Water supply situation to improve, says Govt

The water supply situation might improve in the city as ammonia levels in the Yamuna are decreasing, the Delhi Government officials said on Saturday. Since the past few days, Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) five water treatment plants (WTP) have been facing issues because of untreatable levels of ammonia in the water, which had reduced the supply of water to city residents.

“The Wazirabad WTP is currently operating at approximately 85 per cent capacity due to the level of ammonia in the Yamuna River at the Wazirabad reservoir being around 2.5 ppm,” a senior government officer said.

The affected WTPs include Wazirabad, Haiderpur Phase 1 and 2, Bawana, and Dwarka, with water production reduced, impacting several areas across the city until February 4, the DJB said earlier. However, continuous efforts are being made to restore the Wazirabad WTP to normal operations, as the ammonia level in the river is steadily decreasing, he added.

As per the design of the plants, DJB is unable to treat raw water with more than 1 ppm of ammonia. “All canal-based WTPs, including Haiderpur, Bawana, Dwarka and Nangloi, are operating at their full capacity, and it is expected that the situation will normalise during the night,” Government officials said further.

According to officials, a temporary maintenance-related diversion was undertaken on a section of the canal network, for which Delhi was requested to receive its water share through alternate channels.  The maintenance activity has since been stopped, officials added.