Desalination Plants at Nemelli and Minjur; Aquifers in Neyveli, Minjur and Panchetty;
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Dr. M.V.Ramana Murthy & Dr. M.A.Atmanand, Ministry of Earth Sciences Dec., 2015 Floods that paralyzed Chennai – Some snapshots Coastal Flooding – information lacunae No data on • Vulnerable areas • Extent of flooding • Rivers in • Low lying areas spate, • No warning system Submerged flyovers , Airport, Roads and Settlements Early Warning System for forecasting Coastal Floods MoES ( NCMRWF, IMD and NCCR) has developed Urban Flood Warning System integrating the Numerical models of Weather (Precipitation), Hydrology (Catchment), Hydraulic ( River), Hydrodynamic (Tide and Storm Surge ) and Urban Drainage/overland flow. Web Based Decision Support System is put into operation for Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) in association with TN State Disaster Management Unit by integrating Topography (DEM)/Bathymetry, population/infrastructure and administrative information. Similar System is being developed by MoES for Mumbai with network of observatories. It will be extended to other cities in the country. Water Scenario: Challenges Water demand, Population growth, Over exploitation of resources Climatic change and variability Land use, Catchment areas for Refill / Reservoirs Water quality , Pollution Natural /Chemical / Biological Impurities Sea Water Ingression Contamination by Industrial / Domestic Waste Poverty and economic policy Water resource Management International waters / Sociological issues Source: 'India's Water Future to 2025-2050’,International Water Management Institute; Datamonitor; ’Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050’,Goldman Sachs Global Economics Paper No:99;Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations: ’Sustainable Technology Options for Reuse of Wastewater', Central Pollution Control Board; 'Urban and Rural Areas 2007’,Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations; 'India's Water Resources,Availabliity,Needs and Management:21st Century', German Coastal Engineering Research Council Source: Sustainable technology options for Reuse of Wastewater', Central Pollution Control Board; 'Wastewater management and Reuse for Agriculture and Aquaculture in India’, CSE Conference on Health and Environment 2006; Wastewater reuse and Recycling Systems: A perspective into India and Australia', International Water Management Institute Source: 'Corporate initiatives for Water Conservation and Waste Water Management’ India Water portal; 'Higher Incomes for farmers in India’s Karnataka Watershed', World Bank; 'Rain Water Harvesting Catches on in Chennai', The Hindu Business Line; 'Agricultural Engineering', Government of Tamil Nadu; ’Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Plant to be Established in Chennai', Andhra News; ‘BARC Builds Barge-mounted Plant to Produce Safe Drinking Water', Live Mint; 'Garland of Hope: River-linking as a Solution to Water Crisis ‘,The Times of India Source: ‘India’s Water future to 2025-2050:Business as usual Scenario and Deviations’, International Water Management Institute; India Census 2001;’Water Poverty in Urban India: A Study of major Cities’, Jamia Millia Islamia;’ Troubled Waters', Development Alternatives;’ Dreamings with BRIC’s: The Path to 2025’,Goldman Sachs,2003;’Urban and Rural Areas 2007’,United Nations; ’Water Supply-The Indian Scenario’, IEA India ;’Status Of Water Treatment Plants In India', Central Pollution Control Board; Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat Chennai Water Crisis Chennai population : 8.24 million (2011 census) As the city lacks a perennial water source, catering the water requirements of the population has remained an arduous task. Although three rivers flow through the city, Chennai relies on North East Monson to replenish its water reservoirs since the rivers are polluted with sewage. With the increase in population and depleting ground water the city often grapples with acute water supply shortages. On 18 June 2019, the city's reservoirs ran dry, leaving the city in severe crisis Demand and Supply of Water in chennai Chennai is entirely dependent on ground water resources to meet its water needs. Ground water resources in Chennai are replenished by rain water and the city's average rainfall is 1,276 mm. Chennai receives about 985 million liters per day (mld) from various sources against the required amount of 1,200 mld. This demand is expected to rise to 2,100 mld by 2031. Water to the city's residents is being supplied from desalination plants at Nemelli and Minjur; aquifers in Neyveli, Minjur and Panchetty; There is a canal to tap into excess water from the Krishna basin (as part of the Telugu Ganga project) and Cauvery (Veeranam project). There are four reservoirs in the city, namely, Red Hills, Cholavaram, Poondi and Chembarambakkam, with a combined capacity of 11,057 mcft. Present Scenario : As on June 2019 The failure of northeast monsoon in 2018 and pre-monsoon showers in 2019 have caused depletion of the already over-exploited lakes. 