The workshop opening address was held by Municipal Chairmans, Mr. M. A. Balachandar, and acting Municipal Commissioners, Mr. P. Jothi Mani. The opening ceremony held by the two highest members of the Municipality can be seen as a sign of high interest and commitment of the Municipality for our project and its targeted outcome. The opening address was followed by presentations of the status quo of all WaLUE Partners (IEEM, KIT, SebaKMT, Wilo SE und GWFA) and their work packages. As of now, the initial data collection and analysis as well as the installation of the measuring equipment and begin of operation is completed.
The Commissioner and the City Manager, Mr. G. Palani, are aware of the problem of high water losses. The reduction of water losses in general and a possible phased approach to construct a water supply infrastructure and management to provide continuous water supply are the preferred measures of the municipality to improve their water supply. This is consistent with the (long-term) objectives of WaLUE and its vision that economically sustainable and affordable water supply is achievable.
Visit of the pilot zones 5 & 6: As part of the workshop, the pilot zones were inspected by all WaLUE partners as well as the municipal engineer Mr. Samkumar and the local contractor Mr. Marudhu. The measuring equipment installed by WaLUE team members was inspected and tested. Since some of the equipment was needlessly damaged, a detailed listing of all deficiencies, necessary protective measures as well as urgent safety measures was prepared by WaLUE partners and presented to the Commissioner.
Moreover, a Capacity Building Workshop was organised and attended by all operators responsible for the pumping stations and elevated storage tanks. All presentations held by WaLUE partners were translated into Tamil beforehand and Mr. Saravanan, a local employee of IEEM, interpreted the subsequent discussion. The workshop had the purpose of explaining the project's objectives, the current measuring campaign and the installed equipment to the operators in order to improve their commitment to the WaLUE project and its purposes.
All in all, the second WaLUE onsite workshop was a success. All of its set goals, such as the presentation of the first results, the further strengthening of cooperation with the Municipality, the capacity building workshop with all operators present etc. were achieved.
Moreover, the action plan created during the field visits were discussed in detail with the Commissioner, the engineers in charge and the local contractor. The Commissioner assured the WaLUE team that all measures listed in the action plan will be completed within a week. The completion of these measures is expected to ensure the safety of the installed on-site equipment for several years.
To discuss the results achieved and the upcoming tasks a meeting of the WaLUE partners is planned for mid-November.