Safety standard: A cell to monitor a single-celled organism

KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has established a monitoring cell to keep the quality of supplied water according to international benchmarks and WHO safety standards.

The Naegleria Monitoring Cell has been established to monitor the water quality 24 hours a day to “keep the citizens of Karachi safe from Naegleria fowleri”.

KWSB managing director Misbahuddin Farid announced this at a press briefing held at the COD filtration plant on Wednesday.

“The water supplied to Karachi is added with ample amount of chlorine,” he said, adding that excessive chlorination can be dangerous to health.

Farid said that 25 chemists are working at six filtration plants and more than 150 samples are tested daily. “The KWSB is fully aware of its responsibilities and we are fulfilling our responsibility to keep the citizens safe,” he said. “We crosscheck our chlorination process and then further ensure it by taking samples from different points.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2012.