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Nearly half of water samples in Nashik unfit to drink

by Abhilash Botekar, originally posted on June 13, 2016

 

Nashik: The people of Nashik are quenching their thirst with water, nearly half of which is unfit for drinking.

Tests by the regional water testing laboratory of the Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency here in 2015-16 have revealed that about 46% of the drinking water sources in Nashik taluka do not supply potable water.

The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) covers most areas in the taluka, barring a few villages where the rural administration has to pitch in. The sub-divisional laboratories at various places, functioning under the Regional Water Testing Laboratory, Nashik, inspect water for chemical and bacteriological contamination in the rural areas, barring the belts where water is supplied by municipal corporations, municipal councils or the regional supply schemes.

In all villages, the main source of is groundwater. The test on water for biological impurities is carried out to understand the nature of water supplied to the villagers for drinking.

“As many as 101 samples from the taluka were tested and 46 failed to clear the bacteriological tests. This is very high, considering the number of samples tested. The results were sent to the respective local self-governing bodies and they were expected to take action on the water supply bodies,” a senior GSDA official said.

The Regional Water Testing Laboratory is responsible for chemical as well as bacteriological testing of water from Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandgaon districts.
Except for Nashik, the tests in all other talukas in the district were found good as only 1,735 samples out of the 11,972 tested were found non-potable – which is 12.69%. “There is no harm in around 10% of the sources being unfit. But it is a matter of concern when 46%of the sources fail to clear the tests (like Nashik taluka). It means that the people of these villages are likely to face health problems such as diarrhoea, dysentery and other diseases,” a senior officer in the health department said. “It is advisable that officers of the local self governing bodies take measures to ensure drinking water is separated from the sewage supply lines. They should ensure proper water treatment,” the officer said.

The tests revealed that the water quality was bad in Dhule district, where 19.82% of the resources were non-potable.

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