Water supply hit in parts of city due to rise in ammonia levels in Yamuna

Water supply was disrupted in parts of the national capital on Sunday as production at the treatment plants in the city was hit due to increase in ammonia to 3 ppm in River Yamuna near Wazirabad.

Water production has been hit due to heavy sewage and industrial discharge from Haryana, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairman Raghav Chadha said in a statement.

He said water supply is likely to be affected in East, North East, South Delhi, parts of NDMC area and areas under PPP command.

"We request everyone to make judicious use of water. We have also pressed into service adequate numbers of water tankers," he said.

The level of ammonia in Yamuna increased to 3 ppm (parts per million) affecting water production at Sonia Vihar, Bhagirathi, Chadrawal, Okhla and Wazirabad treatment plants, he said.

The DJB water quality management team has increased coagulants and disinfectants dosing in raw Yamuna water to control the increased water pollution and to maintain the water quality as per production norms, he said.

"We are working closely with Haryana to address the issue of ammonia in River Yamuna. @DelhiJalBoard is putting in tireless efforts to restore normal water supply ASAP and to bring down the levels ammonia," Chadha tweeted.

During the Dussehra-Diwali period, Ganga canal (that supplies Ganga water to Delhi) gets shut for annual maintenance. As a result, production at Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi WTPs which too get their raw water supply from Yamuna gets reduced by 50 percent, Chadha said.

Presently the treatment plants are not operating at optimum due to pollutants discharged in Yamuna by Haryana, he added.

The water production at Wazirabad plant was reduced to 129.37 million gallon per day(MGD) against 134 MGD capacity.

The production at other plants was 83.09 MGD (94 MGD) at Chandrawal, Bhagirithi 49.78 MGD (110 MGD), and Sonia Vihar 51.23 MGD (140 MGD), he added.