STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOPs) FOR DRINKING WATER

Purpose

Availability of safe drinking water is an important determinant of health. The Joint Monitoring program on Water Supply and Sanitation of the WHO and UNICEF reports that globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death. Provision of safe drinking water, hence is crucial to ensure the health of student community and staff of the University. The purpose of this SOP is to ensure supply of pure drinking water to the campus / hostels and prevent contamination of drinking water in the campus area and hostels of the University of Chitral.

Scope

This standard operating procedure applies to plumbing and sanitation staff who will be accountable to the Director Administration of the University of Chitral.

Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the University Administration to appoint designated supervisor to perform hygienic inspection of the drinking water, its sources and reservoirs within the University premises. The Supervisor involved in hygienic inspection must have the relevant training and/or experience.

Procedure:

Inspection of Water: The supervisor will perform the inspection of the water on daily basis. He will keep record of the daily reports and compile monthly report on the basis of these reports and submit it to the office of the Director Administration on the prescribed format attached as Appendix-I. He will inspect the water for its physical characteristics as enunciated below, and he will immediately inform the university administration if any discrepancy/disparity is pointed out: -

1. Turbidity: Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness caused by individual particles which makes the water appear non-transparent. If a large amount of suspended solids are present in water, it will appear turbid in appearance indicating presence of impurities.
2. Colour: Safe drinking water should be colorless. Dissolved organic matter from decaying vegetation or other inorganic materials can impart colour to the water.
3. Taste and Odour: Most organic and some inorganic chemicals, originating from municipal or industrial wastes, contribute taste and odour to the water which may make it unfit for human consumption. Taste and odour can be expressed in terms of odour intensity or threshold values.
4. Temperature: The ideal temperature of water for drinking purposes is 5 to 12 °C - above 25 °C, water is not recommended for drinking. The increase in temperature decreases palatability, because at elevated temperatures carbon dioxide and some other volatile gases are expelled.

Sanitary inspections: The Supervisor will conduct weekly sanitary inspection of the water supply distribution system. Sanitary inspection includes a qualitative inspection of water system, including the source, transmission mains, treatment plants, storage reservoirs and distribution system. It allows water supply staff to uncover deficiencies, inadequacies and hazards such as overflows, contamination, pipe breakage etc. which could lead to contamination of water. The report of the inspections will be submitted to the office of the Director Administration on monthly basis on the prescribed format at Appendix-I to this SOP.

Measures: The University administration will address the general issues such as repair and maintenance, while it will approach health departments/laboratories for chemical and bacteriological issues on required basis. The following measures will be taken to ensure non-stop supply of pure drinkable water to the Campus and Hostels: -

1. Cleaning and De-Silting of the Water Tanks: Normally de-silting of the water tanks will be carried out on monthly basis. However, in case of floods or any other incident instant cleaning of the water reservoirs will be carried out. After de-silting the water will not be used for drinking immediately, rather it will be used when it regains its colour and odour.
2. Chlorination: Water chlorination is the process of adding chlorine (Cl. 2) or hypochlorite to water. This method is used to kill certain bacteria and other microbes in tap water as chlorine is highly toxic. In particular, chlorination is used to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. Therefore, during summers chlorination of the water will be done on monthly basis in normal routine, however, during epidemics special measures will be carried out in consultation with district health department. During the winter season chlorination of the water will be done on quarterly basis.

These SOP will be strictly followed by all concerned and any changes, modifications and improvement herein will be recorded / updated in the revision history given below.