'Contamination is mostly temporary'

MUMBAI: Even after filtration, some water samples in Chembur were found to be contaminated. Residents here have long complained about the foul odour and murky quality of the water supply, possibly due to a broken pipeline.
Scientists say that the study is not a reflection on the quality of the water treatment —samples tested at the reservoirs were "on par with international standards"— but defects in the distribution system.
About 2,000 samples were tested for microbial pollution by a team of researchers led by scientists T.N. Mahadevan of Socleen and Mrinal Bapat of the Institute of Science.
The study was commissioned and funded by the MMRDA''s Environment Improvement Society.
Although the BMC''s annual assessments find lower levels of contamination, scientists attribute this partly to the fact that the official survey often does not test water once it enters the building compound, whereas Socleen tested many samples from tanks and taps.
The study notes that contamination is temporary in many cases, going by the fact that when the research team retested the water after a few months, it was cleaner. This suggests that the BMC does undertake repairs when it receives complaints about damaged pipes.
On other parameters like alkalinity, temperature and nitrates, the water was found to be healthy. In certain areas, the level of phosphates was found to be high, indicating the leakage of detergents and sewage.