ISLAMABAD: Residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have demanded clean drinking water, calling the provision a public right and the government’s responsibility.

The contamination of drinking water is a significant public health issue. The quality of drinking water is poorly managed, and surface and ground sources of drinking water are contaminated by various kinds of bacteria, toxic metals and pesticides.

Consuming contaminated water can result in stomach ailments such as diarrhoea and vomiting. A weak digestive system can also lead to deficiency in the immune system, and contaminated water can also case hepatitis A and B, as well as skin disease.

Asad Abbas, an I-9 resident, said: “I have faced drinking water problems for many years. Some steps should be taken by the authorities to control the situation. Wasa and the CDA should renovate all the filtration plants to proper civil work standards. They should ensure the provision of water as per the approved National Drinking Water Quality Standards.”

“Newly-elected public representation should be involved at policymaking, legislation and implementation levels for better service delivery and standard water quality,” he added.

The main cause of polluted water in the twin cities is the outdated sewerage system, and many areas have no sewerage facilities.

Dr Uzma Zaeem, who lives in Qasim Market in Rawalpindi, said: “The poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross-section of citizens to buy bottled water and not every can afford it.

“The PSQCA has revealed that some brands have comparatively high levels of arsenic, which can cause various types of skin diseases, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, heart disease, birth defects, black foot disease and multiple types of cancer.”

She added: “The remaining brands were found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of sodium and potassium. There should be proper guidelines to select the brand and concerned authorities should play their role in checking the brands.”

An official from the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) explained that the government, through the science and technology ministry, has designated the quarterly monitoring of bottled and mineral water brands to the PCRWR, which also publicises the results.

“According to the monitoring report for the April to June 2016 quarter, 114 samples of mineral/bottled water brands were collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Karachi, Tando Jam, Quetta and Peshawar,” he said.

PCRWR’s laboratories can also test drinking water samples, and citizens can take samples from water filtration plants and have them tested by recognised laboratories to check the quality of water.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016