KARACHI, June 6: Almost all the rivers, streams, canals and lakes in Sindh are tainted by faecal and chemical contamination, a report issued by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has revealed.

The report was presented the other day at a seminar organized jointly by the provincial local government department and Unicef Pakistan. The quality of water coming from the Indus Basin irrigation system, which covers about 70 per cent of the country's geographical area, has been badly affected by the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents into the rivers, streams and canals of the province, according to the report.

In an effort to determine the quality of water coming from River Indus, Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD), Kinjhar Lake, Manchar Lake, Hamal Lake, Phulali Canal and Pinyari Canal, samples were collected from 30 locations, said the report.

The samples were analysed for pH, conductivity, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, carbonate, bi-carbonate, sulphate, total dissolved solids, bio-chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, alkalinity, pesticides, total coliforms, aluminium, copper, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead and zinc. However, emphasis was laid on oxygen demand, total coliforms, total dissolved solids and turbidity.

The Sepa found that the LBOD was by far the most contaminated, with its samples failing to meet any of the WHO guidelines on oxygen demand, total coliforms, total dissolved solids and turbidity.

The samples from the Indus, too, failed to meet the WHO guidelines on oxygen demand, total coliforms, total dissolved solids and turbidity, but the values were not as bad as the LBOD ones. Similar was the status of the Hamal Lake samples.

Kinjhar Lake samples had only one parameter, namely total dissolved solids, which met the WHO guideline. In the case of Manchar Lake there was only one parameter - oxygen demand - which was as per the WHO standards.

The Phulali Canal samples had low quantities of total dissolved solids, but they did not meet the WHO guidelines in the case of the other three parameters. The most troubling finding of the report is that all the water sources in the province have too much total coliforms.

As per the WHO guidelines, there should be zero MPN (most probable number) per 100 millilitres of water". This means that all the sources covered under the Sepa study are tainted with bacteriological or faecal contamination.

The Sepa report said the values for this parameter, in the case of the water sources analysed, are: Indus, 700 MPN/ml; LBOD, 1,100 MPN/ml; Kinjhar Lake, 1,100 MPN/ml; Manchar Lake, 1,100 MPN/ml; Hamal Lake, 1,100 MPN/ml; Phulali Canal, 1,100 MPN/ml; and, Pinyari Canal, 1,100 MPN/ml.