A pumping facility is ready in Retteri Lake to take out the water, which will be treated at a plant in Kolathur. , photo credit: b. Jothi Ramalingam
In another move to decentralize water supply and create more sources, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board is constructing a plant at Kolathur to treat water drawn from Retteri Lake.
The plant, with a capacity to treat about 10 million liters of water a day, is expected to be ready in about a month. After Porur Lake, the Jal Board is developing infrastructure to use water from Retteri Lake to augment supply to the city.
Spread over 280 hectares of land, Retteri Lake can store up to 133 million cubic feet of water. The project to use the lake as another drinking water source was actively pursued following its use as an alternate source during the 2019 drought.
Officials said that in 2019, as part of the contingency plan, water was supplied from Retteri through lorries.
The ₹22 crore project was drawn up after analyzing its potential as a drinking water source on the lines of Porur Lake.
Infrastructure including a 1.8 kilometer long pipeline to transport water from the lake to the plant was developed as part of the project. Officials said such a decentralized water supply system would reduce pumping costs, electricity costs and resource losses during transmission by 20%-30%. In addition, it will help in developing reliable sources for safe water supply. It will work in Kolathur, Madhavaram and surrounding areas, officials said.
lake revive
The Department of Water Resources began eco-restoration efforts at Retteri a few years ago. This led to the stopping of sewage outflow in 2017. Periodic testing of water samples indicates that the water quality has improved. Officials said wetlands created on the banks of the lake would be made available for treatment of sludge, if needed.
Officials said a proposal had been submitted to the state government to increase and deepen the capacity of Retteri lake, which was converted into a drinking water source.
Improvements made upstream of Korattur Lake had helped prevent the flow of sewage into Retteri Lake. Sources said more such water bodies should be rejuvenated and used as drinking water sources to meet the growing needs of the city and prevent encroachment.