Potable water pipelines carry sewage water

KOCHI: The drinking water samples upto the Hospital Cross Road in Palluruthy are more or less hygienic, a water sampling survey conducted in June by the district health department revealed. However, the water samples from the other side of the road, are found to be contaminated with bacteria including E-Coli, indicating the presence of animal or human excreta. The reason being the seepage of contaminated water from sewage canals into the drinking water pipelines. The water sampling survey was conducted in some parts of Palluruthy after about 155 cases of diarrhoea  were  reported in a span of around two months from the region.“This issue has been reported several times, especially from the areas like Fort Kochi and Mattanchery. The vulnerability, of these areas, to diseases like typhoid and diarrhoea is largely attributed to the contamination of drinking water due to seepage from sewage canals. It all boils down to the faultiness in the laying of the pipes. In a number of areas, the drinking water pipes are directly above or below the sewage canals. When the sewage canals fill up around old and rusty pipelines, the dirty water seeps into the drinking water pipelines. Unless, the old rusting and leaking pipes are replaced, the problem will continue,” said K Sudhakaran, the district medical officer.However, the problem does not stop there. In most of these areas, where water contamination is noted, scarcity of drinking water was common. Owing to the lack of availability of water, in many of these areas, people use hand pipes to pull up whatever little water is remains in the pipes and this pressure  facilitates the seepage of dirty water into the pipes.“Even if there is a little thinning of the pipes , the dirty water around the water pipelines rushes into the pipes. So unless there is a permanent solution to the scarcity of water supply, this cannot be stopped. As of now, we are able to meet only 30 per cent of the required water supply in places like Mattanchery and Fort Kochi,” said K S Babu, the executive engineer at the Kerala Water Authority. The Kerala Water Supply has laid down a proposal for the replacement of 32 kms of pipelines in the Fort  Kochi-Mattanchery belt. The project, estimated to cost about Rs 3 crore, still lies pending.