
downstream river reaches !
 Objectives
• Assessment of water potential in the Chennai
basin (Spatial and temporal) - Surface water
& Ground water
• Sustainable solution for city water supply and
distribution
 Details available from Metro water website
S.No. Name of source Safe yield
‘MLD’
1 Poondi – Cholavaram – red hills lake System 227
2 Well fields (Northern Chennai) 68
3 Southern coastal aquifer, errata eri, Porur eri, etc. 5
4 Inflows from Kandaleru reservoir (Krishna river ) 837 (10 % losses
(400 MLD through Redhills and 530 MLD from agreed 930
through Chembarambakkam ) MLD (12 tmc))
5 Veeranam lake (Kollidam river) 180
6 Desalination plant (Minjur – on trial & 100 & 100
Nemmeli –under construction)
7 Local sources including Palar river in the CMA 32
area other than city limits
8 Abstractable quantity of local ground water in the 240
city for uses other than drinking and cooking
 S.No Surface sources Storage (Mcft)
1 Poondi 3231 Percapita supply – 108 l/d
2 Cholavaram 881
3 Redhills 3300
4 Chembarambakkam 3645

S.No Treatment Plants Capacity (MLD)

1 Kilpauk treatment plant 270
2 Puzhal treatment plant (Redhills) 300
3 Chembarambakkam plant 530
4 Vadakuthu treatment plant (Veeranam) 180
 Sources of data
Chennai Metro water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB)
Surface water bodies (ponds, lakes, and reservoirs)
Hydraulic details of reservoirs, lakes, channel , conduits
Daily/Monthly reservoir releases
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
Detailed Soil data for Chennai Basin
Topography
Map showing Chennai Metropolitan Area with boundary (with
zones & corporations)
Multiple satellite data (to develop land cover map and track
land cover changes over the past three decades)
Demography (Population over Chennai city corporation)
State ground & surface water resources data centre,
Taramani
Daily/monthly stream flow/discharge
Ground water levels
Daily Rainfall for 30 years
GIS data set ( Hydrology Project I)
Land use/cover
Soil
Watershed boundary for rivers inside CMA
Administrative boundary for Chennai basin
Elevation contours
Geology
Spatial Data Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
Geo referenced road map for Chennai
USGS web site
Satellite images – LANDSAT 5 images of 30 m resolution
for developing land cover maps (1988,1991,2000, &2007)
Mott McDonald (1994c) report
Cross sections of Adyar, Couum river, Central and South
Buckingham canal , Mambalam drain
Survey of India Topographic map sheets
Couum (North arm), Northern Buckingham canal, Otteri
Nullah, Captain cotton canal (Survey of India,1971a,1971b,
1976a, 1976b)
 Works/studies carried out in the basin
1) An integrated framework for analysis of water supply strategies in a
developing city of Chennai, India (July 2008), Veena Srinivasan,
Stanford University
2) Making Urban Rainwater Harvesting Sustainable: Lessons Learned in
Chennai, India (May 2004), Jeff Coelho and Shiva Kumar Reddy,
Department of Environment, Technology and Social Studies, Roskilde
University
3) Macro Drainage System in CMA, Er.M.Dheenadhayalan, Senior
Consultant, Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai –
25.
4) Waterways in Chennai, Mr. T. Kanthimathinathan, Executive Engineer,
PWD & Nodal Officer, Couum Sub Basin Restoration & Management
5) An adaptive ecosystem approach to rehabilitation and management of
Couum river environmental system in Chennai, India (2000), Martin
Joseph Bunch, Department of Geography, University of Waterloo,
Canada
6) Micro-level watershed study for Chennai basin (2005), Institute of
Water Studies, PWD, Chennai.
7) Storm water Drainage Master Plan for Madras City, and Pre-Feasibility
Study for Madras Metropolitan Area: Final Report – Appendices (Mott
McDonald, 1994c)
8) Recharge–abstraction relationships and sustainable yield in the Arani –
Kosasthalaiyar groundwater basin (2004), India A.N. Charalambous, P.
Garratt - Scott Wilson, Kant hack House, Station Road, Ashford, Kent
Plans for data collection
• Visit to IHH, Poondi for reports related to Study on Chennai
rivers and their hydraulic details.
• Visit to Institute of Water Studies, Taramani for report on
Micro level watershed study of Chennai basin and maps
created in GIS under Hydrology project I.
• Visit to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
(CMDA) for collecting reports and maps of Chennai Authority
• Visit to CMWSSB to obtain reports of study made on Surface
and ground water sources, water supply system operation and
maps of Chennai river basin.
• Visit to PWD Muncipal Administration and Water supply
department.