Two Delhi water treatment plants shut over ammonia levels

New Delhi: Two water treatment plants were shut here on Sunday due to high level of ammonia in raw water. The closure could lead to water shortage in several parts of the city.

Delhi Jal Board officials said the Chandrawal and Wazirabad plants which supply water to central and north Delhi and Cantonment area were shut post Saturday midnight.

Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra said a leakage occurred in the carrier lined channel (CLC) that transports water from Haryana to Delhi. To patch this up, the supply in the CLC was stopped and was diverted to the river course.

"Now water is coming through main river course where ammonia is very high. So production from Chandrawal and Wazirabad plants has been stopped as we cannot compromise on water quality," Mishra told IANS.

He said the supply will remain affected for a day in the areas covered by the Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants. 

"I am personally monitoring the situation and we are in constant touch with authorities in Haryana. The supply would start from Monday evening," Mishra said.

The Delhi government last year set up an ammonia neutralisation plant to maintain ammonia-free water supply.

"The capacity of ammonia neutralisation plant is 1 to 2 parts per million (ppm) but currently the levels of ammonia in the raw water is above 3 ppm which is impossible to treat. So we had no other option," Mishra said.

The Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants treat over 200 million gallons of water per day (MGD) while overall 900 MGD of treated water is supplied in Delhi.