{"id":6224,"date":"2020-02-07T18:38:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T13:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=6224"},"modified":"2020-02-07T18:38:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T13:08:42","slug":"draft-notification-on-ro-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/draft-notification-on-ro-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Draft notification on RO systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Relevance: Prelims\/mains: G.S paper II: Governance: Health<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Context:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Environment Ministry\u2019s draft notification to regulate the use of membrane-based water purification systems primarily concerns the manufacturers of reverse osmosis (RO) water filters but effectively bars domestic users from installing RO systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Highlights the proposal:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The notification is the culmination of a legal dispute before the National Green Tribunal, which had banned RO water filter use in Delhi as the purification process wastes water.<br \/>\n\u2022 The association of water filter manufacturers challenged this order and the litigation led to this pan-India notification, where the intent is to conserve water and cut waste.<br \/>\n\u2022 In RO, the total dissolved solids (TDS) in water \u2014 which covers trace chemicals, certain viruses, bacteria and salts \u2014 can be reduced, to meet potable water standards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/RO.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6225\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/RO.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"635\" height=\"445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/RO.jpg 635w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/RO-150x105.jpg 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/RO-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 635px) 100vw, 635px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Why banning RO water filters?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Home filters waste nearly 80% of the water during treatment.<br \/>\n\u2022 Some research has shown that the process can cut the levels of calcium and magnesium, which are vital nutrients.<br \/>\n\u2022 The resort to prohibition (to restrict home filters) may cause consumer apprehension but it is unlikely that they will be taken to task for using such water filters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Implications from Bureau of Indian Standards:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The notification implies, these filters are only prohibited if the home gets water supply that conforms to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for Drinking Water.<br \/>\n\u2022 Although several State and city water boards claim BIS standards, the water at homes falls short of the test parameters.<br \/>\n\u2022 The BIS, last year, ranked several cities on official water supply quality.<br \/>\n\u2022 Delhi was last and only Mumbai met all the standards.<br \/>\n\u2022 In the 28 test parameters, Delhi failed 19, Chennai 9, and Kolkata 10.<br \/>\n\u2022 The BIS norms are voluntary for public agencies which supply piped water but are mandatory for bottled water producers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Challenges towards good water supplying:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Moreover, most of the country does not have the luxury of piped water.<br \/>\n\u2022 The Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) of NITI Aayog says that 70% of water supply is contaminated.<br \/>\n\u2022 India is ranked 120th among 122 countries in an NGO, WaterAid\u2019s quality index.<br \/>\n\u2022 The case for restricting people\u2019s choices on the means they employ to ensure potable water is thus weak.<br \/>\n\u2022 The notification mainly deals with rules for commercial suppliers and for integration of systems that inform consumers about TDS levels \u2014 a major determinant of water quality.<br \/>\n\u2022 This is envisaged both before water enters filtration systems and after it has been filtered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Way forward:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The aim is also to ensure that after 2022, no more than 25% of water being treated is wasted, and for residential complexes to reuse the residual waste water for other activities, including gardening.<br \/>\n\u2022 When implemented, the notification\u2019s primary aim should be to persuade authorities to upgrade and supply BIS-standard water at the consumer\u2019s end.<br \/>\n\u2022 This should be done without additional costs, particularly on millions who now lack access to protected supply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Relevance: Prelims\/mains: G.S paper II: Governance: Health Context: The Environment Ministry\u2019s draft notification to regulate the use of membrane-based water<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,18],"tags":[392],"class_list":["post-6224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","category-general-studies-ii","tag-union-public-service-commission-upsc"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6226,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6224\/revisions\/6226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}