Soon, water consumption details online

BANGALORE: City water board is starting a pilot project wherein its consumers’ water consumption can be checked on Internet.“It will reduce the chances of the meters getting tampered,” said Engineer-in-Chief of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) T Venkatraju. He said modified meters with Radio Frequency Identification will be installed at 1,000 commercial connections in Bangalore Central zone that have been identified for the pilot project. The meters will transmit the readings to the nearest local server, which will then transmit it to the main server at BWSSB’s head office in Cauvery Bhavan. The automated reading will be cross-checked with manual reading of the meter.Venkatraju said the BWSSB would create a water billing account for each identified customer. These consumers and a few employees will be given the password, using which they can check the water consumption on Internet. He added that the consumers’ feedback and the pilot project’s performance would help the BWSSB decide if it is possible to use the automated meter reading technology across the city. He said automated water reading was touted to be helpful in regulating and monitoring the water movement in the city.The project will cost Rs 4.2 crore. The BWSSB engineer-in-chief said the Centre was giving some aid towards the project. He added that the cost looked large when the consumption was limited to 1,000 metres but if the BWSSB used the technology for all its consumers in the city then the cost would seem less. The contract to implement the system has been given to Cheetos Controls. Meters will be instilled within nine months time.