KOCHI: Availability of drinking water continues to be a cause for concern for people in flood-hit areas of Ernakulam.Low potential of hydrogen (PH) level, high turbidity and presence of coliform bacteria and minerals such as iron in open wells in flood-affected areas are making water unfit for drinking.As per the reports of State Referral Institute (SRI) of Kerala water authority, 839 of the 979 water samples collected and tested from flood-hit areas in Ernakulam have been found unsafe for drinking. These samples were collected and tested between August 28 and September 18.SRI has set up temporary laboratories in flood-hit areas to facilitate people to bring water from their wells and test it freely.Of the 576 water samples collected and tested from Aluva , 526 have been found unfit for drinking. In North Paravur , 278 of the 341 samples tested were found unsafe. Of the 62 samples collected from open wells from other affected areas, 35 were found unfit for drinking.“We have examined 17 parameters of water samples. Most of the samples have presence of coliform bacteria, high turbidity, low PH value and iron presence. As per the Bureau of Indian Standards ISI 0500 2012, water systems should maintain PH value between 6.5 and 8.5. But in many samples, PH level was below six, making the water more acidic,” said KWA chief chemist K Sobhana Kumari.The other major issue noticed in the tests were high turbidity. The permissible turbidity level is five nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). But in many samples collected from open wells, turbidity level was found more than 20 times the permissible unit.“Presence of coliform bacteria should not be there in drinking water. But we found the presence of such bacteria in 99% of the samples tested. The permissible limit for the presence of iron in drinking water is 1mg/litre. But we noticed presence of more than 2mg/litre. Drinking water with high concentration of iron will lead to kidney disorders,” said SRI director U K Mohanan.To address the issue of iron, aeration can be done. Water pumped from the well to the tank can be aerated by sprinkling it to all parts, thereby making it contact with air. One can chlorinate the water with 3.5mg/litre bleaching powder.“If the pollution is high, one can use 7mg/litre bleaching powder to clean the well. Ideally, chlorination should be done after draining the well and removing the sediment. If the pollution is high in the well and find it difficult to drain, one can use the water after treating it outside,” said Kumari.“Charcoal is the best purifier. One can drop it to the well for purification. Whenever coconut shell is available, one can burn it half and drop it into the well. It will absorb all impure things in the water. The absorbing power of charcoal will come down in the passing of time,” she added.

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