SURAT: Surat has become the first city in the country where water supply management by Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is being carried out using solar energy. Out of the total 6 mega watt of solar power plants,
4MW is dedicated for water supply management. Official sources said 5MW of solar power plants are already installed and a 1MW solar power plant will be commissioned on January 30 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will increase solar power plants’ capacity to 6MW in the city.

Out of the 6MW solar power plants, 4MW is dedicated for Sarthana waterworks, Katargam waterworks, Rander waterworks, Varachha waterworks, Udhana water distribution station, Magob water distribution station and Simada water distribution station. The total solar energy generation out of 4MW solar power plants meant for water supply is about 53 lakh units per annum.

KH Khatwani, additional city engineer, told TOI, “SMC is lone municipal corporation in the country where water supply management is dependent on solar energy. We are using 4MW of solar plants, exclusively for distribution of water in the city. This brings down our energy cost on water distribution significantly. The waterworks and water distribution stations require more energy for supply of water. We use solar energy to power our motors for water distribution and raw water collection.”