2018 2019 The Poondi reservoir has a capacity of 3,231 mcft 2018 2019 The Chembarambakkam reservoir has a capacity of 3,645 mcft. Cause I : Disappearing water bodies The Chennai city has network of about 650 water bodies including major lakes, ponds and storage tanks has been destroyed. The current number stands at around 27, according to the NIDM study. Total area of 19 major lakes in the CMA has nearly halved from 1, 130 hectares to about 645 hectares. This is the overall capacity of water bodies in the city to contain excess rain water has reduced. Cause I : Disappearing water bodies Extent of Water bodies as mapped from Toposheet and Pre and Post flood satellite data SOI Toposheet(1975) : 105.5 sq.km Pre-flood Sat data (6.10.2015) : 35.4 sq.km Post-flood Sat data (10.2.2016) : 105.7 sq.km Cause II : Tampering of recharge structures % Topo Change sheet 6-Oct- 10-Jan- Water bodies [1976] 15 16 Ambattur 22.62% Lake 1.68 1.41 1.3 Chembaramba 4.04% kkam Lake 20.54 8.52 19.71 Cholavaram 5.19% Lake 6.54 1 6.2 Korattur Lake 1.96 1.57 1.68 14.28% Porur Lake 1.17 0.09 0.75 35.89% Puzhal Lake 19.54 3.94 19.06 2.45% Retteri Lake 1.47 0.82 1.07 27.21% Velachery 83.15% Lake 0.95 0.08 0.16 Tampering of recharge structures like lakes, tanks , ponds and wetlands is one reason attributed to the water crisis in Chennai. Cause III : Fractured flood sink Pallikaranai is a freshwater marsh in the city of Chennai and is home to several rare/ endangered and threatened species. Pallikaranai used to cover an area of 50 sq km but it has now been reduced to a tenth of its size. 90% of the marshland has been lost to construction of IT corridors, gated communities, garbage dumps and sewage treatment plants. A survey conducted by Care Earth Trust in the early 2000s revealed that the marsh had shrunk by almost 90 percent--from close to 6000 hectares to barely 600 hectares--over a 50-year period. Fractured flood sink - Temporal changes in Pallikaranai marsh (1990-2016) Dump yard Chennai’s Water Crisis: Five-point solution Improving storage of surface water Efficient implementation of rainwater harvesting Recharging groundwater Protection of flood plains, lakes and wetlands Desalination plants Solution I :Improving storage of surface water According to the records of the Water Resources Department, only 19 of the 29 major waterbodies in the city's periphery can be restored. Nine lakes cannot be rejuvenated owing to encroachments, including those in Valasaravakkam, Virugambakkam, Maduravoyal etc. Once rejuvenated completely, the remaining lakes will have a combined storage capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet (mcft). In addition, if the four primary reservoirs are desilted by a metre, an additional water volume of about 500 mcft can be stored. It is estimated that as many as 3,600 tanks in and around the Chennai metro area (covering the whole of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts), if properly preserved and networked, can provide five times the quantum of water that the city needs in normal times. Water harnessed through these tanks is estimated to be about 80,000 million cubic feet (TMC). DESALINATION TECHNOLOGIES Thermal Desalination 1. Multi effect distillation / Multi stage flashing 2. Low Temperature Thermal Desalination 3. Solar based Desalination Membrane Desalination 1. Sea water reverse osmosis 2. Electro dialysis 19 Desalination Natural Way LTTD Desalination at Union Territory of Lakshadweep LTTD Process Vertical Temp profile across Ocean o o •Temperature differences between the surface (28 – 30 ) and deep sea water(10-12o) at the Islands used •Under vacuum condition, warm (surface) sea water is evaporated and it is condensed using the deep sea cold water resulting in pure fresh water • Major components are Marine Structure, Plant Building and Deep sea submarine pipeline Desalination Low Temperature Thermal Desalination uses two water bodies where in warmer water is evaporated at low pressures and the colder water is used in condensing the colder water to obtain high quality drinking water. The applicability of the technique is site specific. Other techniques for desalination are Reverse Osmosis, Multi Stage Flashing and Multi Effect Distillation Islands with availability of 400m depth for cold water within 1 km distance and Coastal Thermal Power Plants discharging huge amounts of hot water into nearby sea are suitable for LTTD. For mainland applications an offshore floating plant would be required. Kavaratti Island, UTL Parabolic Solar MED System Collectors Solar Desalination RO plant Bitra 23 LTTD PLANTS TAKEN