Tubewells, boosting stations turning smart for improved supply in Karnal

Parveen Arora

Karnal, March 27

The work to transform water supply tubewells and boosting stations into smart solutions has picked up pace under the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. SCADA is a sensor-based system for analysing data, measuring the speed, flow, and pressure of water. The authorities concerned claim if all goes as planned, the work would be completed within a couple of months.

There are 238 tubewells in the city, of which, the agency has so far been assigned the work of 191. The authorities concerned claimed installation of instruments was underway at 90 tubewells out of the 191. Of these 90 tubewells, flow meters have been installed at 81, analysers at 84, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) at 90, and soft starters have been erected at 87. Similarly, earthing work has been completed at 85 tubewells so far.

Apart from the 191 tubewells, there are three booster stations and four overhead tanks in the city, providing water supply to over 4 lakh people in the city and surrounding villages merged under the Kurukshetra Municipal Council. An official said: “The repair and construction work of small buildings (huts) will be carried out at 100 tubewells, which may take some time.”

“The work is going on speedily and it is likely to be completed in April. The agency will also look into operation and maintenance for five years. The automated operation of tubewells would reduce dependency on manpower, with the entire switch on and off process automated. It will be connected with the integrated command and control centre (ICCC),” said KMC Commissioner Abhishek Meena.

The agency would also ensure water quality with the help of analysers. Online monitoring of the system would be carried out with the help of pH and turbidity (TDS) analysers, with data collected through GPS at the ICCC, he added

Uttam Singh, regional manager of the agency assigned the work, said they had mobilised manpower to complete it by the end of April. Their team members would monitor the process with real-time data collected at the ICCC. They would analyse it to obtain information about leakage, water quality, and theft. “SCADA will ensure adequate water supply according to demand, purity, and fix pipeline leaks. There will be a balanced amount of chlorine in the drinking water to maintain its purity,” he added.

Satish Sharma, XEN, KMC, said the project aimed at reducing water losses and improving the efficiency and reliability of the water distribution system. The detection of water pilferage from the supply line could also be easily detected with the help of the SCADA system, he added.