After Murasu floods, Guntur launches chlorination drive to keep drinking water safe
The Rural Water Supply (RWS) Department has launched an extensive chlorination and super-chlorination drive across drinking water schemes in Guntur district to prevent contamination after floods triggered by Cyclone Murasu.
Officials began the exercise on Wednesday, immediately after the cyclone's intensity subsided, acting on advance instructions from District Collector C.M. Saikanth Varma. The drive covers schemes in Nimmagadda Varipalem, Kantheru, Visadala, Mandapadu, Bheemuni Varipalem, Sowpadu, Narakoduru and Perecherla, among other villages.
RWS Superintending Engineer K. Kalyana Chakravarthy is supervising the operations. Officials and field staff are inspecting each water supply scheme to identify potential contamination and to ensure that drinking water remains safe for use.
Mr. Chakravarthy said the Collector had directed officials to take precautionary measures well before the cyclone. All water supply schemes were filled to full capacity in advance, and additional precautions were being taken to prevent contamination in the aftermath of the floods.
Chlorination is a standard method of disinfecting water. A measured dose of chlorine is added to kill bacteria and viruses that cause waterborne diseases. Super-chlorination involves a higher dose, used when the risk of contamination is elevated — for instance after floods, when sewage, agricultural runoff and silt can enter surface and groundwater sources.
Floodwater can carry pathogens and pollutants into open wells, borewells and distribution lines. Drinking water contaminated in this way can cause diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis A, public health officials note. District administrations typically step up disinfection, water quality testing and public advisories in the days following a flood.
The department said it was taking all necessary steps to ensure that rural residents receive safe drinking water. It added, however, that given the prevailing conditions, people should boil drinking water thoroughly and allow it to cool before consumption as a precaution against waterborne diseases.
Boiling water for at least one minute at a rolling boil is widely recommended as a household-level safeguard because it inactivates most disease-causing organisms. Stored water should be kept in clean, covered containers and drawn with a ladle or tap rather than by dipping hands or cups into the vessel.
Residents who notice a change in the colour, smell or taste of the water supplied to their homes, or who experience symptoms such as persistent diarrhoea or vomiting, should report the matter to local water supply staff or the nearest primary health centre.
The exercise is part of the district's post-flood public health response, which generally continues until water samples from affected areas test clear of contamination.
