VILLAGERS in India should not swap the brass 鈥渕utka鈥� pots traditionally used to collect and store water for more modern alternatives. True to rumour, water stored in mutkas for a day or two really is safer to drink.
After hearing anecdotal reports that water stored in mutkas is safer, Rob Reed and Puja Tandon at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, decided to investigate. When they added E. coli to water in various containers, the bacteria were all dead within 48 hours in mutkas, but survived in earthenware or plastic containers. Joint research with Sanjay Chhibber of Panjab University in Chandigarh, using water from contaminated sources in Indian villages, confirmed the finding.
When the researchers analysed the water, they found that the bugs were killed by copper leaching into the water from the brass. 鈥淭he levels are vanishingly low and safe, a fraction of recommended copper intake,鈥� says Reed. Unfortunately, the bacteria die only after one or two days, and most villagers do not leave water in mutkas that long. However, longer storage could now be encouraged.
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