Chandigarh, October 2: Considering the pressing need for water testing to reach at the door step, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today launched a state-of-the-art Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). The Mobile Van will be stationed at State Water Testing Laboratory, Karnal and its area of operation will stretch throughout the State.

Mr Manohar launched this Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van while inaugurating the “Swachhta Pakhwada” in Panchkula today. Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Gian Chand Gupta was also present on this occasion.

The supply of quality water is of paramount importance for Public Health, therefore regular and rigorous water testing is imperative. The Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship initiative launched by the Central Government and under this programme; the Haryana Government is fully committed to provide functional household tap connection having sustainable supply of quality drinking water to every rural household. The Public Health Engineering Department is ensuring the supply of safe drinking water to all by monitoring water quality on a regular basis by testing in the laboratories.

Currently the department has 43 functional testing labs across the State. This state-of-the-art Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van which has been procured at a cost of Rs 99 lakh is fully equipped with multi-parameter system containing analyzers, sensor, probes and instruments based on Colorimetric, Electrochemistry etc.

The main objective of the Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van is to provide easy access for water testing and reach at the last mile of remote location, onsite deployment of Mobile Van in case of spread of water borne disease, quick access to water test reports and counter checking of quality of testing from all laboratories. This Mobile Water Testing Laboratory will be an effective mode of surveillance of drinking water quality in rural areas in the State. The Lab is capable of measuring different water quality parameters like Ph, Alkalinity, TDS, Hardness, Residual Chlorine, Zink, Nitrite, Fluoride, Turbidity and Micro-biological Test of water samples. Besides, the Lab will help in quickly identifying the water quality problem on the spot at site.

This Mobile Water Testing Lab Van has been uniquely designed and fully loaded with the latest technologies and is equipped with features like GPS enabled for location tracking and analyzed sample data can be transmitted to a centralized PHED server via GPRS/3G connectivity with power backup, on-site recording and reporting of results through a smartphone or similar, capable of recording GPS coordinates, taking photos of the water source and recording results, including sanitary survey, if needed, and the ability to send results direct to a web based secure central server.

Among those present on this occasion included Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department Mr S.N. Roy, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department Mr Devender Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mukesh Ahuja, Commissioner of Police Mr Saurabh Singh, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Panchkula Mr Mahavir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Mohit Handa, District BJP President Mr Ajay Sharma and other senior officers of district administration.