Kochi: The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) has found that well water in many flooded areas has become polluted rendering it unfit for use.
The Soil and Water Analysis Lab in KUFOS had examined water from the 4,348 wells in the flooded areas.
A team led by Dr Anu Gopinath, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Oceanography collected the samples from August 23 to September 14 and conducted the study.
Gopinath said that the well water was found to have increased acidity.
This is higher in the Kaladi, Nedumbassery and Aluva regions which had been inundated by the Periyar.
Alongside, the quantity of mud has increased to an average of 30 per cent in the water while the quantity of oxygen has come down.
A litre of drinking water must have at least 4 mg of oxygen.
However, the amount of oxygen in most of the tested samples are relatively lesser.
All the samples were sent for microbiology examination along with chemical tests.
About 90 per cent of the well water contains E-Coli bacteria many times above the permissible level.
An examination led bu Dr MP Safina also showed that water sources contained a high amount of feces.
Researchers warns that well water should be cleaned and consumed only after boiling to avoid the possibility of contagious diseases.
Wells should be cleaned by using chlorination and super chlorination. The water should then be filtered.
The method of cleaning well water of hanging a mixture of washed mud and in the water 4 times a week is also effective.
The drinking water samples required for the study were collected with the help of the people.
The team comprised teacher B M Adarsh, research scholars Janis Mathew and Princy M John, V L Sanil, Ashwathi Shaji, Aditya Sudhan, K S Greeshma, T Aflah.