WD News: The Basai water treatment plant in Gurugram is treating 35-40 MLD less water daily due to increased silt and oil, leading to irregular supply for a week.
Gurugram: The filtration capacity of the Basai water treatment plant has been hit due to the increased silt and layers of oil found in the raw water supplied through the Gurugram water channel as a result of which the plant is treating around 35 MLD to 40 MLD less water daily, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials said.
They said that while they are taking measures to make the plant fully functional by cleaning the filters and adding more cleaning chemicals, the supply will remain irregular for a week and city residents should use water judiciously for the next few weeks.
GMDA officials said that the water treatment at the Basai plant has reduced by almost 20 percent because the raw water has higher levels of silt and some oil like chemical, which is taking extra toll on the filtration system.
“We daily treat and supply 270 MLD water from the Basai plant but for the last seven days, water supply has been affected due to high turbidity in raw water and presence of an oily film. The plant is operating only 18 hours to clean this water as it has a high level of silt. We have taken measures to resolve the issue but it is taking time,” said Abhinav Verma, executive engineer, GMDA.
He said that with the water supply down by 20 percent at the plant, the supply has been badly hit. Water from Basai is supplied to condominiums and residential areas in Sector 1 to Sector 23, 37C and D. Water is also supplied to Basai, Dundahera, Jahazpur, Daulatabad, Dhanwapur, Khedki Majra, Bajgheda, Chauma, Maulahera and Carterpuri villages from this plant.
“We have started adding more Chlorine and Alum to filter the water but unless supply of raw water improves things will remain the same,” he said, adding that high turbidity in water is normally due to rainfall in the hills, which adds more silt.
GMDA officials said that they have also reached out to the irrigation department, which supplies raw water to it from Kakroi in Sonipat.
Officials of the irrigation department, when asked about the matter said that after GMDA flagged the issue they got the entire Gurugram water supply channel checked thoroughly and found no instance of any breach in the system which could lead to mixing of any oil or any kind of chemical in the water.
“The same water is being supplied to water treatment plants in Delhi, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar and even IMT Manesar, and there has been no complaint of this kind. Mixing of oil in raw water is unlikely and we have also checked the water channel thoroughly. There could be a local problem at the Basai plant that needs to be checked,” said Manjeet Hooda, executive engineer, irrigation department.
Image courtesy: https://www.hindustantimes.com
