Leveraging the technical capacity built for Covid-19 testing and surveillance, the National ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ (JJM), in partnership with ICMR, on Saturday launched an online portal that will make it possible for users to get quality of drinking water tested through a network of nearly 2,000 labs across the country.

The Water Quality Information Management System’ (WQMIS) will ensure that any adverse test report will be automatically flagged up to state and central-level authorities for corrective action at source of the supply of drinking water.

The system will work the way ICMR’s robust online portal for Covid-19 test monitoring is functioning -- with a clear data flow protocol where testing laboratories provide results to the person requesting the test, state and national databases.

Union Jal Shakti minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said ‘Har Ghar Jal’ (water to every household) is not just a one-time infrastructure programme. “It will go a long way in building the capacity of the frontline workers, empowering women and creating employment in villages,” he said.

The preliminary testing of drinking water at village-level will be done by trained women workers using field kits (FTK). One among the five women trained to perform the FTK test in every village in the country would be registered on the portal by the block / sub-divisional laboratory in-charge to upload the FTK test results.

The sample will be sent to nearest laboratory for confirmatory test, if required. As per an estimate, testing will cost Rs 180 - 600 for 12 identified parameters, including arsenic and fluoride content, and the cost would be borne by village water and sanitation committee (Pani Samiti or User Group). The cost of basic 8-10 parameters will not be more than Rs 200 per sample.