0% Noida households feel they get pure water, finds survey

Noida resident groups have written to the Noida authority and chief minister Yogi Adityanath regarding water with high TDS (total dissolved solids) levels being supplied across the city and said the water quality needs immediate improvement

Noida resident groups have written to the Noida authority and chief minister Yogi Adityanath regarding water with high TDS (total dissolved solids) levels being supplied across the city and said the water quality needs immediate improvement.

0% Noida households feel they get pure water, finds survey

Residents said despite Ganga water being supplied to most sectors, the TDS in water supplied to homes remains high. Residents further said this is because the authority is supplying groundwater directly to residents and is neither checking it for potable quality nor doing treatment of any kind on the hard water, which is unfit for drinking.

“We checked the TDS of tap water today in Sector 51 and it was 1,630. Noida authority is responsible for providing clean and potable water, for which they charge us through water bills. The last hike in water bills by the authority was an increase of around 70%, stating that this has to be paid if we want clean potable water, but since then the quality of water is only deteriorating. The water we get is harmful for health and even the RO systems don’t function properly,” said Sanjeev Kumar, senior vice-president, District Development Residents’ Welfare Association (DDRWA).

He said the authority should get the supplied water tested from a recognised lab and share the certificate of quality on a regular basis with residents.

According to a recent survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform, only 35% Indian households that were surveyed rated the quality of piped water as good. Hence, in order to make it safe for consumption, 65% of households are using some kind of modern filtration mechanism, while only 2% households surveyed said they got drinkable quality water from their local body.

In Noida, of the 2,101 respondents who participated in the survey, 0% respondents said they don’t need to purify their water as supply is very good. Around 41% respondents found their water supply “poor” or ”very poor”.

When asked how they purified water at home for drinking, of the total respondents, 32% said they used a water purifier, 33% used RO, 12% boiled water, 2% used alum, chlorination or other minerals, 4% used clay vessels, 3% used other ways, 9% don’t purify but get bottled water instead for drinking and cooking, 4% consumed it as it comes, 1% can’t say while 0% said they don’t need to purify as the water supplied is pure.

Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles, said,“Hard water is the main problem in Noida. Residents said the water is bad for hair, skin and gut and even corrodes the pipelines easily. Unlike other cities, 9% of the respondents getting bottled water for drinking is also significantly high.”

Noida authority officials also agreed that Noida’s groundwater is hard and the additional problem is that six of nine ranney wells have dried up. However, officials said efforts are being made to improve the quality of water supplied.

“We do our own checks periodically and in all sectors where Ganga water supply has started, the TDS remains around 1,000, which has been allowed by the National Green Tribunal for potable water. The readings from residents (of 1,630 TDS in Sector 51) may not be correct,” said R P Singh, deputy general manager (jal), Noida authority.

He added that the authority is supplying 406MLD (million litres daily) of Ganga water across the city mixed with around 230MLD (about 50%) of groundwater extracted through tube wells and ranney wells.

Authority sources said nearly all sectors, except the newer ones along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, now get Ganga water supply.

“The water from tube wells have a TDS of around 1,200. However, we have to mix it with Ganga water to ensure adequate supply. Meanwhile, we are already working on redeveloping six ranney wells. After several tests, and checking done by expert agencies, work on these ranney wells will start soon,” said the DGM.

He said the Ganga water supply is also expected to be connected throughout the city by April next year.