Trial run for 2nd grey water treatment plant to begin soon

Chennai: Metrowater is all set to begin the trial run of the second grey water treatment plant at Koyambedu, which has the capacity to treat 45 million litres a day. The treated water will be supplied to industrial units in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur and Irugattukottai SIPCOT.

With the operationalisation of this unit, the pressure on Chembarambakkam reservoir will come down as the water is hitherto drawn from this reservoir to supply to the industries.

The official said the technology used to treat the grey water is called tertiary treatment, that uses reverse osmosis method, known as TTRO. Using this method, the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water will be contained to less than 70 mg per litre, whereas the TDS levels in potable water range between 250 mg per litre to 500 mg per litre, the official said.

The first plant in Kodungaiyur was inaugurated by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami 15 days ago. The treated water from this plant is being supplied to 11 major industries in Ennore, Manali and Minjur belts.

As far as the Koyambedu plant is concerned, water from this plant will be supplied to SIPCOT industrial units in Oragadam, Sriperumbudur and Irugungattukkottai in Kancheepuram. A senior official said under the existing arrangement, the public works department draws about 25 million litres of water from Chembarambakkam reservoir, which is supplied to these industrial units. Now, with the dead storage level at the reservoir, the water is not being drawn, said the official.

Before the Kodungaiyur TTRO plant became operational, Metrowater conducted trial runs for three months to check if there were any technical difficulty. In the case of Koyambedu plant, Metrowater is planning to conduct trial runs for one month only. “As we have already identified glitches in the plant in Kodungaiyur, it was decided to conduct the trial run for Koyambedu plant for a month,” the official said.