The Indian Express             04.06.2013

BMC adopts new system to check water quality

TO get a more accurate account of water contamination cases in the city, BMC will monitor water quality across the city under its water distribution improvement programme (WDIP).

Till date, BMC arrived at its average water contamination percentage based on samples collected only from select zones where complaints are frequent. The civic water department has divided the city into 258 zones for administering water supply.

"Under the new system, we will collect samples from all zones on a weekly basis. As we have focused only on a few areas instead of the whole city till now, it has painted an inaccurate figure of the water contamination percentage. So, we have adopted this new method," a senior hydraulics engineer of the water supply department said.

At present, 230 water samples are collected and inspected daily. Of these, 130 are collected by the public health department based on the incidences of water-borne diseases in various parts of the city. Another 70 are inspected daily by the water department and the leak detection cell monitors the remaining 30. These 100 samples are restricted to a handful of zones and reservoir entry points.

This year has seen a rise in the average percent of water contamination cases to 17.1 per cent, compared to the 15.6 per cent recorded in 2012. In the current financial year, Rs 40.50 crore has been budgeted for reducing contamination and leakages.

According to civic officials, pipeline leakages are the main cause for water contamination in the city.

"We are also upgrading our checking system, as very often the collected sample remains stagnant until it reaches our quality control office. We are looking at reducing the time spent transporting water," said the official.

Polymer to curb thefts

To curb water thefts on the Tansa, Modak Sagar and Upper Vaitarna water pipelines, the civic body has proposed using a newly developed chemical polymer instead of rubber seals for waterproofing the expansion joints of these lines.

The seals will also safeguard against pipeline leakages, considered to be a major cause for water contamination.

The corporation alleges that water from these pipelines is particularly stolen from the slums in Bhiwandi and Thane. "It is not possible to constantly monitor water thefts and in case the rubber seal is broken, replacing it involves a water cut of 24 to 36 hours," reads the proposal from the water department, which is awaiting approval from the civic standing committee.

According to the civic administration, the city annually loses 30 per cent or 900 million litres of its water supply.

At the cost of Rs 22.8 lakh, the lowest bid, the corporation has zeroed in on contractors M/S V Tech Engineers and Consultants for developing the polymer seal.