GWADAR: A desalination plant established at a cost of Rs1 billion to supply drinking water to Gwadar city has been closed.

The plant was shut down due to non-availability of required quantity of total dissolved solids (TDS) used for converting seawater into drinking water, officials of the Pu­­blic Health and Enginee­ring Department (PHED) said on Wednesday

“Desalination plant was closed two weeks back,” a senior official of PHED told Dawn, adding that the plant was shut down after laboratory test of water revealed the quantity of TDS less than the requirement which rendered it unfit for drinking.

The desalination plant was established in 2008 in Karwat area, some 25km away from the port city with a capacity to supply two million gallon water daily.

However, the plant mostly remained closed due to various reasons. “Many technical faults were discovered making the plant non-functional,” sources said, adding that even the National Accountability Bureau carried out an inquiry into its closure.

Authorities concerned tried to restart the plant during the current water crisis but it failed to produce the required two million gallon water daily.

It just produced just 300,000 gallon water daily till its closure.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2017