Disagreement over using helium gas led to cancellation of project in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Two senior officers at the city's water supply utility , both at the fag end of their careers, have locked horns over the use of helium-gas-technology to detect water leakage in the city's notoriously leaky water supply system.
Two years ago, tenders were floated and France-based company Suez Environment was awarded the project at a cost of Rs 7 crore. Engineering chief T Venkatraju and chief engineer (New Initiatives and New Water) Narayan took opposite stand on the issue even as 50% of potable water supplied in the city was being lost in leakages. Disagreement between the two top officers led to the cancellation of the project.

With both these officials out of the way at the end of this month, the water utility plans to take a fresh and objective look at the technology . It is now preparing to float fresh tenders.

The technology involves injecting helium gas into the water supply system. Apparently, leakages in the pipes will be detected as the gas sets off a certain reaction. As helium is lighter, it rises above and will be picked up through small holes drilled along the pipeline by specially-designed sensors.

“Delhi and Pune have already used this technology and it is going on well there. Once the formal tender process is done, we hope to kickstart the project probably in a month or so,“ said Narayan, the man who swears by the technology , although he demits office end of May .

Venkatraju, however, is not giving up without a fight. “We have to study the pros and cons. I visited New Delhi to see how this technology works. Officials there are telling me that helium gas works well only for the main lines and that they have not found results on the distribution lines,“ he contended.

Narayan, however, believes Venkatraju is misinformed. “Helium gas actually helps detect leaks in distribution lines, where the water flow pressure is low. It is of little help on the main lines, where the pressure is high and leaks are evident.“ The new pilot will cover the Central-3, East-2, Southeast-1 and Northeast-2 subdivisions, Narayan added.

Bengaluru gets 1,460 million litres (MLD) water per day, which flows across 5,638 kms of distribution network. However, 50.90% of the water is lost. The utility is replacing faulty distribution pipes under the UFW project in the south, central and west divisions at a cost of Rs 124.78 crore.