The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is set to complete the project of fixing digital water meters with automated meter reading (AMR) in all commercial establishments in February.
According to The Hindu, 12,708 commercial and water-intensive establishments, including companies, hotels and educational institutions, were identified across the city. The efforts were made possible with funding from the Smart City Mission
The water board has fixed digital meters in about 10,500 buildings and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project, according to officials, reported The Hindu.
Commercial establishments using about 500 kiloliters fall in the water-intensive category and would be charged ₹60 per 1,000 litres and the rates would differ according to the category. The meters would record and transmit the data to a central system through radio frequency, so officials can read and monitor the meters from the area office concerned and the head offices every month.
Once the meters are fixed, the board expects the revenue to go up by 15% to 20%. The cost of the meters would be collected from the consumer along with the bill, according to officials, reported The Hindu. Consumers would get text messages about the bill.
The meters are part of the ₹9.5 crore project to encourage sensible use of drinking water.
The water board is supplying 830.41 million litres of water a day (mld), with approximately 792.04 mld is provided through pipelines and lorries. The remaining water is supplied to industries, bulk consumers and nearby local bodies, reported The Hindu.
The CMWSSB proposed to extend the metering system to consumers in core areas of the city in the next phase of the project, according to The Hindu. This was proposed as a package for distribution in the project to build the fourth desalination plant with a capacity to treat 400 mld of seawater at Perur.
