2013

24 X7 WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

FOR THE CITY OF VADODARA

M.PLAN-IP
Batch 2012-14
Semester II

Submitted to
Prof. Vijay Anadkat

Name of the Student Roll No.

Swapneel Vaijanapurkar (IP 2112)

 Executive summary

Poor water supply leads to adoption of expensive coping strategies like underground storage tanks,
bore wells. Queuing at the public stand post leads to wastage of precious time. Intermittent water
supply water leads to pollution of water due to sudden drop in pumping pressure, increased
pumping costs, huge losses due to leakages and thefts and erratic water supply. In order to
overcome these problems, achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction and empower the weaker
sections of community 24x7 water supply system is advocated.

There are lot of arguments against 24x7 water supply systems like being costly, a luxury and
inadequacy of source of supply. But the case study at various village, town and city levels in Gujarat
and India were able to prove beyond doubt that the system in not luxury but a necessity.

Presently the city of Vadodara is facing problems like low cost recovery in water supply, lower levels
of customer satisfaction, high unaccounted flow of water and inadequacy of supply to meet the
demand. Thus it is a right time for the city to go for 24x7 supply system. The project requires an
investment of 3300 crores as per estimates which can be done in several phases.

Loans from multilateral development agency like World Bank, ADB could be considered for
implementation of project of such a large magnitude. Finally project phasing and institutional
framework can be adopted from the successful case study of Karnataka.

Thus 24x7 water supply systems is the need of an hour. It is not luxury but a necessity.

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 Content

1. Importance of Urban water supply sector 4

2. Defining 24x7 water supply and its benefits. 5

3. Arguments against 24x7 water supply system 6

4. Introduction to Vadodara 7

5. Current issues of Vadodara city 8

6. Introduction to Vadodara Water supply 9

7. Issues with water supply system 11

8. Future Planning and priorities for water supply system as per VMC 12

9. Review of some success stories in 24x7 water supply system (Gujarat and India) 13

10. Model transforming intermittent water supply system to 24x7 water supply 15

11. Financial estimates 16

12. Institutional Framework 17

13. References 18

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 Importance of Urban water supply sector

• Municipal services have a direct and immediate effect on the quality of lives of the people in
the city.

• Poor municipal service can also make it difficult to attract business or industry to an area
and thus it can limit job opportunities for residents.

• Poor water service levels have led to consumers adopting expensive coping strategies that
include installing underground storage tanks and household filters. Those without a
connection have to queue at stand posts—with the additional burden of often not knowing
to the nearest day when water may come.

• Under intermittent service, when pumping stops and the pressure in the pipes drops, water
that had been leaking out of faulty joints or holes can be sucked back in. This water could be
polluted by wastewater seeping from toilets, septic tanks, domestic drains, and road drains.

• Intermittent water supply thus not only leads to the water provider delivering polluted
water, it also leads to increased pumping costs, reduced lives of pipes and connections due
to wide changes in pressure, and an inability to know how the network is operating as
meters fail to operate effectively.

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 Defining 24x7 water supply and its benefits

• 24x7 water supply is achieved when water is delivered continuously to every consumer of
the service 24 hours a day, every day of the year, through a transmission and distribution
system that is continuously full and under positive pressure.

Benefits:

1. 24x7 supply delivers better quality water for public health.

High levels of bacterial contamination are experienced in the first 10 minutes of
repressurization of an intermittent system, in some cases persisting for up to 20 minutes.
Maintaining full pressure removes that risk.

2. 24x7 supply gives significantly better service to all consumers.

Access to clean water with improved quantity, timing, and pressure, including effective
service to supply pipe ‘tail ends’.

3. 24x7 supply revolutionizes service to the poor.

Consumers can access more water for improved health and hygiene while saving time in
queuing and carrying, and gainfully using the time thus saved for employment opportunities.

4. 24x7 supply converts household coping costs into resources for the service provider.
Coping costs that consumers need to incur are reduced; they pay for a better service.

5. 24x7 supply reduces the burden on water resources.

Continuous supply reduces water wastage arising from overflowing storage systems and
open taps. It saves on stored household water that is discarded when new supply comes in.
Because the network is renewed where needed, it also reduces losses arising from leaks in
the old pipes.

6. 24x7 supply delivers effective ‘supply management’ and ‘demand management’.

Continuous supply makes possible the effective management of leakage through pressure
management and flow measurement. Water conservation is also encouraged through
metering and price signals via a volumetric tariff to consumers.

7. 24x7 supply enables improved efficiency of service provision.

Operational efficiencies are achieved because of a reduced need for valve men, and a
conversion of these jobs into more efficient ones of meter reading and customer care. It also
makes possible the management of illegal connections.

