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KARACHI: A majority of water samples collected from surface and underground sources in 13 districts of Sindh, including all six Karachi districts, by a federal institution in a recent survey have been found to be unfit for human consumption, it emerged on Saturday.
The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) collected 300 water samples from Sukkur, Larkana, Shikarpur, Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Tharparkar, Hyderabad and Karachi’s six districts — East, West, South, Central, Malir and Korangi — and tested the same for a detailed physiochemical and bacterial analysis. Later, the findings were compared with the World Health Organisation and the National Environmental Quality Standards on safe drinking water.
“We have been regularly carrying out analysis of water samples for the past many years in Sindh and I can say with authority that there hasn’t been any improvement in the quality of water being supplied to the various parts of the province,” said Dr Ghulam Murtaza of the PCRWR.
According to him, the poor quality of water being supplied to Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur — the three districts whose water quality has continuously been monitored since 2005 — can be gauged from the fact that the number of unsafe water samples have usually ranged between 80 and 90 per cent.
Around 80pc of potable water samples in Karachi have bacterial contamination
“Improvement [in the quality of water] can only come when the factors contaminating water are addressed. They include mixing of sewage in the drinking water supply line, lack of treatment [where source of contamination is high levels of subsoil minerals] and filter plants [to disinfect and reduce turbidity], improper chlorination [in places where filter plants exist] and contamination by industrial and domestic sewage at the drinking water source [for instance Keenjhar lake supplying water to Karachi],” Dr Murtaza explained.
In the recent analysis, over 70 per cent of water samples in Sindh were found unfit for human consumption, he added.
The sampling, he said, was focused on urban areas, which largely did not have arsenic contamination in their water supply.
“This issue has been found in the groundwater of Khairpur, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allah Yar, Gambat, Thatta, Jamshoro and Naushehro Feroz in previous studies,” he said.
Recent findings
Around 80pc samples had bacterial contamination in Karachi. Of them, 30pc samples had faecal contamination. The samples, more than half, also showed elevated turbidity levels and high concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness and sulphate, sodium and chloride and were unfit for human consumption.
Only 20pc samples were found safe in Karachi.
The water samples collected from Hyderabad, Larkana and Sukkur showed similar results; more than 80pc samples were found unfit for human consumption on account of bacterial contamination, whereas many samples had TDS, sulphate, hardness, calcium, chloride and iron content beyond permissible limits.
In case of Tando Mohammad Khan and Badin districts, more than half of the collected samples were found unsafe due to high TDS and bacterial contamination, whereas many were found with hardness beyond permissible limits and had elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulphate, chloride and iron content.
Between 50pc and 60pc of water samples were found unsafe due to bacterial contamination in Tando Mohammad Khan and Badin. Thirty per cent to 40pc samples in these districts were found safe.
More than half of the water samples collected from reverse osmosis plants installed in Tharparkar were found unsafe due to bacterial contamination and high TDS.
A significant number of samples were unsafe on account of high sodium and chloride.
According to experts at the PCRWR, these results were more or less similar to those published last year in a report titled Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.
In 2014, the PCRWR conducted the water analysis of five districts of Sindh (which are not included in the present analysis) — Jacobabad, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Khairpur and Ghotki. Out of 1,661 samples collected from subsoil sources of these districts, 970 (58pc) were found unsafe.
The major contaminants were turbidity, bacterial contamination, TDS, hardness, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, sulphate, fluoride, nitrate, iron, etc.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2017
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Comments (29) Closed
The problem is that at the Federal level, the PML-N government strongly believes that motorway is the basic right of the people where as clean water, electricity, basic health facilities, education, etc., are only luxuries. Whereas, at the provincial level, the PPP government believes that the only thing people need is the presence of a a Bhutto in the party.
Pakistan one of the most water-stressed countries.
Contaminated or soil water is very injurious,and can infect Leptospirosis,besides other deseases can happen like Hepatitis A, Norwalk Virus,Giardiasis,and chronic Diarrheal conditions.People must be aware through media to filter,boil,and add water purifying additives to drinking water before drinking.
The question is what is the federal govt. or provindial govt. going to do about it?
@M. Emad yah all waste 65 % of the water coming to you..65 %..admitted by your own govt.
It is most deplorable.
And great analyst from that country talks on india situation ony hilarious
This is very worrisome. People who are well off can resort to bottled water for their drinking needs, but what about the food that needs water for cooking, etc, at homes and restaurants, where both the rich and poor eat. I am sure they don't use bottled water for that purpose.
Keeping voting for these corrupt politicians, their families have plenty of mineral water to drink. Keep making mega projects while public is suffering from lack of health, water, education and pure food, sad.
Dont worry once cpec is completed we will get pure water and 24/7 electricity
Thanks for the hard work and information, PCRWR!
We have to fend for ourselves.
How can we clean this contaminated water?
Once CPEC is completed, everyone in Pakistan will get pure filtered mineral water for free.
@Syed F. Hussaini : How can we clean this contaminated water.
Clean the contaminated government first.
Waiting for milk and honey from CPEC. who cares about water.
Foregone conclusion...Nobody drinks tap water for drinking in Karachi. Water filters are used, many different varieties, or water is boiled or mineral water is used.
Yes in rural areas situation must be bad and alarming.
The biggest environmental pollution is our government.. first let us get rid of them..sixty eight years ago, the monster began, this country had become a place of industry. Factories grew on the landscape like weeds. Trees fell, fields were up-ended, rivers blackened. The sky choked on smoke and ash, and the people did, too, spending their days coughing and itching, their eyes turned forever toward the ground. Villages grew into town, towns into cities. And people began to live on the earth rather than within it...remember folks impure cannot provide purity...
@abdul rehman
May be the PCRWR can suggest ways to clean the contaminated water at home.
Thanks.
No problem at all Mr. PM. But please make ensure that I must get a metro bus/train project in my city.
Nobody care about clean drinking water, we are happy because PSL Final is in Lahore
Believe me or not, 100% water samples, taken from whatever part of the country, strictly speaking, are unfit for human consuption, unless treated properly.
I also suspect the standard of laboratories carrying out tests on water.
Amoebic dysentery is well known in places like Mexico, India and Pakistan. Humans become immune to it, but they are new bacteria in the world today we have no defenses against. If a surgeon were prime minister this problem would have been address and cleaned up. After all, why wait for an new epidemic? Dawn has sounded the clarion call several times but little to nothing has been accomplished. The PPP have been around a long time. Perhaps Nabil Gabol has some ideas for eliminating this problem in Karachi.
@Jp This is an issue of the provincial govt not the federal govt.
@N.S Karachi how many people like you can afford mineral water in a country where more than half of the population are poor.
80% of Pakistani nation are forced to drink contaminated unhealthy drinking water in Pakistan.
What a great tragedy?
@M. Emad, The water in whole of India is not suitable human consumption.
@The end is near , Lies does not help. Pakistanis are more healthier than Indians.
"Show me a population that is deeply religious and I will show you a servile population, content with whips and chains ... content to eat the bread of sorrow and drink the waters of affliction." __ Hubert Harrison
offer Kashmiris dirty water..nothing else to give anyway.