Multi-district water testing lab set up in Mohali
The Department of Water Supply and Sanitation opened the Multi-District Water Testing Laboratory here at the Mohali Phase II Water Works Complex on Thursday.
Punjab’s Minister of Water Supply and Sanitation Razia Sultana said the initiative would complement the state government’s determination to provide adequate facilities for testing and monitoring the supply of drinking water to the rural Punjab population. He added that the laboratory was equipped with state-of-the-art instruments such as ultraviolet (UV): visible spectrophotometer, ion meter, BOD incubator, COD digester, turbidity meter, and others to test 18 chemical parameters of drinking water.
The minister said that in addition to routine monitoring and surveillance of departmental rural water supply sources, the laboratory would be open to the public and other institutions with nominal charges. She said the lab will primarily serve the needs of the Mohali, Rupnagar, and SBS Nagar districts. The minister further said that the Water Supply and Sanitation department has planned to establish a three-tier network of water testing laboratories comprising a state laboratory in Mohali, six multi-district water testing laboratories, and 24 sub-unit laboratories at a block level.
Chief Secretary Jaspreet Talwar said the department has already established a high-tech laboratory in various districts in Amritsar, while three laboratories have been established in various districts in Moga, and Hoshiarpur and Sangrur would be commissioned in May 2021.
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