Kerala: 74% of water samples tested at labs unfit for consumption

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what appears to be a shocking finding, 74.5% of the water samples tested at the city laboratories of Kerala Water Authority (KWA) were found unfit for consumption.
Of the 2,171 samples tested from April 1 this year till date, 1,617 were found unfit for consumption and only 554 were fit for drinking.

What seems to be even more serious is the contaminated samples include the drinking water supplied by the KWA through its taps.
According to sources, of the 46 samples of KWA water tested, only 24 samples were fit for consumption, which means 48% of KWA water samples were contaminated with bacterial presence.
Among the samples tested, 80% of the samples were taken from wells and the remaining were KWA water, packaged drinking water, pond and lake water. These samples were given for testing by the public.
Of the contamination, 70.52% were due to the presence of coliform bacteria and 28.74% samples were due to E Coli.
As much as 65.31% of the total samples failed in physico-chemical parameters analysis, such as colour, odour, turbidity, PH, alkalinity, total hardness, magnesium, chloride, acidity, sulphate, fluoride, iron nitrate, residual chlorine, electrical conductivity, total dissolved salts and taste.
The KWA started its labs in 2020 with an intention to encourage more testing of water and to make the public aware of the quality of the water they consume.
All the labs in the district have received National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation.
The KWA labs are at Aruvikkara, Varkala, Athiyannur and Attingal. In addition to these, KWA has one district lab at Jalabhavan, two labs at Aruvikkara and one sub-district lab at Nemom.
With the rise in the number of tests in these labs, the KWA has also earned a good revenue. From just Rs 6,63,650 in 2020, the revenue increased to Rs 13,92,630 in 2022 (so far). In 2021, the revenue was Rs 9,27,219.
“The public must regularly check the quality of water they consume as it will help them take suitable remedial measures. The test results at the labs are alarming and the situation demands action. Since quality of water affects the health of our society, KWA will take it seriously and will do the needful in ensuring quality drinking water for people,” said executive engineer, quality control division, KWA, R V Santhosh Kumar.