ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: As many as three million people in Pakistan acquire infections annually due to contaminated water of which 40 per cent die.

A recent study available with Dawn said the water supply system in most cities carried numerous pathogenic organisms and other pollutants.

Earlier a joint study conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Korea International Cooperation Agency in February 2001 on drinking water quality monitoring in Islamabad had stated that 117 samples out of 271 (43.2 per cent) had been found unsatisfactory by Pakistan Standard Institute (PSI) standards.

In April 2001, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) had initiated arsenic testing of drinking water supply across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP. A total of 27 water sources in Punjab and 31 in Sindh were detected with high level of arsenic not fit for human consumption.

Based on the field test results, the districts in Punjab and Sindh considered to be risk districts and recommended for intensive testing of water sources were identified as Bahawalpur, Layyah, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and DG Khan in Punjab and Dadu, Mirpur Khas, Khairpur, Nawabshah, Shikarpur and Ghotki in Sindh.

Another study also conducted by Unicef had suggested that 20 to 40 per cent beds in the hospitals of Pakistan were occupied by the patients suffering from water related diseases.

The report said, the ground water was one of the main sources of drinking water in major cities of Pakistan, which was pumped both from private as well as government tube wells and used not only for drinking but also for gardening, washing and other purposes.

Wells have long been catering to the domestic water needs but the raw water often contains harmful bacteria, which have to be removed to make it potable. A clean, constant supply of drinking water is essential for every community and people in large cities frequently drink water that comes from surface water sources, such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

The report highlighted that neither the public nor the management of the institutions entrusted with the responsibility of providing water supply were well aware about the contamination in water.

However at some places some remedial measures such as chlorination and filtration have been taken but these measures are insufficient and confined only to urban areas, which are 32 per cent of the country's population.

The remaining 68 per cent of the population may hardly have heard about the drinking water quality. "This is due to lack of education, less awareness and poor economic condition," said the study.