E.coli in water of condo with 5k residents

Ghaziabad: The health department confirmed on Tuesday that coliform bacteria were present in water samples collected from KW Srishti, a housing society in Raj Nagar Extension (RNE).
The apartment complex with 1,500 flats is home to over 5,000 people. Over the last two weeks, several residents have flagged the poor quality — blackish and pungent — of water reaching their taps.Nearly, 20 people have also complained of stomach aches.
Earlier this month, nearly 800 residents of a Greater Noida society fell ill after consuming contaminated water. Traces of coliform bacteria were also found in the water samples collected from Ecovillage 2.
District surveillance officer RK Gupta said 39 water samples were collected from the overhead tanks of the 11 towers of the housing society and a borewell — the main water source of the society —first on Sept 18 and then again on Sept 21— and sent to the district lab for tests. The analysis confirmed the presence of coliform bacteria in all the samples.
The presence of these pathogens indicates faecal contamination, which can lead to diarrhoea, vomiting, and fever. If left untreated, these conditions can have serious consequences.
Assistant CMO RK Gupta said residents have been advised not to use tap water for drinking purposes till the superchlorination process — a water treatment process where large amounts of chlorine are added to the water supply to ensure rapid disinfection — is complete. He accused the society's maintenance team of "negligence" and said if the situation persisted soon there could be an outbreak of diarrhoea cases.
"The developer has been directed to set up a dossier pump for superchlorination by next week. As RNE is a GDA scheme, we have written to the authority in the matter. A report was also submitted before the director general of health and family welfare department," Gupta said.
Ashish Gupta, a resident of tower F, said though most families have ROs and water purifiers, many switched to bottled water for consumption since Sept 14 after a team of residents found small insects in the 14 overhead tanks.
"Whenever a problem is flagged, the maintenance team, rather than looking for a resolution, tells residents to pack up and leave. It has been like this always. We have no idea if they clean these water tanks at all," Anuj Bansal, a resident of tower I, said.
Bala Dutt Upadhyay, manager of the society's maintenance firm, Enviro, claimed water tanks are cleaned every six months. "But the scheduled July cleaning was delayed due to the monsoon. Heavy rains and wet conditions made it difficult for our staff to access and properly clean the tanks. So, the tanks' cleaning was rescheduled for Oct. We suspect that the delay in cleaning could have contributed to the problem," he said.
Upadhyay said water extracted from a borewell on the society's premises is first treated by a plant installed in the complex and then supplied to the overhead tanks. "As an additional measure, water purifiers were installed by the developer in all flats. At the direction of the DSO, we have initiated the process to procure a dossier pump. We will also clean the water tanks at the earliest," he said.