HYDERABAD, June 9: The city will face water shortage of 20 million gallons per day (MGD) as the Water and Sanitation Agency intends to start clearing silt of one of the three clarifiers of its water filter plant from Thursday.

The clarifiers, each having a capacity of 10 MGD, have not been working properly due to faults in their scrappers, filter nozzles and filter beds. When contacted, the EDO, works and services, Habibur Rehman, who is also holding the additional charge of the managing director of Wasa, said that the city normally faced 10 MGD shortage in water supply and when the work on the clarifier would start, it would lead to a shortage of another 10 MGD water.

It was learnt here on Wednesday that following directives by the Sindh governor to the finance department at a meeting in Karachi on June 7 to release Rs120 million, Wasa authorities chalked out a plan for putting the water supply system in order.

The function of the clarifiers is to mix alum sulphate in the water so as to reduce the level of turbidity after water is supplied through pipelines from Wasa reservoirs where water is stored after being lifted from combined channels of the River Indus.

Development works to be carried out from the fund include rectification of chlorinator, clearing silt of Wasa reservoirs and installation of chlorinator plants in other water works of the agency.

The work on the other two clarifiers will also be carried out in due course of time. Each clarifier will have to be emptied before the work is started on it. A Wasa source said that 50 MGD water was pumped from the River Indus for storing in the reservoirs and 40 to 45 MGD was supplied to the filter plant for distribution to parts of the city.

Wasa is planning to increase the lifting capacity of to meet daily requirement of water and ensure supply in emergency cases. It is also under consideration to clear silt in the reservoirs and the work will begin soon after funds are made available.

The source said that the paper work for the water-related schemes was under progress and contractors were being approached to start work on at least one clarifier without any loss of time as, he hoped, the fund would be released without delay. The EDO said that chlorinators would be fixed in water works of Wasa, including those of Hala Naka, Hussainabad, Paretabad and Latifabad-4.