Solution: Water, Water ...

Now, TMC is a Thousand Million Cubic Feet. MCM is Million Cubic Metres. So, we have to convert feet into metres, or vice versa.

Let's deal with TMC.

TMC = Thousand Million Cubic Feet.

So, TMC = 1000 million cubic feet.

One million = 106.

Therefore, TMC = 1000 × 106 cubic feet.

So, 1 TMC = 103 × 106 cubic feet.

So, 1 TMC = 109 cubic feet. I can write this as 103 × 103 × 103. This is equivalent to a container with length, breadth, and height equal to 103 feet each.

Now, 103 feet = 1000 feet = 304.8 metres. So, our container is 304.8m × 304.8m × 304.8m.

So, 1 TMC = 28316846.592 cubic metres. Well, we have converted feet into metres. But MCM = million cubic metres; we need to bring in the million.

That's easy. One million = 106. So, 1 TMC = 28.316846592 × 106 cubic metres. In other words, 1 TMC = 28.316846592 million cubic metres. Let's shorten this to 28.32 million cubic metres.

Now, I can easily convert the reservoir storage capacities into TMC. The reservoir with 56 MCM storage capacity has the capacity to store 56 / 28.32 = 1.97 TMC; the reservoir with 105 MCM storage capacity stores 105 / 28.32 = 3.70 TMC; 301 MCM corresponds to 10.63 TMC; 363 MCM corresponds to 363 / 28.32 = 12.82 TMC.

I hope I did it right!

One foot = 30.48 centimetres. So, our container is 30.48 & times; 30.48 × 30.48 cubic centimetres = 28316 cubic centimetres. We know that 1 cc (one cubic centimetre) corresponds to one millilitre. So, 28316 cubic centimetres is equal to 28316 millilitres or 28.316 litres. Thus, one cubic foot holds 28.316 litres of water.

By the way, since one cubic foot holds 28.316 litres of water, one TMC, which is 109 cubic feet, will contain 109 × 28.316 = 28,316,000,000 litres of water! That's a lot of water! Around 1.5 TMC water satisfies the drinking water requirement of my city for a whole month.

Some useful links for
your career:


  • Union Public Service Commission - www.upsc.gov.in
  • IIT-Kharagpur - www.iitkgp.ac.in
  • Indian Statistical Institute - www.isical.ac.in
  • Indian Institute of Technology Madras - www.iitm.ac.in
  • Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - www.iimahd.ernet.in
  • Indian Institute of Mass Commission - www.iimc.nic.in
  • IIT Bombay - www.iitb.ac.in
  • Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad - www.ismdhanbad.ac.in
  • Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi - www.bitmesra.ac.in
  • Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training - www.cifnet.nic.in
  • Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (Deemed University) - www.iiita.ac.in
  • Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi - www.cmfri.com
  • Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - www.tiss.edu