DSP Telecommunication Sirajuddin Lashari, who was assigned the inquiry of drinking water quality by District and Session Judge Amjad Ali Bohyo, submitted the inquiry report in the court on Saturday. The report contains the laboratory tests of water samples collected from the Water and Sanitation Agency’s new filtration plant and a private residence in Nasim Nagar area of Qasimabad. The samples were tested at the Agha Khan University Hospital and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources. According to the report, water being supplied to the city through the plant, with a capacity of providing 30 million gallons of water daily, is turbid and unfit for drinking. The report further elaborated that the main component of the purification system, the chlorination plant which sterilizes the water of the bacteria, was found to be shut for several months. According to the report, 5 out of 6 sludge pumps were not functioning. The court had ordered the inquiry on the complaint of a social activist, Mehboob Abro, on August 1.
For many years now, Hyderabad Water Filter Plant has been supplying polluted and contaminated water without chlorination to the end user, resulting in Fungal growth at the tap outlets.
WASA was aware of its shortcomings since 2006. Study of Water Quality carried by EPA, Sindh in 2006, clearly pointed out the high growth of coliforms ( >110 MPN). In 2007, study carried out by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) pointed to the excessive turbidity and consequent bacteriological contamination. It looks that WASA did not take any remedial measures to overcome their short comings and kept supplying polluted water full of microorganism contamination to Hyderabad public till this report.
I am not sure how many people have succumbed, fell ill or died due to water born diseases in Hyderabad, in that long span of time and the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of Hyderabad WASA officials.
Hello, I love your post! I'd like to highlight on Biological Action. The third mechanism of filtration is biological action, which involves any sort of breakdown of the particles in water by biological processes. This may involve decomposition of organic particles by algae, plankton, diatoms, and bacteria or it may involve microorganisms eating each other. Although biological action is an important part of filtration in slow sand filters, in most other filters the water passes through the filter too quickly for much biological action to occur. thanks a lot!~ Paula J.
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