HMWSSB goes all out to ensure clean drinking water

Samples being collected to monitor quality of water being supplied

Hyderabad: With the arrival of monsoon and rains lashing parts of the city, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has taken up a series of measures to ensure clean drinking water supplies in the city. The water board has deployed its men and machinery to make sure the drinking water has adequate amount of residual chlorine i.e., 0.5 parts per million (ppm) to 1 ppm. To check water quality, the number of samples collected from different parts of the city has also been increased.

Presently, anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 samples are being collected every day to monitor the quality of water being supplied by the HMWSSB. Though the sample collection is a regular exercise, the HMWSSB has intensified its efforts in view of the monsoon. Other precautionary measures during the rainy season include regular inspections to monitor the residual chlorine analysers fixed at the outlets of service reservoirs and supply of chlorine tablets in slums.

The HMWSSB staffers have already started distributing chlorine tablets in slums, and each household is being provided with 20 tablets. These tablets are to be dropped into the vase or pot of water and one tablet per vase is to be used. “There is adequate amount of chlorine already in the water being supplied, but these tablets are given as precautionary measure in case of downpour. Our staffers visit houses and explain to the residents that these tablets are an additional safety measure,” said an official.

Meanwhile, the efforts to ensure appropriate recharge of the groundwater table are also underway, and since April, around 300 rain water harvesting pits have been set up by the water board. The pits have been built at strategic locations where the rain run-off could be tapped.

“We wanted to build 2,000 pits and the workforce and construction material was also ready. But due to Covid-19, residents in some places did not allow workers near their houses. Finally these pits were built only at places where the resident welfare associations agreed to,” said the official from HMWSSB.

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