Source: World Bank

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 Arguments against 24x7 water supply system

 We don’t have enough water in a water-scarce country to supply continuous water

 It will cost too much when so many people are poor and tariffs are already too low

 We have intermittent power supply so how can we expect to have continuous water supply?

 Our cities e growing too quickly to support continuous water

 24/7 water supply is wasteful as it requires too much water and would not be sustainable for
most Indian cities”

 24/7 water is too expensive for India. The poor can’t afford it and the rich don’t need it

 24/7 water supply, even if it could be achieved, would be inequitable to the poor, far better
to ration water by hours of supply so that rich and poor alike have equal access”

 24/7 water supply is a needless luxury good, no one needs water 24 hours per day

Given the strong arguments against 24x7 supply, it was clear that developing a successful
demonstration project would take not only technical skills but also significant communication and
social skills. Strong leadership is an important requirement, especially at the government, political,
and official levels; the support of decision makers in financing agencies, academic institutions, and
engineering departments is also essential.

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 Introduction to Vadodara City

Vadodara, the third largest city in the state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad and Surat, is one of
the focal points of industrial growth in Western India. It is located to the south east of
Ahmedabad, on the banks of river Vishwamitri.

The city is referred to as the “Sanskar Nagari” (City of Culture) due to its rich cultural traditions
Vadodara is famous for its palaces, parks, temples and Museums. The city became a metropolis in
1991, along with eleven other major cities across the country, by crossing the one million-population
mark.

Vadodara City runs through the golden corridor, from Ahmedabad to Vapi, and is one of India’s
foremost industrial centres with dominant groups of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, cotton textiles
and machine tools such as Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC), Indian Petrochemicals
Corporation Limited (IPCL) and Gujarat Alkalis and Chemicals Limited (GACL).

The city is divided into 9 wards. The city is well connected with the major urban centres by Express
Highway No.1, National Highway (NH8) and State highways.

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 Current Issues of Vadodara City

Presently Vadodara is the city that is in distress because of following reasons.

1. Failed to attract large investments

2. Decline in industrial Growth
3. Reduced employment opportunities
4. Slow pace of economic growth
5. No longer an attractive migration destination
6. Legacy of being and educational hub is now fading
7. People prefer going to neighbouring cities like Ahmedabad and Mumbai for higher studies
resulting in out-migration of the educated class.

Thus it can be inferred that legacy of Vadodara as an important city in Gujarat is fading.
Projects like 24X7 water supply system are extremely important for bringing back the faded
glory of the city.

Year Population in Lakhs

1981 7.34
1991 10.31
2001 13.06
2011 17.58

Growth Rate of Vadodara

4.64
3.45
2.76
2.39

1981 1991 2001 2011

Vadodara is sandwiched between two major growth magnets i.e. Ahmedabad and Surat. Though a
part of the golden corridor, Vadodara is at a disadvantage in attracting investments. It may be
observed that Ahmedabad, due to its vantage location in central Gujarat, captures the entire
hinterland of Kandla, Mundra, Pipavav, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbander, and Surenderanagar and
serves as a conduit point for all trade movements between these economic centres and the rest of
the country.

The city of Surat also stands to gain from Mumbai and the neighbouring areas of Maharashtra

Unfortunately, this leaves limited hinterland with Vadodara comprising Anand, Panchmahal and
Dahod. Vadodara hinterland on its east gets constrained due to tribal areas and hilly terrain in the
border districts of Madhya Pradesh.

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 Introduction to Vadodara Water Supply

Water Supply

 The responsibility of supplying water to the city of Vadodara lies with the Vadodara
Municipal Corporation. (VMC/VMSS)

 The main sources of water for the Vadodara city are the Sayaji Sarovar (Ajwa) on the
northeast and Mahi river on the northwest of the city. On an average, VMC draws 45-50
MLD from Sayaji Sarovar.

 Tube wells are an alternate source of water supply in VMC. The water from these tube wells
is directly injected into the distribution system. Depending upon the area served, the tube
wells work from 1 to 18 hours every day.

 The city has a water distribution network of 700 kms, which covers 75% of its total area and
90% of the population.

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  The average per capita water supply is around 183 lpcd with a daily supply for 45 minutes
twice a day.

Source Approximate Supply (MLD)

Mahi Radial Collector Wells 110-120
Mahi River Tube wells 55-65
Ajwa-Nimeta 65-70
City Tube wells 10-15
Total 240-270

Treatment Plant

 The present raw water delivery system is capable of transmitting 45-50 MLD of discharge by
gravity to the Nimeta water treatment plant (WTP).

