With the coronavirus pandemic impacting communities throughout the world, it is praiseworthy that water professionals are working round the clock to ensure that safe, reliable drinking water supply and sewerage system are provided to consumers.
Appreciating the efforts of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board for its work, Institution of Engineers (India), Telangana State Centre, has suggested some actions to sustain the operations to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Collating the guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. G. Rameshwar Rao, chairman, IEI, Telangana Centre, who was former director, operations, HMWSSB, said that linemen/line operators/sewerage workers manning air techs, system maintenance staff, supervisory staff etc., must necessarily be provided with protective uniform and personal protective equipment (PPE) like shoes, face mask, gloves and goggles, hand sanitisers - in addition to ensuring that they adhere to basic hygiene precautions. It is important for them to carry their ID card while on duty, he said.
Since the linemen/line operators are exposed to risk all the time because of coronavirus pandemic now, they must be sent for periodical medical check-ups, Dr. Rao suggested.
Blueprint
The in-charge officers must make the blueprint containing details of water release timings, their specific locations, must be made known to second, third and fourth in command and a news bulletin about water supply timings must be announced periodically through electronic and print media.
The operations and maintenance in-charge must ensure sufficient residual chlorine in the water is being supplied and they should ensure availability of sufficient stocks of essential supplies including Alum, chlorine cylinders at their respective water treatment plants and reservoirs.
The HMWSSB authorities must work with health care providers to determine if priority testing is available for staff who have symptoms of Covid-19 or may have been exposed to persons with those symptoms. Staggering of shifts be considered where possible to minimise human to human contact and access to facilities of the board be limited.
Disinfection processes
Citing studies, Dr. Rameshwar Rao said that coronavirus such as SARS, can be present in hospital waste water or domestic sewage for two to three days and combined sewer overflow and bypasses could release such viruses into the environment. Therefore, standard municipal waste water disinfection processes are seen as highly effective to inactivate corona virus before it enters the environment.
“It is important to provide protection to the waste water treatment operators having high exposure to waterborne pathogens in raw sewage entering the waste water treatment plants,” he said.
