CARIRI: Water is safe for drinking

He said the tests showed, “the levels of lead in the raw water entering and the final treated water leaving the facilities are within the permissible levels as prescribed in (the) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality of the World Health Organisation (WHO)”.

Thomas also said WASA has several mechanisms in place to ensure that its water is potable and meets the guidelines set out by WHO. They include a “rigorous treatment process” – coagulation/ flocculation sedimentation processes – and disinfecting of the water to “eliminate dangerous pathogens.” Furthermore, Thomas said, there is a Water Quality Monitoring System (WQMS) in place at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant that monitors the “water quality parameters in the Caroni River Basin and provide real time water quality data to the plant from several locations upstream of the raw water intake to the facility. This system measures six water quality parameters which are key indicators of different types of pollution that can impact the plant’s output.

In addition, regular water quality testing at the plant’s onsite laboratory is conducted in keeping with WHO guidelines.” Sharda Mahabir, project leader for WASA’s Adopt-A-River Programme, who was also present at the conference, said that the amount of lead in the water at the Caroni Treatment Plant was below the acceptable figure for WHO.

In fact, Thomas confirmed that the levels were below the detection level before treatment and remain below when it leaves the plant.

However, that is not to say that the pre-treated water is safe for consumption since the levels of lead, Mahabir pointed out, vary according to the season.