Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is the premier governmental agency responsible for sewage disposal and water supply to the Indian city of Bangalore. It was formed in 1964.

BWSSB currently supplies approximately 900 million litres (238 million gallons) of water to the city per day, despite a municipal demand of 1.3 billion liters. Water for the city (with a population of 10 million) comes from a number of sources, with 80% of it coming from the Cauvery River. Water is also drawn from the Arkavathy River, but the supply does not meet the demand.

The per capita water supply that BWSSB is able to provide averages 100 to 125 liters per capita per day. However, the actual availability of water to the poor areas of the city is limited by infrastructure, and so for these areas, the per capita supply can be as low as 40 to 45 liters per day. The per capita national standard for a city the size of Bangalore is 150 to 200 liters per day, From the month of March 2012, water supply in Whitefield has been stopped, with even rich neighborhoods left to fend for themselves.

The majority of the water for Bangalore is imported by the BWSSB from the Cauvery River, over 100 kilometers (62 mi) south of the city. Cauvery water was originally drawn from a reservoir near the village of Thorekadanahalli. To meet the increasing demand, the "Cauvery Water Supply Scheme" was undertaken by the BWSSB, with Stages I - III completed. Stage IV is currently being built, with Phase I completed and bringing an additional 270 million liters to the city. Construction of Stage IV: Phase II is expected to bring an additional 510 million liters, and will be completed by 2010.

The energy required to transport the water this distance consumes 75% of the agency's revenues.

Up to 20% of the normal water supply for Bangalore comes from the Arkavathy River, from two reservoirs built on the river, the Hesaraghatta (or Hesseraggatta) which was built in 1894 and the Tippagondanahalli Reservoir (or T G Halli), which was built in 1933.

In June, 2007, T G Halli, from which BWSSB pumped 35 million litres per day into the western parts of the city, had effectively gone dry due to lack of rainfall over its watershed. BWSSB officials stated that they would address the issue initially by making water available for only one hour a day, and then by diverting water from other parts of the city, as well as bringing water in by truck. The quality of the water in the reservoir has also become compromised by the discharge of effluent into the reservoir.

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