NOIDA: Amidst the chaos over arbitrary and inflated water bills issued by the Noida Authority, a question has been raised over the poor quality of water being supplied to residents. According to doctors, the water supplied to residents in Noida is essentially hard and prolonged exposure to it can lead to health hazards such as skin disease, eczema and loss of hair. Moreover, residents say that apart from the inflated water bills that have been thrust at them by the Authority, lakhs of rupees are spent annually by them on maintaining water systems.

Periodic tests conducted by the health department have revealed that water samples in different areas of the city are often lacking in chlorine. Sources in the health department said that the chlorination of water done by the Authority, to make it unviable for the breeding of germs leading to various epidemics, is not sufficient. "The lack of chlorination has led to water in Noida becoming ideal breeding grounds for diseases such as malaria," said a senior health official.

Residents also complain that in spite of being charged abnormal sums of money in their bills, the water provided to them is too salty to drink. Lakhs of rupees are spent every year by residents to clean the water using their own purification system. "A white layer gets accumulated over bathroom fittings and even utensils. Corrosion of iron pipes and discolouring of clothes are also common problems that we face due to the hardness of water," said Kiran Gulati, a resident of Sector 28. "For a while now, I have developed dryness of skin and hair fall and my doctor says this might have been caused by the persistent use of hard water," she added.

Hard water can be especially irritating for those who already suffer from skin conditions like dermatitis. "The water quality in Noida is hard and initially people face a number of dermatological problems since their skin is not used to this. Most frequent and common complaints include rashes, dryness and scaling of skin and in some severe cases, eczema. It also leads to dry scalp and hair fall," said Dr Sunil Mam, dermatologist, Fortis Hospital, Noida.

Meanwhile, residents claim that despite repeated complaints to the Authority, the problem persists. "The hardness and quality of water differ from sector to sector and it seems that whenever we complain, the Authority increases the supply of Ganga water for some days. Most residents have switched to water purifiers and many new residential societies have installed common RO systems to get rid of the problem of hard water," said NP Singh, president, Federation of Noida Residents' Welfare Association.

The Noida Authority, however, has consistently claimed that while the groundwater in the township is hard, it is not unsafe.