Berhampur, May 25: The commissioning of a 10-million-litre-per-day (MLD) capacity water treatment plant at Paralakhemundi here has brought relief to the people of the town.

"Though the formal launch of the project is awaited, we have already made the treatment plant operational for trial runs and it is working well," said Duyordhan Sahu, assistant executive engineer of the public health engineering department (PHED) at Paralakhemundi.

"The water treatment plant, sanctioned under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), has been built at a cost of Rs 7.56 crore. This joint project between the state and the Union governments will provide more filtered and safe drinking water to the people of Paralakhemundi," he said.

Construction of the cascade aerator for the project, a rapid mixing unit, a clariflocculator, a filter house, a backwash tank, a pump house, an electrification and electrical substation, a chlorinator house and others are part of the project. Water is being treated with lime and ferric alum at the plant after it passes through slow sand filter beds and later, it is supplied to the public after mixing chlorine to make it cleaner, Sahu said.

The plant has been designed to meet the water supply requirements of Paralakhemundi till 2041, added Sahu. The water source to feed the treatment plant is sufficient. "The irrigation department has connected a bypass canal to Ram Sagar, which is at the tail end of the river Mahendratanaya. This has helped the river to recharge," he said. The water is being sourced from 13 deep borewells located on the banks of the river Mahendratanaya.

Although Paralakhemundi's 50,000 inhabitants require at least 6.44 MLD of water, they had to make do with 2.25 MLD before the plant was commissioned. There was a shortage of 4.19 MLD of water. "We are now supplying 6 MLD of water, which in other words comes to 110 litres per head," said junior engineer A. Chakradhar.