Analyse water samples from households: NGT to CPCB

Direction comes after plaints that potable water not supplied

With complaints that potable water was not being supplied to Delhi residents forcing them to install Reverse Osmosis (RO) filters, the National Green Tribunal has directed the apex pollution monitoring body to analyse water samples from various households in the city.

The green panel also directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to collect samples from tanks or other sources from where water is supplied to various parts of the national capital.

“The counsel appearing for CPCB shall conduct inspection and collect water samples from various houses where Delhi Jal Board or the Corporation are supplying water.

“They shall also collect samples from tanks/sources from where the water supply is being made to various parts of the city and analyse those samples and place the report before the Tribunal on the next date of hearing,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar said. The matter is now listed for next hearing on August 10.

The direction came during the hearing of a plea by NGO Friends when it was alleged that Delhi residents were not getting potable water, forcing them to install RO machines.

The plea had alleged that for each litre of purified water, the RO filter dumps almost 3-4 litres of waste water leading to the wasteage of around 80 per cent water.

The NGO had sought directions to the Ministry of Water Resources to conduct a research on the quality of water produced by reverse osmosis water purifier called RO filters as compared to natural water.

The RO water filter companies are attracting consumers with their smart marketing strategies but the mechanism wastes more water and contaminates water sources, the plea claimed.

The NGO has sought an “effective and centralised” water purification system covering housing clusters in rural and urban areas so that the demand for water purifiers gets reduced automatically.