The Water Resources Department and the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department are looking to strengthen the bilateral ties with Denmark in the water sector.
A letter of intent for sustainable growth was signed with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday. Sources said the Danish agency would support, and share technology for, various initiatives like rejuvenation of rivers and waterbodies and IoT based sensors for groundwater quality monitoring and piped water supply to households.
At a meeting held earlier on the water sector cooperation, Sandeep Saxena, Additional Chief Secretary, WRD, recalled his visit to Denmark last year. There had been a close interaction with the Danish team for the past two years and one of the major initiatives was the sharing of Danish technology for detailed groundwater mapping in the State.
Lauding the water quality in rivers in Denmark, he said, “It is our dream to improve water quality in the Cooum and Adyar rivers and the Buckingham Canal to bathing standards. We are also learning about the Danish subsurface database maintained on borewells dug in the country.”
The Danish team, headed by Christian Vindahl Vind, Permanent Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment, also visited the 45-mld tertiary treatment reverse osmosis plant at Koyambedu on Wednesday.
They learnt about Chennai Metrowater’s schemes to use reclaimed water for industrial purposes and indirect potable reuse. A film on the Koyambedu plant was screened. The reclaimed water from the Koyambedu facility is conveyed to SIPCOT industrial units.
The team was also briefed about the water treatment and supply infrastructure and sewer network in the city. Metrowater’s executive director Raja Gopal Sunkara was among the officials who were present.
