Project launched to restore Padmatheertham pond

 
The Padmatheertham temple tank, one of the oldest water bodies in the city, is awaiting a new lease of life. The Sri.Padmanabhaswamy Temple Trust has taken up a project to revive the pond and restore the water quality. The first phase of the project involves purification of the water by increasing the dissolved oxygen content. The trust has installed six pumps that spray jets of water into the pond. The pumps are operated for three hours in the morning and evening. Biomedical consultant Madhavan Nair who supervises the restoration project says the pumps help to aerate the water by surface agitation. "Gradually, as the dissolved oxygen content goes up, it will generate friendly bacteria that help to clean up the water and algae. We also purpose to introduce special bacteria into the water to eat up the impurities", he says. The pumps will be in operation for the next three months.

In the second phase of the project, a slurry pump will be pressed into service to remove the sludge accumulated at the bottom of the water body. The pond was originally designed with a flushing mechanism that brought in water from the Kochar, a tributary of the Killi river constructed during the Travancore era. The excess water was then diverted to the nearby Pathrakulam from where it was redirected to the Thekkanamkara canal. The system helped to maintain the level and quality of the water in the pond. The restoration project is being funded by the temple trust.


(The Hindu,9th  June  2007)