Water supply across Delhi to return to normal by Sunday evening: Delhi Jal Board

Water treatment plants in Delhi that had been affected by rising ammonia levels in the Yamuna river are gradually returning to operating at optimum levels. The water in the Yamuna coming from Haryana was polluted by increased ammonia levels, Chadha said. Water treatment plants can treat ammonia levels up to 1 part per million (ppm), but the levels had risen to 3 ppm this time, he added. Production at the Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi water treatment plants had fallen by around 50%, while production was also affected at the Wazirabad and Chandrawal treatment plants since water could no longer be purified completely, he said.

DJB sources said that ammonia levels had fallen to around 0.9 ppm on Sunday morning, and the plants had returned to functioning at over 90 per cent of their capacity. From the time that pumping is disrupted, it can take around 18 hours for the plants to begin operating at normal capacity, sources said. Water supply has been disrupted across several areas of Delhi from Saturday onwards.

On Sunday morning, the Sonia Vihar plant was running at 95 per cent to 97 per cent of its capacity, while the plant at Wazirabad had returned to operating at around 98 per cent of its capacity. The Bhagirathi water treatment plant was running at around 93 per cent to 95 per cent of its capacity.