Bacteria in 40 per cent water samples in Hyderabad
Around 50 water samples were tested from different localities
Hyderabad: Even though the city is receiving 45 million gallons of water daily from the new Krishna Phase 3 Stage-1 project, many colonies are still receiving muddy water, forcing residents to install purifiers.
Recently, the Osmania University’s research wing, in a sample study, found that out of 50 samples tested from the water supply system, 20 were positive for bacterial contamination.
Despite a steady flow of funds, the Water Board still complains about lack of fund allotment. Around 50 water samples were tested from different localities.
Out of them, 20 samples (40 per cent) were positive for bacterial contamination. The contamination was maximum in areas with low SEC (52 per cent), followed by 40 per cent in intermediate SEC and 10 per cent in areas with a high SEC. M. Padmanaban Reddy, secretary for the Forum for Good Governance, who has filed a PIL in the High Court against the state government for not taking action against the Water Board, said, “Contamination of water in distribution is posing a major problem in many areas.”
He said the Board never took responsibility except stating that it had submitted a comprehensive project report to prevent contamination of water in July 2010, and that the matter is pending with the government.
The Board authorities say that to ascertain the quality of drinking water, it has constituted a quality assurance and testing wing with six laboratories.
Monitoring is done in coordination with labs like the Institute of Preventive Medicine and others. “At the source the Board has huge filtration beds and only after chlorination by an expert is the supply released.
The muddy water of Krishna Phase 3, Stage I is due to the newly installed water pipelines and it is a temporary problem; citizens will receive quality water soon,” assured Mr Rameshwar Rao, director, Operations, Water Board.