ISLAMABAD, April 27: Four out of 10 newly-installed water filtration plants in the federal capital are providing contaminated water to the people, resulting in spread of diseases, says a latest report.

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) recently conducted microbiological and chemical tests of the samples collected from 10 filtration plants recently installed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), according to a report of the Network for Consumer Protection.

The laboratory report revealed that water provided by four plants, installed in sectors F-11/4, G-7/4, F- 6/1 and I-8/3, was unsafe for human consumption as it possessed bacteria.

The report says the Network also collected samples from a number of tubewells in Rawalpindi, and the laboratory tests detected bacterial contamination in the water of one plant installed in Union Council No 42.

A survey conducted during the collection of water samples had also found a filtration plant installed at Umer Road in Rawalpindi non-functional. According to the residents of the area, the plant was installed only eight months ago. All the taps of the plant were missing now.

However, the report says plants near dispensary of UC 42, Tehsil Municipal Administration office and Fawara Chowk are providing clean water.

The report says filtration plants in Rawalpindi are in extremely poor condition, compared to those in Islamabad, and also lack proper hygiene.

The report suggested that tips to maintain hygienic conditions should be pasted at every plant for the awareness of consumers. Besides, proper drainage and operating systems should be considered seriously.

The report says in order to ensure proper long-term functioning of these plants installed at a cost of millions of rupees, citizen’s committees should be formed and involved in monitoring to ensure that the relevant authorities follow due maintenance and operating rules.

These findings have come at a time when the government is undertaking installation of filtration plants all over the country with the sole aim of providing safe drinking water to the people.

It may be mentioned here that tests conducted by the PCRWR recently had also found a good number of tubewells in Rawalpindi providing unsafe water to the residents, however, the Water and Sanitation Agency is yet to address the issue.