About 12,000 drinking water samples would be collected and tested for their quality in the district during the week-long National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week being observed from June 27 to July 3.
The samples, drawn from various parts of the district, would be tested using field test kits supplied by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board.
According to board officials, the samples would be collected by officials of panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities, and corporation. The testing would be done from July 1 to 3 by two trained teachers under the supervision of TWAD Board engineers.
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The quality of water would be tested for 16 parameters, including alkalinity, chloride, total dissolved solids, fluoride, iron, and faecal coliform, to check their potability. The results would be compared with the specifications of Bureau of Indian Standards. If any sample did not conform to the standards, water from that source would be re-tested at the TWAD Board laboratory for confirmation. The results would be conveyed to the local body concerned. If necessary, the board advice the local body to find alternative sources of water. The results would be published in the TWAD Board’s web portal, officials said.
On Tuesday, Collector K.S. Palanisamy inaugurated an awareness rally, organised by the TWAD Board as part of the National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week, in the city.
Special gram sabha meetings would be convened to publicise the water testing exercise. Awareness programmes on highlighting the importance of quality of drinking water and sanitation would be organised involving local residents and students. The testing process would be helpful to implement appropriate intervention measures in places where the water quality was poor.
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Over 600 students, from schools and colleges, and self-help group members participated in the rally taken out from the St. John’s Vestry Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School to the Corporation office.
Mayor A. Jaya, City Corporation Commissioner N.S. Prema, executive engineers P. Kamaraj, Sermugapandian and Valarmathi, Executive Engineers, and S. Ramamurthy, Assistant Executive Engineer, TWAD Board, participated.