November 2018: Water Analysis: Why test the water?

The water is clean, but is it safe? Not all water quality problems can be easily detected by our naked eye. The water may look good but may actually be unsuitable for drinking. Drinking or using contaminated water can result in severe illness or death. That is why it is important to ensure that household water is safe, clean and free from bacteria and disease.

Unsafe drinking water has been a problem in various communities that’s why our team came up with a community health plan specifically for the barangay water source. To address issues like this, water analysis should be done first. Testing the water allows a knowledgeable approach to address the specific problems of a water supply. Monitoring water quality by having it tested regularly is an important part of maintaining a safe and reliable source. It is also important because it identifies water contaminants. Essentially, water quality testing makes sure that water is safe and meets local and international water standards.

For the past few years, water testing for the barangay water source has been inconsistent. Water analysis has only been done once in 5-10 years. Back in January 2005, water analysis in Brgy. Venus was done as reported by the rural sanitary inspector which showed that the sample taken from all water sources was positive for coliform group of bacteria which does not conform to the National Standard for Drinking Water. Two out of three drinking water samples taken from the three tanks failed the microbiological test standards in January 2016 and Last May 2017, water samples from the three tanks were collected and analyzed. The results showed positive coliform contamination from all three tanks.

With these, the team decided to have another set of water samples for testing. Last November 19, 2018, water samples from the barangay main tanks and chosen households were collected and submitted for bacteriological analysis. And since the source of water is an important factor in providing safe household water, water samples from the barangay water source which are the two “tubods” or spring were also tested. The results showed that only one tubod and one tank passed the analysis. All others were failed.However, our interventions as per community health plan is still being implemented as of the moment and various interventions like water treatment regime and water tank chlorination and cleaning are still for implementation. Water analysis will be done again next year to help us evaluate or determine the effectiveness of our water treatment and interventions.

Our team would like to provide the best quality water possible for the residents of Barangay Venus.