By Udbhav Bhargava
The NGT ordered the Ministry of Environment and Forests to issue a notification banning RO purifiers within two months in which total dissolved solids (TDS) in water are below 500 milligrams per liter (mg/l). The bench, led by NGT Chairman of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said the delay in compliance with the order is causing harm to human health and the environment, and it shall be promptly complied with.
In an attempt to control the use of RO purifiers, the NGT had issued directions to the government to ban them where total dissolved solids (TDS) in water are below 500 mg/l, and to spread public awareness of the negative effects of demineralized water. The tribunal also directed the authorities for mandatorily implement norms for recovery more than 60 percent of the water wherever RO is allowed throughout the country.
The order came after a report from an advisory group that said that if TDS is less than 500 milligrams per liter, a RO device would not be useful, but will contribute to the removal of essential minerals as well as causing undue wastage of water. This well-planned step was an appropriate response to the plea filed by an NGO Friends seeking to protect drinking water by avoiding its wastage due to excessive use of RO systems. The issued directive will have multifaceted implications on potable water resources, physical health of the masses, and the Indian water purifier industry worth 34 billion (INR).
Demineralized water and associated risks
As a result of distillation, deionization, membrane filtration (reverse osmosis or Nanofiltration), electro-dialysis, or other technology, the treated water is almost or completely free of dissolved minerals. This is demineralized water. In such water, the total dissolved solids (TDS) may vary but TDS could be as low as 1mg/l (As per WHO).
TDS is composed of both inorganic salts and small amounts of organic matter. According to a WHO report, concentrations of TDS below 300 mg/l are considered outstanding, whereas 900 mg/l is said to be bad and over 1200 mg/l is unacceptable. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses pressure to drive molecules through a semipermeable membrane to extract contaminants from water.
Demineralized water that has not been re-mineralized, or water with low mineral content – in the absence or substantial lack of essential minerals in it – is not considered ideal drinking water, and therefore, its regular consumption may not provide adequate levels of certain beneficial nutrients. It is considered to be an extreme case of low-mineral or soft water because it contains only small amounts of dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which are the major contributors to hardness.
• Minimized intake of low-mineral water calcium and magnesium.
• High intake of some essential elements and microelements from high-mineral water.
• Possible increased intake of toxic metals into the diet.
• Water is more susceptible to bacterial contamination.
In the Indian context, demineralization takes place in the homes through purifiers, further eliminating the scope of re-mineralization. Furthermore, according to various sources, to get a liter of RO-treated water, 3 liters of water is wasted by the purifier. India’s water problem is also attributed to a lack of state planning, increased privatization of companies, industrial and human waste, and corruption by governments. However, water scarcity is expected to intensify in India as the population overall is estimated to rise to 1.6 billion by 2050. To a certain end, it is predicted that global water shortages will become a leading cause of mainstream political conflict in the future, and the prognosis for India is no different.
Hence, active and stringent implementation from the ministry is needed in the long-term ahead. It is an inherent demand of this directive, since, both public health and water resources of the country are at stake. Any degradation or deterioration in any of them will have intensified repercussions on the human resources, living standards, the economy, and in turn on the GDP of the country (taking a larger timeframe into consideration).
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