I stay in 100 feet road, Selaiyur, Chennai. We have recently moved into a newly constructed apartment. We have 4 apartments in our building. We are recently experiencing problems with water. We moved in here in the first week of April 2008. Till July 2008, there were no problems. Water was good, clear. Now, the water is foaming and smells bad. Two fresh borewells were dug. One around 25 feet away from the old one but no water till 200 feet. The second borewell was dug very near (within around 5-10 feet) the old borewell, water came but again foaming and smelling. Recently the problem has started in good number of houses in this area. The test report of a sample of water is as below.
| Sr | Parameter | Units | Results | Ref Method |
| 1 | pH | - | 6.47 | IS:3025/P11/2002 |
| 2 | Turbidity | NTU | 102 | IS:3025/P14/2002 |
| 3 | Total suspended solids | mg/l | 480 | IS:3025/P17/2002 |
| 4 | Total dissolved solids | mg/l | 860 | IS:3025/P16/2002 |
| 5 | Chlorides (as Cl) | mg/l | 152 | IS:3025/P32/2003 |
| 6 | Sulphates (as SO4) | mg/l | 53 | IS:3025/P24/2003 |
| 7 | Calcium (as Ca) | mg/l | 77 | IS:3025/P40/2003 |
| 8 | Magnesium (as Mg) | mg/l | 15 | IS:3025/P46/2003 |
| 9 | Total Hardness (as CaCO3) | mg/l | 254 | IS:3025/P21/2002 |
| 10 | p-Alkalinity (as CaCO3) | mg/l | Nil | IS:3025/P23/2003 |
| 11 | Total Alkalinity (as CaCO3) | mg/l | 365 | IS:3025/P23/2003 |
| 12 | Iron (as Fe) | mg/l | 11.70 | IS:3025/P53/2003 |
What could be the possible solutions:
1. Can we use the same water, through some treatment. Given that there is no other option for another source in the same plot. We are in any case using canned water for drinking and cooking purposes, so we are looking at the ground water only for washing, flush and bathing purposes.
2. Reverse osmosis plants seem to be costly. Is there any other option?
3. Are there any consultants who can be help us out?
Srirama Nataraj
sriram@grcconsultants.net