Metrowater can detect blockages and leaks with a mobile app | News from Chennai

Much guesswork and many road cuts were the way Metro water Officials found a leak or a block in pipelines. And if the engineer was new to the field, pipeline Network became more difficult. Now any official can track the underground pipeline network using just a mobile application. For the first time since the first pipeline was laid in 1872, all pipelines have been mapped with geo-coordinates.

Now a leak or blockage can be identified quickly, even within a day, thanks to geo-mapping pipelines, said Metrowater's top official. The water authority has a live GIS (Geographic Information System) monitoring booth with a large display board on the sixth floor of the headquarters in Chintadripet, where officials update the coordinates of new and old underground pipes when they are installed or replaced for public works.
This GIS cell worth Rs 17.8 crore was inaugurated by Prime Minister MK Stalin on August 12.
GIS mapping began in mid-2022, with contractor Darashaw & Company Pvt Ltd using five Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) instruments to collect accurate satellite data and 22 magnetic locators to locate iron pipelines and metallic manhole covers.
Water authority engineers can currently find where water and sewer lines run underground, twisting, turning and snaking, and ending at a sewer pumping station or water tank. “We can also find streets that have no water or sewer lines,” said Metrowater managing director TG Vinay.
When roads, storm drains, cable ducts or underground power lines are damaged, water or sewer pipes sometimes burst and the search for the leak takes a long time.
“But we will integrate data with Metrorail and other line departments of the Greater Chennai Corporation. Each department will know where our underground pipelines are and can prevent them from breaking or getting damaged. We will also get data on storm water drains as well as manhole covers and silt traps, which will be useful to us,” Vinay explained.
This Metrowater GIS map will be integrated into GCC's integrated command and control center.
The GIS application also helps in identifying valves in sewers and water pipes, which can help open or close them during repairs. It also helps in locating branches that need valves, said Mohammed Basheer CM, deputy vice president of Darashaw.
They have also mapped household connections: In Chennai, there are about 990,000 sewerage connections and 800,000 water connections.
“Soon we will even be able to detect illegal discharges of sewage into water bodies and other drains,” said Vinay. But there is still a lot of work to be done. This centre only monitors the pipelines, not the movement of fluids.