Health workers to test water quality

http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/28/stories/2009022850260100.htm

ERODE: Health department workers of Erode Corporation will soon be armed with kits to monitor quality of water.

According to sources, the department will be given bottles containing hydrogen sulphide to health workers in the rank of sanitary inspectors and above to test water for faecal content.

They say the department staff will test water from borewells, open wells, hand pumps and any other public water supply point. The workers will also monitor water quality in tail-end areas of the distribution system.

They will also check points where water supply pipelines cross sewerage and drains to ensure that public get clean water.

The bottle contains a small piece of hydrogen sulphide which turns black within an hour of coming into contact with water containing traces of faeces.

Corporation’s health officer S. Somasundaram says the kit will help public from consuming e-coli-free water thereby save them from diarrhoea and cholera.

A bottle of hydrogen sulphide costs Rs. 25 and the Corporation proposes to buy bottles worth Rs. 20 lakh.

The Corporation pumps and supplies 140 lakh litres of water a day to 1.52 lakh people at 180 litres a person every two days.