Bengaluru to get top-end lab for water testing soon

BENGALURU: The city will have a new and state-of-the-art water testing fa cility in Jayanagar in the next six months. The present Central Water Testing Laboratory (CWTL) on Millers' Road has neither the space equipment nor manpower to carry out the tests for heavy metals.

Experts wondered why the city's water supply , which comes through pipes, needs testing for heavy metals. Contamination of groundwater due to industrial waste requires monitoring, they said.

The planned facility in Jayanagar 4th T Block will be housed in a four story building that will meet the standards laid down by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) according to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board's Additional Chief Engineer (Quality Assurance) TN Sonnappa Reddy "What we have here is simply no enough," he told ET. The existing CWTL will be shifted to the Jayanagar building in about six months, Reddy said.

According to the Indian Standard Specifications for Drinking Water (IS:10500), the utility is expected to determine quality of water against 30 parameters. Although the CWTL collects 60 samples daily , it verifies only 18 parameters such as turbidity , pH value, chlorination and total dissolved solids.

"All that we are able to do in this lab is to check for physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters. To conduct heavy metal tests, we need high-end equipment which we do not have," said Prakash Dharani, one of the chemists at the CWTL.

Tests for manganese, copper, zinc and aluminium were not conducted even though the required equipment was available in the CWTL. Further, tests for toxic substances such as mercury , selenium, chromium, cyanide, phenolics, pesticides, hydrocarbons and radioactivity were not conducted due to non-availability of required equipment, the Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) noted in a report that was tabled before the Legislative Assembly last month. The CWTL has two water analysts and three lab assistants, which is not in line with Central Public Health Engineering and Environmental Organisation norms.

Experts are divided on the need to test Bengaluru's water for metals and toxic substances. Bangalore University's GT Chandrappa, who holds a patent for his technique to remove fluoride and arsenic from water, said: "These must be checked especially in industrial areas where groundwater contamination affects well water. Officials fear filing reports against industries who wield some clout."