In order to treat the excess iron content in drinking water, the Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (KRWSA) is setting up iron removal plants in selected areas where its water supply schemes under Jalanidhi Phase I have been implemented.
Jalanidhi is the World Bank-funded drinking water project that seeks the participation of the local beneficiary groups. It is currently in its second phase.
The government through an order last week accorded administrative sanction for the setting up of iron content removal plants and terafil filters using the budget provision of Rs 1.78 crore.
In the current financial year, the plants are to be set up in 21 water supply schemes implemented under Phase I of Jalanidhi, which was completed in 2008. Drinking water schemes were set up in 112 panchayats during Phase I.
The setting up of these iron content removal plants has been made necessary because of the excess iron content found in groundwater in the state; that is, above the standard permissible limit of 1 milligram per litre.
All the districts in the state have high concentration of iron in groundwater, according to the Central Ground Water Board.
‘’Laterite soil, which Kerala is rich in, is high in iron content. When leaching occurs, the iron enters the aquifers. The water column in the state has been falling since around 2002 due to various reasons. So, when this leaching of iron occurs, there is a less water for it to dissolve in,’’ said Pradeep Kumar, deputy director Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, who is overseeing the setting up the iron removal plants.
Around 120 schemes of the 3710 schemes implemented under Jalanidhi Phase I had complained of water quality problems mainly from iron, Kumar said.
Of this, 21 schemes in 15 panchayats in Kannur, Wayanad, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kollam and Pathanamthitta have been selected to provide either an iron content removal plant or a Terafil water filter this year.