Jellyfish bloom clogs water pipelines, disrupts operations at Nemmeli desal plants

The 150 MLD plant has been operating at roughly half its capacity for the past two weeks, while the 110 MLD plant has managed around 60%. Output levels were at its lowest on July 18, when the 150 MLD plant produced just 21 MLD and the 110 MLD plant 59 MLD of water.

A Metro Water official said the jellyfish issue has since cleared up and the plants are currently meeting drinking water demand, adding that the ongoing study is meant to help handle future blooms better. Experts from IIT-M and NIOT have collected jellyfish samples and are studying what could be driving the spike near the plants.

Meanwhile, Metro Water has also responded to a TNIE report published on July 24 on the water shortage in Velachery. It said the Adyar zone, allocated 93.5 MLD from the desalination plants, received only 84.8 MLD on July 23, a 24 MLD shortfall over the last two weeks which cut piped supply to tail-end areas. “Alternate arrangements are being made to improve the supply,” Metro Water said.