Alkali Manufacturers Association of India (AMAI) has come up with an initiative to harness chlorinated water to check COVID-19 virus. An outreach on this, roping in the country’s PHEDs (Public Health Engineering Departments) and municipal bodies, has been set in motion, this week.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has come as a challenge. As other human coronaviruses have been shown to be sensitive to chlorination, the COVID-19 virus is likely to be more sensitive to chlorine,” said Jayantibhai Patel, president, AMAI.
With new studies pointing to chlorination of water as one of the potential ways to combat novel coronavirus COVID-19, the Rs 25,000-crore alkali industry feels that it is time to build awareness on chlorination of drinking water for disinfection. AMAI is the New-Delhi-based association of manufacturers of chemicals like caustic soda and soda ash, with chlorine as a by-product.
“The disease burden owing to water-borne diseases can be significantly brought down through chlorine disinfection. This also ties in with achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Water and Sanitation for All by 2030,” Patel told FE.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a technical paper released earlier this month titled Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Waste Management for the COVID-19 virus, had said the safe water, sanitation and hygienic conditions are essential to protecting human health, during all infectious disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 outbreak.
“WHO guidelines recommend chlorination with a 0.5 ppm free residual chlorine in water distribution for disinfection. We are giving free training to municipal water treatment personnel on chlorination techniques and safe handling of chlorine,” says K Srinivasan, Secretary General, AMAI .
The World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are linked to unsafe water and the lack of hygiene practices. According to AMAI, in India, 163 million people lack access to safe water.
