CHENNAI: A sampling test by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and local bodies, has found that water from two major lakes in southern suburbs Narayanapuram and Keelkattalai lakes is safe for household usage. This comes after residents complained on poor water quality.
According to test results accessed by Express, neither bacteria nor chemicals were in excess to the prescribed limits. Residents had been worried about sewage contamination in the lakes over the years.
The Total Suspended Solid (TSS) levels, which is the dry-weight of suspended particles and Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) levels, which is a measure of dissolved combined content of all inorganic and organic substances, were quite less than prescribed limits.
According to the data, TSS levels were 14 milligrams per litre in Keelkattalai lake and 20 mg/l in Narayanapuram waterbody against the permissable limit of 100 mg/l. Similarly, TDS levels were 860 mg/l in Keelkattalai and 719 mg/l in Narayanapuram against permissable limit of 2100 mg/l. “This means that there is not much chemical content in both the lakes and not much sewage is being let out into the lakes. Water is completely safe for household usage. Iron, lead, zinc and nickel levels are also very low,” said an official from the TNPCB.
Faecal bacterial levels were also found to be low in the lakes. This means that not much untreated sewage is being let into the lakes through illegal pipelines. However, the test also showed low-level contamination in both waterbodies. “Solid waste management remains poor in Kovilambakkam, Moovarasampet and Nanmangalam areas. We have personally seen garbage being disposed of in the Keelkattalai lake. The civic body must look into such activities,” said K Shankar, a resident of Kovilambakkam.