The Hindu : New Delhi News : Tihar to get reverse osmosis water

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Tihar to get reverse osmosis water

By Devesh K. Pandey

NEW DELHI, FEB.8. Nearly 13,000 prisoners lodged in Tihar Central Jail here will soon have the luxury of drinking water filtered through reverse-osmosis technology. The jail authorities have placed an order for reverse-osmosis system for each of the seven jails to do away with the costly affair of calling in water-tankers everyday.

At present, Tihar gets government-supplied water which is neither clean nor sufficient for the inmates. To meet the requirement, the jail authorities have to order water-tankers that supply water which is most of the time unfit for drinking and cannot be used for preparing food for the inmates and the jail staff. With the increasing number of jails, the availability of clean water had become a major problem for the jail authorities. After weighing all possibilities, they finally opted for reverse-osmosis system as they found that it would reduce their investment on water and would also provide filtered water to the inmates. Known as hyper-filtration, reverse osmosis technology facilitates removal of particles and ions from the water. The process is also used to remove salts and other impurities to improve the taste and properties of water. In optimum condition, it is capable of even discarding bacteria and other unwanted foreign bodies.

The Tihar spokesperson, Sunil Gupta, said the reverse-osmosis systems would be installed in all the jails by February 10. It is learnt that each system would cost nearly Rs. 1.5 lakhs to the jail exchequer. "However, the system would ensure clean water and protect the inmates from water-borne diseases," said a jail official. This apart, it is learnt that yet another recently-constructed jail is awaiting inauguration.

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