Ammonia level in Yamuna still high, Wazirabad plant operating at 90%

“When water was diverted from Khubru barrage in Haryana into the Yamuna on January 20, it brought in the pollution content of Haryana cities and the ammonia level reached an unprecedented 6.5 ppm (parts per million) on January 21,” a DJB official said. “Due to high ammonia content, Yamuna water could not be used in Delhi, which resulted in scarcity of water.”

The ammonia level has to be below 1 ppm for plants to treat the water.

Residents in several parts of the Capital, including Rajouri Garden, Pitampura, Dwarka and parts of Rohini, reported water shortages on January 21 and 22, as reduced raw water availability and deteriorating river quality forced curtailment of operations at plants that treat water from Yamuna.

“As the ammonia level did not reduce after it touched touched an 6.5 ppm on January 21, a decision was taken on January 22 to discontinue the maintenance work and restore the normal supply route,” the DJB official said.

By Saturday morning, a senior DJB official said the city’s water supply has almost normalised. However, the impact on Wazirabad WTP continued. “Wazirabad WTP is operating at about 90% capacity, as the ammonia level at Wazirabad reservoir, which stores water from Yamuna, is still around 2.3 ppm. All other WTPs are treating water normally.”

Sources in the Delhi government said Wazirabad WTP is expected to start functioning normally once the ammonia level in Yamuna normalises late Saturday.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, noted that the episode underlined concerns of industrial discharge.

“The more worrying issue is that pollution in Yamuna river is rendering Wazirabad WTP ineffective. This has become a recurring incident for the past several years, revealing how untreated industrial effluents in increased amounts from Haryana are entering the river. This raises serious questions on the role and functioning of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board and National Mission for Clean Ganga as well,” said Bhim Singh Rawat of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.

Atul Goyal, a member of United Residents Joint Action, said that residents in parts of Karol Bagh are still facing delayed water supply, even when normalcy has been restored in adjacent areas.

Rejimon CK of the Dwarka Residents Association Forum said that after facing issues for two days, water supply has been restored in the area.