Jal board looking for ways to supply water all day long

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is looking into the possibility of providing 24-hour uninterrupted water supply to the city residents.

The water utility on Monday appointed a consultant to conduct a feasibility study to suggest ways such as district metered areas (DMA) to improve water distribution network, achieving better water pressure management, to prevent contamination and plugging leakages, the board said in a statement. DMA is an effective water leakage control methodology in water supply systems. It is done by dividing the city into sections and testing the water flow in each area.

“The DJB will also look at reducing non-revenue water connections, which are as high as 47% in Delhi,” it said. The decision to conduct the study was taken during a meeting of the board, which is headed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Currently, the DJB supplies around 900 million gallons per day (MGD) drinking water through a transmission and distribution network of around 14,000 km across Delhi.

Kejriwal had recently promised people that his government is working on providing them 24-hour water supply while inaugurating development projects in illegal colonies in outer Delhi’s Narela assembly constituency.

Subsidised water and electricity were main poll promises of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2015 assembly elections, in which the party won 67 of the total 70 seats.

The city faces a water supply crisis every summer.