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ISLAMABAD: Flood-2010 has badly damaged the infrastructure of water supply schemes in affected areas and only 22 per cent of totally collected samples were found fit for drinking.
According to a report issued by Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), source of most of the water supply schemes (73 per cent) is groundwater, which is pumped by tubewells.
Most of the schemes (61 per cent) have gone out of operation either due to flood or operation and maintenance problems.
PCRWR conducted water quality monitoring in the districts Jacobabad,Sukkur,dadu,Naushehroferoze,Kamber Shahdakot,Sikarpur,Ghotki,Jamshoro,Larkana,Kashmore,Thatta,Nasirab ad,Jafferabad and Sibbi.
In these districts,1839 samples from 621 affected water supply schemes were collected and analyzed for PH ,E.Coli, Total Dissolved Solids(TDS),Bacteria,Turbidity, Nitrate, Flouride, Arsenic and Iron.
According to Chairman PCRWR, Muhammad Aslam Tahir,among these monitored schemes,36 per cent were found suitable for the installation of chlorinators,while the rest were unsuitable either due to being non-functional or lack of necessary infrastructure.
He said alternate sources of supply were being used in the areas of non-functional water supply schemes,among which mostly were being chlorinated indigenously or by the help of national or international agencies.
The safe water percentage was higher at the sources (27 per cent) than at the consumers’ end (20 per cent ).
It indicates that in a number of schemes, the distribution system became contaminated due to remaining inundated with pollutant laden flood water.
The report further revealed that the water quality situation was found worst in districts Larkana,Nasirabad,Jaffarabad and Sukkar where almost 100 per cent samples were unfit for drinking and comparatively less severe in Jacobabad and Naushehro feroze where the unsafe sample percentage remained around 50-60 per cent.
Bacteria and Turbidity were identified as the major source of contamination as 1009 samples (55 per cent) out of the total of 1839 were found bacterially contaminated.
Bacterial contamination was the worst in district Larkana and Nasirabad (100 per cent) and comparatively less in districts Jacobabad (22 per cent) and Shikarpur (41 per cent).
According to the report, TDS, Arsenic, Fluoride, Nitrate were present in water samples of many districts.
