Kochi water distribution upgrade project awaits govt. sanction

The joint project of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and a private firm, which aims to optimise water distribution in Kochi, is awaiting financial sanction from the State government.

The agreement between the KWA and private entity SUEZ was inked in June. “The company will begin work once the advance payment is given. This is pending with the government. In the first year, the focus will be on design and surveying of pipelines,” said a KWA official. Starting the second year, the construction activities will begin.

The project is jointly financed by the Asian Development Bank and the State government. Here, the KWA is following a design-build-operate-transfer model with the private firm. The company is tasked with water distribution network upgradation, including the operation and maintenance for 10 years. The contract was awarded to SUEZ for the Kochi city water supply system upgrade, operations, and maintenance.

The work will begin in the nine distribution zones in the city after the initial year of surveying. “There are nine zones in Kochi, and the focus initially will be on completing the construction work in three zones. Once this is done, work in the next three zones will be done,” the official said.

The work involves revamping the water distribution system. The project aims at reducing non-revenue water (NRW) losses.

“It includes laying 743 km of pipeline. This will be decided after the survey in the first year. The survey will help us analyse which pipelines need to be relaid. The dilapidated and leaky ones will be replaced,” the official added. After the approval of the KWA, the pipeline will be relaid.

The official said that the project would help arrest the real and apparent losses and reduce it to a minimum.

“The focus is on ensuring a 24-hour water supply to all consumers with minimum interruption,” the official added.

By the seventh year, pipeline replacement in the nine zones and refurbishment of pump houses will be completed. In the last three years, the focus will be on operation and maintenance.