Drinking water directly from the tap is not safe, at times, in the capital. The Public Health Laboratory Services says Thimphu Thromde, which manages the water treatment plant, has been not monitoring the water treatment plants properly.
The Public Health laboratory Services thoroughly monitors the water quality every month in the capital. It is conducted at two water treatment facilities in Motithang, Jungshina and other reservoir tanks.
To ensure the water is safe for drinking, without having any adverse risks to heath, the laboratory service checks for presence of bacteria, acidity, sand or mud and whether the water has been chlorinated or not.
The Public Health Laboratory Services has found out the water treatment facilities are not adequately chlorinated and the tanks are contaminated with bacteria.
The drinking water was grossly polluted, which posed serious health risk, during summer and winter last year.
“The water treatment facilities are not at par with the developed countries which is efficient and reliable as it goes through several stages of treatment,” said the Chief Laboratory Officer of Public Health Laboratory, Sonam Wangchuk.
Thimphu Thromde, which manages the water supply tanks daily in the capital, said there is need to discuss the issues with the public health laboratory services.
“We don’t have trained manpower to test water,” said the Thimphu Thromde’s Customer Service Head, Jigme Dorji. He said they clean the water tanks once a year. Henceforth, he said, they will clean it twice a year.
He also said the thromde will look into the presence of less chlorine content in the reservoir tanks and make sure the tanks have enough chlorine. Chlorine is added in the water to kill the bacteria.
However, there was no issue of presence of lead, pesticides and chemical contaminants in the water in the capital.
