How to Find Govt Approved Water Testing Lab Near Me
In this post, you’ll find out how you can easily find a Government-approved drinking water testing lab near your home.
What is the Need for Testing Drinking Water?
At the time of writing this post (19th July 2022), the total number of water samples, tested in India by the Govt. approved water testing labs, was 58,95,420. (Source: JJM-WQMIS)
Out of these total samples, 8,47,708 samples were found contaminated.
This means around 14.37% of all water samples tested in India are not fit for human consumption.
And the situation is very alarming in some states like West Bengal and Kerala.
In West Bengal, out of the 4,91,434 drinking water samples that were tested, 3,72,243 samples were found contaminated. That’s a shocking 75.74% of contamination. 3 out of every 4 drinking water samples were found contaminated in West Bengal.
States with the Highest Number of Water Contamination Cases – West Bengal and Kerala
This is beyond your wildest imagination.
Kerala is not too far behind, out of the 3,34,109 drinking water samples tested, 2,44,733 samples were found contaminated. That’s a shocking 73.25% of contamination.
On the other hand, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh are the best states where the water contamination rate is almost zero.
States with Lowest Number of Water Contamination Cases – Manipur and Himachal Pradesh
In Manipur, only 0.01% of drinking water samples were found contaminated and in Himachal Pradesh, only 0.02% of samples were contaminated.
When to Test the Water Samples?
The short and simple answer is ‘get your drinking water tested if its appearance, smell, or taste is not normal.’
You must also get your drinking water tested in a laboratory if your area has a known history of water contamination or waterborne diseases.
Almost all municipal corporations periodically test the drinking water they supply. But, old, rusted, and damaged water supply lines lead to contamination of water as it reaches from the source to your home.
If the source of water to your home is groundwater, river, or well then you must get your drinking water tested.
Drinking Water Quality Standards
The water that you drink or use for cooking should not only be clean but safe to consume.
But how do you know if your drinking water is safe?
This is where the water quality guidelines/specifications come into the picture.
Most countries have their standards for water quality.
The Bureau of India Standards (BIS) is the organization that sets and publishes the drinking water quality standards in India. BIS first published India’s water quality guidelines ‘Drinking Water Specifications’ in the year 2012.
All drinking water shall comply with the specifications recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 10500: 2012).
In these water quality specifications, there are two limits for every water contaminant: Acceptable limits and permissible limits.
The values in acceptable limits refer to the desirable limits of contamination of any particular contaminant.
While the values prescribed in permissible limits mean such water should only be consumed if there is no alternate source.
If any value exceeds the permissible limit, the water is not safe for drinking.
All water-supplying agencies like Municipal Corporations are also required to test drinking water as per these water quality standards.
But if you are dependent on other sources of water like groundwater and tankers then you are expected to get the water tested yourself.
Please follow the below links to learn more about drinking water quality standards in India.
- BIS 10500:2012
- AMENDMENT NO. 1 JUNE 2015 TO IS 10500: 2012 DRINKING WATER
- AMENDMENT NO. 2 SEPTEMBER 2018 TO IS 10500: 2012 DRINKING WATER
Health Impacts of Drinking Contaminated Water
Drinking contaminated water can have mild to severe health effects.
The severity of the health impact depends on the type of contaminant and duration of exposure.
While some contaminants have reasonably mild to moderate effects like constipation, others may cause life-threatening diseases like cancer, damage your vital organs, or affect your nervous system.
The figure shows some common water contaminants and their impact on your health.
How to Find a Government Water Testing Lab Near Your Home?
Time needed: 5 minutes
Apart from Government drinking water testing labs, most big cities have private water testing labs as well.
But, most of the private water testing labs, that we came across, are mostly focused on industrial users.
Some small private labs offer drinking water testing for residential users but we are not too sure how reliable their testing is.
In this post, we are only going to cover ways of finding Government drinking water testing laboratories in your city.
So, without wasting any more time.
Let’s get on the business.
As per the Jal Jeevan Mission’s Water Quality Management Information System, there are a total of 2,057 Govt. approved water testing labs in India (as of 19th July. 2022).
States with the maximum number of water contamination cases have more labs as compared to states where cases are few.
West Bengal, has the highest number of water testing laboratories. As we have seen earlier, West Bengal is also the state that has the highest number of water contamination cases.
When it comes to Govt. departments most people start worrying.
Worry not.
Today we are going to tell you a very easy way to find a Govt. water testing lab near your home in just a minute.
And the best part is, all the information is available online.
Follow the below-given steps to find a Govt. Authorized drinking water testing lab right now.
- Open the Website
Open any web browser and go to the official website of Jal Jeevan Mission – Water Quality Management Information System https://neer.icmr.org.in/
- Locate Labs Near You
Click on the link ‘Locate labs near you’ in the top navigation.
- Select Your State & District
Please select your state and district from the dropdowns and click on the Search button.
- View Details of the Labs Near You
Details of all the labs in your selected state & district will be shown in the table. The table shows the name, type (Govt/Private), and complete address of the lab.
Wrapping Up
Wasn’t this much easier than what you initially thought?
All credit must go to the Jal Jeevan Mission of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jalshakti.
Jal Jeevan Mission is one of the most successful programs run by the Govt. of India. It has fulfilled the dream of millions of Indians of having a tap water connection at their homes.
Not only this, but the focus on maintaining the quality of water is also commendable.
In this post, you’ve learned to find the nearest Government water analysis lab.
In the next post, we’ll be showing you the exact process that you need to follow to get your drinking water sample tested in a Govt. lab.
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I want to test my drinking water quality
First of all thanks for the valuable information.
Sir/madam, Now a days water purifier servicing/maintenance/repair costs have become a visit affair. Even replacement of various filters used for water purifier is also very high. Can you suggest any better options/solution for this problem
The maintenance cost actually depends on the type of purifier you are using. UV and gravity-based purifiers have very low maintenance costs. RO purifiers, on the other hand, have relatively high maintenance costs.