64 per cent of Chennai's water supply from lakes

During the same period in the previous year, the city lakes contributed only 45 per cent to the city's supply.

According to Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metrowater) data, as much as 852.87 MLD (Million Litres per Day) on Monday. Of the total amount of drinking water supplied on the day, 541.9 MLD was drawn from the city lakes, which is 64 per cent of the supply.

On July 12, 2020, when the Metrowater supplied 700.84 MLD, only 320 MLD was drawn from the city lakes, which is 45 per cent.

"As of Monday, the lakes had 7,014 Mcft of water storage which is 1,700 higher than the last years storage. Since the water releases from Kandaleru reservoir, the city has received more than 1 TMC of water since June 16. So, taking water from other sources has been decreased," an official said.

The data shows that the water drawn from Veeranam Lake has cut down by around 50 per cent when compared to the previous year. On Monday, 90 MLD of water came from Veeranam Lake whereas the Metrowater drew 167 MLD last year.

Presently, Redhills Lake and Chembarambakkam Lake have a storage of 2,615 Mcft and 2,605 Mcft. Poondi lake has 788 Mcft of water. Cholavaram and Thervoy Kandigai lakes have 577 Mcft and 429 Mcft of water respectively.