According to the report, NAST collected samples from different areas of the capital for test. [break]
“Bacteriological pollution of drinking water may be due to the failure to disinfect water at the treatment plants,” the report said. It also attributed contamination to poor monitoring.
Among the 21 treatment plants of KUKL, most are not in operation. The six new sources from which KUKL started pumping ground water recently, have no treatment facility. “The quality of water in those treatment plants is not so poor, so we directly supply the water to households,” said Pryag Lal Joshi, Chairman of KUKL.
The internal report of KUKL claims that only 30 percent of the samples tested in its own laboratory were found problematic. “I do not agree with the NAST report that claims 73 percent of the samples were found problematic,” said Hari Dhakal, executive director of Kathmandu Upatyaka Water Management Board.
He also claimed that the problems were not in the treatment plants but in the distribution system.
Meanwhile, the latest quarterly report of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), shows that 50 percent of the samples of bottled-water were found contaminated. Coliform, streptococcus, yeast and mesophillic bacteria have found in the samples collected by DFTQC.
As many as 139 bottled-water companies are registered with DFTQC. The office said most of the offending companies were from Kathmandu and Lalitpur.
“We will file case against such unscrupulous companies,” said Pramod Koirala, DFTQC spokesperson.
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