The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has embarked on a project to install water meters in houses in five wards in Kasba, Jadavpur and Patuli to prevent wastage and divert water that is being wasted in one neighbourhood to another that faces a crisis.

A small pit has been dug up in several lanes across these places as a step towards installing meters in houses.The water pipe running under the pit is the one through which water flows into a locality from bigger pipes.

Water meters will be first installed at strategic points on pipes through which water flows into a small locality. These points will act like openings on a boundary through which water enters the enclosed area. From the meter readings the CMC will get an idea about the volume of water flowing into a neighbourhood.

“The project is being implemented in five wards. We will divide each ward into zones and study water wastage in each zone,” said an official of the CMC.

The civic body has hired Suez India, a water utility company, for the water loss management project. “Once we know the volume of water entering a zone and the volume of water being supplied to the houses in the zone, we will be able to assess the loss, which could be because of leaks,” said the official.

The water meters that will be fitted in houses will help the civic body assess the wastage, if any, by the individual houses.

The five wards chosen for the project - 101, 102, 107, 108 and 110 - are in the command zone of the Dhapa water treatment plant. The first phase of the project was undertaken in wards 1 to 6, which fall under the Tallah water reservoir’s command zone.

“A similar project will be launched in wards that fall in the command zone of the Garden Reach water treatment plant,” an engineer said.

“The project is aimed at reducing water wastage. Since our policy is not to impose water tax, we will adopt other measures like counselling the households to prevent water wastage,” the engineer said.

A survey will be conducted to find out the number of residents in each house to calculate how much water is required by that household. Metro had earlier reported that the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation had calculated that 135 litres were required by each person daily in India.

If it is found that the volume of water supplied to the house was much more than what the household should require, its residents will be alerted and told that they are wasting water.

After assessing the water wasted in an area, the project will design the distribution in a way that the excess water can be diverted to a zone where several households suffer from water shortage. “The aim is equal distribution of water among all,” the engineer said.

Following the implementation of the project in wards 1 to 6, many households that used to waste water became cautious.