Goa’s river waters unsafe for drinking, swimming

Rivers Mandovi and Zuari also contaminated at almost every point; 533 samples collected and analysed

 | 06 Jun, 2015, 01:26AM IST

PANJIM: The bad news is that Goa’s river waters are unsafe for human consumption with high contamination of faecal coliform bacteria, caused by the release of untreated sewage into the rivers. The good news is that the state’s treated water quality has been rated as second best in the country after that of Himachal Pradesh.

The river Sal, once the lifeline of Salcete, an important tributary of river Mandovi, is the most contaminated river beds in the state, while the Mhadei and Khandepar rivers are the least polluted.

The findings are part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWQMP) for the year 2014-15, released by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) in its annual report released on Friday – World Environment Day.

The faecal coliform count, which needs to be zero, was found to be between 1300 to 7900 colonies per 100 ml water.

“Goa’s river waters have almost 80 to 90 percent of faecal coliform content, which is highly dangerous to human health,” GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha told media persons.

Noronha said that the faecal coliform is high during the monsoon, when untreated waste water gets released into the rivers. “The treated water of Goa is rated as second best in the country,” he added.

Faecal coliform is a subgroup of coliform used to establish the first microbial water quality standards. The presence of faecal coliform in water indicates that faecal contamination of the water has occurred and that consuming the water or swimming in the water may result in illness.

The state’s two major rivers – Mandovi and Zuari – are also contaminated at almost every point. 

Under a sponsored project of the Central Pollution Control Board – the NWQMP – the GSPCB undertakes an annual sampling of the waters from different rivers and water bodies in the state. GSPCB had collected 533 samples and analysed them considering three main parameters – physical, chemical and microbiological.

The major rivers in north Goa where a monthly monitoring is undertaken are river Mandovi, rivers Kalna and Chapora in Pernem, river Assanora at Assanora, river Valvanti in Sanquelim, river Mhadei in Valpoi and river Khandepar in Ponda. Similarly, the major rivers monitored in south Goa are river Zuari, river Talpona and river Sal.

The increasing coliform bacterium in the rivers was a serious concern raised by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) during its study in 2011. NIO in its study had said that the waters off Goa’s coast are “unsafe for recreational bathing and fishing”.

Rivers of pollution

u Goa rivers highly contaminated due to discharge of sewage

u Waters unsafe for human consumption 

u Treated water second best in the country

u Mhadei and Khandepar rivers least polluted

u Faecal coliform count, found to be between 1300 to 7900 colonies per 100 ml water 

http://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/-Goa%E2%80%99s-river-waters-unsafe-for-drinking-swimming/89406.html