ISLAMABAD: Over five million acre-feet of wastewater finds its way into rivers each year, threatening the entire ecosystem, speakers said at a workshop on Wednesday.

“Less than 1pc of the waste water generated is treated before being disposed of into the river systems,” the secretary of the science and technology ministry, Fazal Abbas Maken, said at a day-long workshop on ‘Water Quality Situation in Surface Water Bodies of Pakistan – Ravi and Sutlej’.

While Mr Maken noted the issue of increasing water scarcity, he also highlighted concerns about the management of used water, in the form of domestic and industrial wastewater, which is fast becoming a hazard to the system.

The workshop was organised by the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Speaking at the event, acting Australian High Commissioner Jurek Juszczyk, highlighted their combined efforts to monitor the quality of the five water systems in Pakistan.

He said the information would “help understand the health of the rivers and suggest strategic measures accordingly”.

A joint study was conducted under the 12-year Australia Pakistan Indus Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), a regional programme focused on the water-food-energy connection in the three large river basins in South Asia. Australian CSIRO scientists have been working with Pakistani hydrologists to effectively manage Pakistan’s water resources.

Mr Juszczyk expressed the hope that the data collected in the report would be used not just by water managers but also the broader community, such as for sewage management, agricultural development and industry.

The chairman of the PCRWR also spoke at the workshop. Dr Mohammad Ashraf identified the intensive usage of chemicals in agriculture and untreated effluents from industries as potential sources of environmental pollution – particularly with respect to water quality.

“Let us try to give our best and make individual contributions, not only to develop new sources of water on sustainable basis but also to improve and protect the existing sources from undesirable pollutants.

This is one of the best ways to ensure a healthy and disease-free society that can contribute positively to national development,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2016