 Two water treatment plants are located at Nimeta. The capacities of each of the plants are
45 MLD and 50 MLD respectively. The capacity utilisation of the treatment plants is 73%.
Water from underground sources such as intake wells and tube wells is not treated, but are
chlorinated.

Service Reservoirs

 There are 20 distribution stations within the municipal limits, of which 17 distribution
stations have a ground service reservoir (GSR) and elevated service reservoir (ESR) or
overhead tank (OHT), while three distribution stations have only GSR and pumping
arrangement.
 The total GSR capacity is about 125 ML and the OHT capacity is about 26 ML, with a total
storage of about 151 ML against the daily yield of 250-280 ML, which is about 55-60% of the
daily water supply.

 However, this storage capacity is only theoretical. Considering the dead storage, due to
pump suction limitations and overflow, the live storage is about 80% of the theoretical
capacity, i.e. approx. 120 ML.

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 Issues with water supply system

Vadodara
Surat
6,000.00
10000
5,000.00
8000
Rs In Lacs

4,000.00

Rs In Lacs
6000
4000 3,000.00
2000 2,000.00
0 1,000.00
2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12
0.00
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

 The cost of water recovered from the consumers is so low that it does not recover even 20 %
of the operation expenses of VMC. Other municipal corporation like SMC are able to recover
nearly 100% cost of water supply. Graph above clearly depicts the gap between the income
and expenditure of water supply incurred by VMC.

 Water losses through leakages and water theft, account for about 30-35 % of the total water
supplies. Per capita subsidy for water supply services was around Rs 241 per capita per annum.

Other Issues:

 Most common complaints received by the water supply department of VMC are inadequate
water supply/pressure and quality of supply.

 At present, water is supplied once a day for 40 to 70 minutes. The supply is inadequate in cases
when there is change in either one or more features, such as:

1. Less water made available, even though it may be adequate for daily use
2. Change / reduction in frequency / timing of water supply
3. Water with less pressure, even if it reaches the consumer taps at less pressure
4. Drought-like situations or technical problems

 None of the overhead tanks and the booster stations has stand-by power supply. When
there is a power failure, the pumps for the overhead tanks cannot run and the tanks cannot
be filled. Hence during such time, no water can be supplied to the area.

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 Future Planning & Priorities for water supply system as per VMC

 A master plan for water supply was prepared in 2004-05 and has the following components.

1. Strengthening of water supply network

2. Providing new network and
3. Providing new storage reservoirs

 VMC has initiated the following projects with a total project cost of around Rs.19.88 crores
which includes network strengthening / new networks and construction of new reservoirs
cater to the development of the city till 2018

Future Planning of VMC

1. Augmentation water supply source (240 MLD)

2. Increase the water supply coverage from present 80%
3. Increase the water supply hours from present 45 to 55 min per day
4. To reduce the present unaccounted water (losses) from 30 to 35 % to about 20 to 25 %
5. Replacement of old pumps (100%)
6. Developing 24x7 water supply system on pilot basis.

Priorities for Water sector in Vadodara set by VMC

1. Regularizing of the illegal water connection by suitable policy making

2. Repairing of Civil Structures such as tanks and support bridges
3. Introducing SCADA concept for monitoring supply at source.
4. Capacity building in the water supply division in all categories

Source: Indian Express, July 20, 2012

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 Review of some success stories in 24x7 water supply system
Gujarat & India

Case I
Jepar village of Chuda Taluka in Surendranagar District, Gujarat

It is a village that embraced the decentralized community managed water supply system in 2006. It
has developed a water distribution system, which allows all 160 households to have tap connections
and enjoy 24x7 water supply. The village’s two sources of water – a well and Narmada pipe water
supply system – supplement each other to ensure regular safe water supply to the village. The total
storage capacity is an Elevated Storage Reservoir (ESR) of 50,000 litres and one sump of 20,000
litres.

Before the village adopted the 24x7 water supply system in 2006, the supply was available for about
two hours a day and the average consumption of water was around 400 litres per day per
household. When each household was assured of 24x7 supply, the consumption per household
reduced to 250 litres per household, thus saving 25,000 litres per day which represents 38 percent of
the water previously distributed.

Power consumption reduced too by 4.39 units per day or a decrease in one-third of the previous
electricity bill; an annual saving of about Rs. 7,900. The reduction in consumption of water occurred
primarily because people abandoned the practice of storing water to cover several days’ needs.
Now, 125 villages in Gujarat are successfully operating the 24x7 water supply system.

