The establishment of the state-of-the-art water monitoring laboratories has been launched in as many as 44 districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Islamabad. The project will constantly and timely check the quality of drinking water benefiting over 62 million people.
These laboratories are equipped with latest technology to ensure quick, accurate and hassle-free testing of contaminants such as arsenic, heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria through microbial testing in the drinking water thus enhancing the capacity of labs to test 16 mandatory water quality parameters and 18 optional parameters as per WHO guidelines.
The mobile laboratories will play a vital role in testing the quality of water in far-flung areas and will also be used to respond to public health emergencies during natural disasters or spread of waterborne diseases.
With an assistance of $4.4 million from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) the project has been implemented in 35 district laboratories in Punjab, 8 divisional labs in KP and research and monitoring laboratories, PCRWR and Pak-EPA, in Islamabad.
The project includes significant upgrades to water-quality testing laboratories.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2024.
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