Bengaluru Water Facts

BWSSB current piped supply

Total installed treatment capacity across Cauvery Stages I-V WTPs at T.K. Halli. Average daily supply is ~1,390 MLD when source flow allows; Stage V (commissioned 16 Oct 2024 at design 775 MLD) is delivering only ~400 MLD as of Feb 2026 per The Ken, leaving the 2034 design demand (~2,608 MLD) substantially unmet.

Cauvery Stage V actual delivery

Stage V was commissioned at T.K. Halli on 16 October 2024 with 775 MLD design capacity. As of Feb 2026, The Ken reported the project is delivering only ~400 MLD - just over half its design. The shortfall is one of the structural reasons IISc-flagged stress wards continue to rely on tankers and over-extracted borewells.

Cauvery pumping distance + lift

BWSSB pumps Cauvery water 95 km from T.K. Halli on the river to Bengaluru's distribution network, lifting it ~500 m in elevation against gravity. Pumping energy costs absorb ~75% of BWSSB's revenue, which is the structural reason the agency runs perennially in deficit even before NRW losses.

BWSSB non-revenue water (NRW)

Nearly half the water pumped 95 km from T.K. Halli is lost between WTP and household meter (physical leakage + commercial losses + unmetered uses). JICA Phase 3's headline rationale: bringing NRW below 20% would free more water than the entire Stage V augmentation.

Cauvery share to Bengaluru

Bengaluru's sanctioned Cauvery Water Supply Scheme draw stands at 2,235 MLD across Stages I-V. Karnataka's overall Cauvery allocation is 270 TMC of the 726 TMC CWDT pool (37%); Bengaluru's share is the urban-drinking carve-out within that.

Upstream Cauvery dams tracked

Four Karnataka-side reservoirs (KRS, Hemavathi, Kabini, Harangi) hold the upstream Cauvery storage that determines how much water BWSSB can pump in any given season. These are irrigation-primary reservoirs - Bengaluru drinking is the carve-out, not the headline use. Total live capacity ~2,583 MCM, ~7,000 MLD equivalent daily yield if drawn evenly.