Case II
Malkapur town, Satara district, Maharashtra

The water supply system in Malkapur town is the first initiative in India where the entire town is
operating on 24x7 basis. The initiative at Malkapur has led to remarkable efficiency improvement:

 Per capita daily consumption reached an average of 110 litres;

 Water requirement reduced by 30 percent;
 Operational cost requirement reduced by Rs. 75,000 per month;
 Revenue collection efficiency increased from 60 to 80 percent;
 Sufficient pressure in the distribution network has reduced electricity consumption of the
Municipal Council as well as for the consumers to the extent of 27.528 kilowatt (KWH) per
month; and, finally, unaccounted for water (UFW) represents between 8-12 percent, which
is an extremely good performance.

The water supply system is operated by the technical unit under the supervision of the Municipal
Council.

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 Review of some success stories in 24x7 water supply system
Gujarat & India

Case III
Belgaum, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Hubli (Karnataka)

Aim: Establish feasibility of sustainable, efficient & commercially oriented service provision by
demonstration in selected urban local bodies (ULBs).

Salient feature of the project was first time involvement of private sector in urban water supply.

The selected ULBs (27 wards, 25000 households)

 Belgaum,
 Gulbarga &
 Hubli – Dharwad

Project Benefits:

 The present loss in the demo zone is measured at about 3% whereas it is nearly 50% in non-
demo zones.

 Due to increased pressure, the water reaches up to 20 feet (1st floor) without need for
water to be stored in overhead tanks or to be pumped with electric motors as is usually
done in the urban areas elsewhere in the State.

 Volume of water consumption has come down due to the 24 hours water supply as there is
no spillage in the demo zones. Due to lower and realistic consumption of water, KUWSDB is
saving water and is able to divert the same to other localities

 Quality being checked on a regular basis indicates that there is greater confidence by the
users as they feel there is no need to further filter the water supplied.

 Earlier water used to let into an underground sump inside the consumer’s premises and
later pumped into a rooftop water tank. With 24/7 supply, the energy cost is saved.

 Nearly 12,000 houses are benefited by this system due to assured supply; it has been
found that there is less consumption and saving of nearly 50% of water from bulk
supply point.

Thus a comprehensive review of success stories at various levels i.e. Village level, town level
and city level shows that 24x7 water supply system is feasible.

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 Model transforming intermittent water supply system to 24x7
water supply system

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 Financial estimates

Objectives of the Project:

 Reforms & service improvements through Private Sector Participation (PSP) in the water
sector in Vadodara.
 100% cost recovery in case of water supply.

Estimate

Population of Vadodara : 1758000 (As per 2011 census)

No. Of persons per household :5 (Assume)

Total number of household : 1758000/5

: 350800
: 350000 (Approx)

As per the case study of Hubli Dharwad, Gulbarga and Belgaum in Karnataka provision of 24x7 water
supply system with 100% replacement of old pipes, metering of all households and other technical
assistance studies and incremental operating cost required 237 crores for 25000 households.

The case of Vadodara is much similar to Karnataka case (Before implementation of 24x7 water
supply system) in many aspects such as network coverage, duration of water supply, recovery of
water charges and large number of illegal water connections.

Applying the same estimates of Karnataka for calculating amount required for provision of 24x7
water supply systems to entire Vadodara city

25000 households 237 crores

350000 households ?

The cost of proving 24x7 water supply systems to entire Vadodara city is 3318 crores. But
considering the present investments of 19.88 crores done by Vadodara Municipal Corporation in
source and capacity augmentation the cost can be approximated to 3300 crores.

Phasing of the project

It is obvious that investment of 3300 crores is huge which requires the project to be done in various
phases.

It can be recommended that the project should be done in few wards of Vadodara on pilot basis in
the first Phase and can be implemented in remaining wards in subsequent phases.

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 Institutional Framework

The institutional frame work for 24x7 water supply implementation project is same as the one opted
by Karnataka i.e. implementation through a SPV.

A proper mix of debt and equity is required for the financial sustainability of the project.

The private operator is responsible for providing the service and recovery of water charges. The
contract with the private sector operator can be performance based contract with fixed
remunerations and performance incentives.

Following can be the performance targets:

1. Ability to provide continuous water supply to every customer in each demonstration zone.
2. Metering of property connections.
3. Maintenance of computerized records of readings.
4. Reduction of the losses pressure in each Demonstration Zone.
5. Operation on a 24 hour basis of the Customer service centres established at Demonstration
Zone.

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References

1. Karnataka water supply improvement Project, a presentation by k.A Joseph, Project director,
Veolia Water

2. The Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project, the Water and Sanitation Program,
World Bank

3. Towards Drinking Water Security in India Lessons from the Field, the Water and Sanitation
Program, World Bank

4. Reforming urban water supply in India, Ramakrishna Nallathiga, Centre of good Governance,
Hyderabad

5. Vadodara city development Plan (Crisil 2005)

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