Mumbai Water Crisis: BMC Explores Advanced Leak Detection Technology Amid 10 Per Cent Cut

Mumbai is currently facing a severe water crisis, with a 10% water cut that has led to nearly 700 million liters of water being lost daily to leakages. This has prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to explore advanced technologies for faster and more effective leak detection. Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) corporator Varsha Tembwalkar has proposed installing advanced camera technology in water pipelines to detect leaks and contamination early.

The BMC administration is currently testing various leak detection equipment to find a suitable solution for timely repairs and reduced water loss. While traditional methods involve using sounding rods, these are not accurate when the depth exceeds 10 feet, especially under concrete roads. To address this, the BMC is considering modern, non-destructive, reliable, and cost-effective technologies that can accurately identify leak points without causing damage to road surfaces.

The city's water demand stands at 4,600 million liters per day (MLD), while the supply is only 4,100 MLD, resulting in a 500 MLD shortfall. Additionally, around 34% of the daily water supply is lost due to leakages, illegal connections, and water theft. Illegal connections, apart from contributing to water loss, are a significant issue in some areas, such as Versova, where over 1,000 connections were detected in a few months.

The BMC may also review water supply to municipal swimming pools as lake levels remain below last year's levels, and the supply was restored after the monsoon.