Goa to set up its first plant to treat water from mining pits for drinking

Panaji: Goa is set to get its first plant to treat water from mining pits for drinking. This plant, with a capacity of 3MLD, will come up at Cavrem, Sanguem, and is an experiment to address the drinking water shortage in the state.Drinking water minister Subhash Phal Dessai told TOI that the plant would be set up in three months. The department of drinking water, a new department, conducted a survey of mining pits in Goa to use the water for drinking. Phal Dessai said that he decided to set up the plant in his constituency to treat water from mining pits to dispel the misconception that such water is not fit to drink, as well as to solve the water shortage issue in the state.

Phal Dessai said that the department already procured samples from mining pits and sent them to three laboratories to check the quality of water, whether it can be used for drinking.

He said that the results showed that there was no water contamination and no need to use chemicals to treat the water.“The results are encouraging. They show that there is a lot of nutritional value in the water and no presence of harmful minerals,” said Phal Dessai.

“The quality of water in mining pits is so good that it does not require chlorine to treat it before it is supplied to the public.”The minister also said that advanced technology would be used at the plant to treat the water. “Once people realise that water from mining pits is not unfit for drinking, and once the trust is developed, similar plants will be set up in other mining belt constituencies to provide pure drinking water at people’s doorstep,” he said.Goa has many abandoned mining pits, which have turned into water storage pits.For some time now, state govt has been stating its intention to provide 24 hours water supply to all consumers. However, TOI reported that govt data indicates that Goa is far from attaining this goal at present. Only 26.5% of households in Goa currently receive 24x7 drinking water supply, showing the massive ground yet to be covered to attain the goal of round-the-clock supply.