Bhubaneswar, Dec. 11: The Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) is close to reaching an agreement with Spectro Analytical Labs, a Delhi-based company, to set up a state-of-the-art central water and wastewater testing laboratory here.

The project will ensure that the quality of water is monitored as well as set up a provision for providing safe drinking water to citizens. "We invited proposals in May and selected the Delhi-based firm to execute the project. We will sign the agreement within a month and the work will be completed in 180 days," said PHEO's superintending engineer C.R. Jena.

The central laboratory will be set up in a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode. "The laboratory will have advance equipment to test water samples. It will also ensure quality monitoring of water and waste water," said Jena.

According to the proposal, the project will be executed in two phases. In the first phase, the firm selected will set up an advance laboratory with high-end equipment in Bhubaneswar and divisional laboratories in Berhampur, Cuttack, Puri and another in Bhubaneswar. In the second phase, divisional laboratories will be set up in Balasore, Baripada, Rourkela and Sambalpur.

"The outbreak of jaundice in different parts of the state earlier this year has made people panic. We cannot trust the water supplied by PHEO," said Damana resident Umesh Mohanty.

At present, public health officials maintain six water treatment plants in the city, but none have laboratory facilities. The drinking water sourced from Daya, Kuakhai and Mahanadi rivers is treated and released for supply after manual quality testing, analysis and transmission.

"There is a laboratory facility at the Naraj water treatment plant but it is not well-equipped to trace high-level contamination. All the water samples collected from treatment plants are analysed at the Palasuni Central Laboratory. In all treatment plants, raw and filtered water samples are analysed for parameters of water quality," said an official of the organisation.

In the proposed laboratories, the firm will collect water samples from industries, swimming pools, portable water, drinking water and wastewater and use advanced technology to test them. The firm will also undertake periodic checks on the efficiency of water filters installed at PHEO's treatment plants.