Established: in 1964 under an Act of the State Legislature of Karnataka.

Mission Statement : The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board ( BWSSB) is committed to providing drinking water of unquestionable quality in sufficient quantity and to treat the waste generated to the required parameters. As the leader in providing water and sanitation services, BWSSB is recognized as an effective instrument of change through adopting state-of-the-art technologies for improving the quality of its services to its customers.

Jurisdiction: Bangalore Metropolitan Area

Currently 100 Wards of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and newly developed BDA Layouts.

Main responsibilities and services BWSSB

a. Supply of adequate and safe piped water for various purpose
b. Provision of bore wells in slums and poorer areas
c. Provision of underground sewerage network
d. Safe disposal of waste water
e. Collection of revenue for water supply and disposal of waste water
f. Redressed of citizens grievances pertaining to water supply and sewage disposal

The Organisation

Board Members: There are 7 Board Members. Viz . Chairman, BWSSB; Principal Secretary Finance Departments-Gok; Principal Secretary-Urban Development Department Gok; Commissioner- Bangalore Mahanagara Palike; Commissioner-BDA; two Non-Official Members.

• BWSSB is headed by the Chairman,
• The chairman is assisted by an Engineer-in-Chief and five Chief Engineers- one each for Project; Maintenance; Corporate Planning; Waste water Management; Quality Assurence and Borewells. In addition, there are the Financial Advisor, Chief Administrative Officer and the Public Relations Officer.
• Each Chief Engineer is assisted by an Additional Chief Engineers, Executive Engineers, Assistant Executive Engineers and Assistant Engineers.
• There is an Additional Chief Engineers For Vigilance and Quality Assurance
• There are 66 Service Stations and 2610 employees working in BWSSB

The System of piped water supply

BWSSB is currently drawing water from two rivers namely, Cauvery and Arkavathy water from these two rivers is stored in huge reservoirs constructed near the river source
• From the reservoirs, water is then let into treatment plants for purification
• From the purification plant water is pumped in large pipelines to the smaller reservoirs in the city through a series of pumping stations
• Within the city, water is supplied to households and other establishments by gravity/pumping through a network of smaller pipes

a. From Cauvery to Bangalore:

The River Cauvery provides about 80% of all the water supplied by BWSSB. Four stages have been constructed thus far to augment the supply of water from the reservoir built at a village called Thorekadanahalli Located South of Bangalore at a distance of 90Km. The average aggregate supply from Couvery is 810 million litres per day (MLD) of treated water. BWSSB has implemented the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme- Stage I, II, III, & IV phase I. The Implementation of Cauvery Stage IV-Phase I further augments the water supply to the tune of 270 million liters per day. BWSSB is planning to implement 510 MLD capacity of Cauvery Stage IV-Phase II by the year 2010.

b. From Arkavathy to Bangalore:

The River Arkavathy provides about 20% (135 MLD) of all the water supplied by BWSSB during normal conditions. The reservoirs for river Arkavathy were constructed at Hesaraghatta and at Thippagondanahalli (TG halli) on Magadi road located about 35 Kms from Bangalore during the year 1894 and 1933 respectively. The total potential yield from TG Halli is about 150 MLD.

The per capita water supply at present in Bangalore is about 100 to 125 (gross) liters per capital per day (LPCD) which is below the National Standard of 150-200 LPCD for a city of the size of Bangalore. However, the per capita availability of water for vast majority of poor people in Bangalore is only about 40-45 LPCD. With 150 LPCD as standard, the current demand is 900 MLD for a population of 6 million. However BWSSB is able to supply only about 810 MLD.

Disposal of sewage

Waste water from households and other establishments is collected through a network of small underground drainage pipes that are connected to larger pipes which carry waste water to the three sewage treatment plants located in three valleys. Viz, Vrishabavathy valley on Mysore Road (180 MLD) Koramangala-Chellaghatta Valley near the HAL Airport (163 MLD) and Hebbal valley on Bellary road (60 MLD). In addition BWSSB has recently constructed mini sewage treatment plants at Madivala and Kempambudi tank. These treatment plants are constructed and maintained by BWSSB. However, in many areas, the sewerage system is incomplete. Hence sewage is either simply let into the storm water drains (meant to carry only rain water) or lakes. This water is not fit for human consumption.

Finance Management

The annual income of BWSSB in the year 2001-2002 was Rs. 276.75 crores. The main source of revenue for BWSSB is the water tariff and sanitation charges. The annual expenditure for the same year was Rs. 282.13 crores. The main items of expenditure for BWSSB is the power tariff it pays to BESCOM for pumping water to Bangalore from distance of 90 Km at a height varying from 300 to 600 mtrs. Approximately Rs. 140 crores of its income is used to pay power tariff which is about 65% of the total income. BWSSB also takes loans and grants from international aid and lending agencies such as World Bank, Japan bank International Corporation (JBIC) Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) World bank, HUDCO etc, for creating infrastructure.

More>>