ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: Drinking water in the twin cities is unsatisfactory as 75 per cent water in the Capital and 87 per cent in Rawalpindi is not fit for human consumption due to bacterial contamination, a study conducted by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) showed.
The study was made public by the PCRWR’s chairman Dr Mohammad Akram Khalun on Thursday.
The study described that most of the water samples, except from Simly Dam reservoir in Islamabad and Chitti Tanki in Rawalpindi, were found unfit in respect of colour, odour and taste.
The water samples collected from Noorpur Shahan, the first distribution point after treatment from Simly Dam, and seven million gallons reservoir of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) were found free from bacterial contamination. This showed that the problem might be within the distribution system due to intermittent water supply, leakage of pipelines, mixing of sewage water into the pipelines and contaminated local cisterns in the houses.
The official said the CDA and Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) have been advised to meet the effective water treatment requirement and regularly use chlorine for this purpose.
The study urged people to periodically clean all domestic underground and overhead tanks in their houses. It suggested that the usage of lead-free gasoline for vehicles should be encouraged, particularly, in areas like Islamabad and Rawalpindi where surface water was the main source of drinking.
The PCRWR chairman recommended that lead or plastic pipes, having lead contents, and use of substandard chemicals in water treatment should be discouraged.
He was of the view that no new supply scheme should be approved until a detailed survey and research of water quality, quantity and its sustainability was not carried out.
The study is a part of a major programme launched to monitor water quality in the country.
The National Water Quality Monitoring Programme covers 21 cities from all four provinces of the country. However, donor agencies have shown interest in expanding the programme to rural areas where majority of the population lives.
The cities where the programme has been launched are Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujrat, Lahore, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Kasur, Bahawalpur, Multan, Hyderabad, Karachi, Sukkur, Quetta, Loralai, Ziarat, Mardan and Mingora.