Please inform me the WHO and USEPA standards prescribed for safe drinking water. I wish to compare these with the BIS standards prescribed for India.
a. The information is being sought as I am part of the managing committee of a housing cooperative society in Pune and I would like to ensure that residents get good quality water for drinking. We are outside the city limits and do not have access to treated water. Our needs are being met through tankers who draw water from wells.I have heard that ground water could be contaminated with industrial pollutants and pesticides.Therefore I would like a comparative table of BIS as well as USEPA standards.
b. We have installed a water treatment plant and would like to be sure that the treated water meets the best standards. I am not sure that the BIS standards alone will suffice since they might be silent on a number of heavy metal and organic impurities.I have also heard that a certain level of dissolved salts are not only permitted but also desirable , so I would like to tweak our plant to get water of optimal quality.
c) If possible please suggest the name of some laboratory in Pune who might be able to give us a comprehensive test report.
d) We have written to the supplier of the treatment plant(a franchisee) who has given us a laboratory test report which is only giving basic information like total soluble impurities,fluorine and E.coli count. Other possible harmful microbes , heavy metals and organic pollutants are not covered.
The information is being sought as an Individual for non commercial purposes.
Uday Philar,
udayphilar@hotmail.com