The upland and backward areas of East Godavari and West Godavari Districts of Andhra Pradesh which are mainly inhibited by tribes and poor people depended mostly on bore-wells and streams for their drinking water needs. The bore-wells were drying up and water levels were going down every year due to excessive usage of groundwater. Moreover, the natural stream waters had unsafe levels of bacteria and required treatment. Further, bore-well water also contained excess iron content in some pockets. It was in this context that Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust decided to take up a massive project for supply of safe drinking water to about 452 upland and tribal habitations in East Godavari and West Godavari Districts in the South-Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
1.50 Lakhs OHSR at Dipkayalapadu
3.5 MLD treatment Plant at Kutrawada
10.0 LAC Cap OHBR at Purushothapatnam
About 212 habitations covering a population of more than 2.20 lakhs have benefited from the project in the East Godavari District. The main sources of water are River Godavari and its tributary Pamuleru which flow throughout the year.
Under the first Scheme, on the Godavari River at Purushottapatnam Village, an intake well of 6 meters diameter has been constructed and vertical turbine pumps of capacity 100 HP installed to pump raw water into the water treatment plant. The plant with a capacity of 10.5 Million Litres Per Day (MLD) uses Rapid Sand Filtration method and pumps out clear water in to a Ground Level Balancing Reservoir of 10 Lakh Litres capacity situated on the top of a hill. From here, water is supplied to the villages using gravity.
10.50 MLD Water Treatment Plant at Purushothapatnam
21.75 MLD Water Treatment Plant at Hukumpeta
Cistern at Bangarampeta
Under the second Scheme, on the Pamuleru River at Kutravada Village, an intake well draws water and pumps it to treatment plant of 3.5 MLD capacity, from where the pure drinking water reaches the villages.
The total length of pipelines laid is around 535 Kilometers and consists of various kinds of pipes like Glass Reinforced Plastic Pipe, Mild Steel Pipe, Ductile Iron Pipe, Asbestos Cement Pipe, High Density Poly Ethylene Pipe, etc.
Cistern at Kutravada
BPT, GLBR Sump & Pump House at Indukurupeta
Intake Well at Kutravada
The project provides clean drinking water to about 240 habitations covering a population of more than 4.70 Lakhs in the West Godavari District. Raw water is drawn from an intake well of 6 Meters diameter constructed on Godavari River near Polavaram Village and pumped using vertical turbine pumps of capacity 360 HP to a treatment plant situated near Hukumpeta village at a distance of 7 Kilometers. The plant with a capacity of 21.75 MLD uses Rapid Sand Filters and pumps out pure water to an 11.50 Lakh litres Ground Level Service Reservoir situated on a hillock nearby, from where water flows to various villages by gravity. A Micro Filtration Plant of 1.05 MLD capacity has also been provided. The total length of pipelines laid under this scheme is around 640 Kilometers.
Intake Well Cum Access Bridge at Polavaram
The projects in both the Districts were completed and handed over to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on 15th September, 2007 for operation and maintenance.