Varanasi's water supply body, Jal Kal Department collaborated with ABB India for its smart technology to facilitate smooth and efficient water supply to the city. The city's pumping station and sewage treatment plants (STPs) have been installed with ABB softstarters for better water management operations. With this technology, ABB enables uninterrupted water supply to 60 per cent of Varanasi city. It also enables effective pumping of treated water at the government's STPs, supporting nation's ‘Namami Gange' programme for Clean Ganga.

Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India, is a historical city with a population of over 12 lakhs. Being one of the most visited destinations in India, the city received around 89 lakh visitors in the recent years. The growing population and the never-stopping influx of tourists across the year has led to most resources in the city exceeding their usage capacity, especially, the holy river Ganga. Hence, the government has undertaken several initiatives to combat issues arising out of this situation.

Varanasi's water pumping station relies on century-old 250 MLD WTP for its water supply. ABB Softstarters ensure smooth water movement and eliminate pressure surges. This enables minimization of leakages and prevents the incidents of pipe bursts. ABB's softstarters technology has easy applicability with other built-in protections. It also features a display which makes it easy for the users to understand faulty tripping points.

"For Jal Kal Varanasi, our objective was to enable safe and reliable water supply operations. With smart technology and our state-of-the-art products, we were able to support the Jal Kal team in their endeavor to increase water supply reliability, motor lifespan and lower the maintenance costs. Given the critical challenges faced by the water supply bodies, we are pleased to provide electrification solutions that support our stakeholders in meeting them," said Kiran Dutt, President -Electrification Business, ABB India.

Varanasi generates about 300 million liters of sewage per day. The Clean Ganga or ‘Namami Gange' programme is a massive initiative lead by the central government to cleanse the holy river by tapping the major drains flowing into the river and diverting them to sewage treatment plants (STPs). This initiative stops untreated sewage from flowing into the river and thereby prevents it from polluting the river. ABB India's Softstarters installed at such STPs support the ‘Namami Gange' programme by efficiently pumping the treated water from the sewage plants back to the river.