Groundwater contamination imperils Faisalabad

Waterborne diseases account for 80% of reported ailments

FAISALABAD:

A population explosion, vehicular emissions and industrial effluents in urban areas and the use of pesticides and insecticides in rural areas are continuously disturbing the natural resources’ balance by polluting the air and groundwater.

Polluted water especially affects the health of the people, exerting a substantial financial burden on the national economy.

Residents of Faisalabad are more prone to the hazard, where the only means to drain out industrial, domestic and even rainwater is the sewerage system of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA).

In the rainy season, the sewerage system starts overflowing towards low-lying areas and open spaces, later seeping into the groundwater, badly affecting the low-income groups who commonly use it for drinking.

"Around 80 per cent of diseases in Faisalabad are waterborne and children are the worst hit by contaminants in groundwater," claimed Dr Muhammad Iqbal, former head of the Paediatrics Ward at the Ghulam Muhammadabad Hospital. "The water in Faisalabad is hard and contains more potassium, sodium and magnesium than the prescribed ratio," he added.

A study by the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) revealed that 59% of the sources of potable water in Faisalabad were unfit for drinking as the supply was mostly dependent on surface and groundwater.

"Arsenic contamination increases the risk of cancer and other diseases," remarked Waqar Hussain, an official of the PCRWR Water Quality Lab in Faisalabad. "Main sources of arsenic contamination are disposal of industrial waste, smelting of minerals, burning of fossil fuels and application of arsenic compounds in products like insecticides, herbicides, phosphate fertilisers, semiconductor industries and timber."

Health experts also believe that aquatic life in Faisalabad is badly affected by draining industrial waste directly into canals or drains that mixes with groundwater.

As the departments concerned are unable to provide portable water to the whole population, the majority is compelled to consume the contaminated groundwater.

A local social activist, Abdullah Nisar Khan, said, "There is only one wastewater treatment plant in Achkera, a few kilometres away from the Paharang drain. Water treated at this facility is healthy for irrigation, but it is thrown into the drain after treatment, where it once again mixes with polluted water."

He urged early completion of another plant to treat the Maddhoana drain of effluents. The activist also stressed a ban on plastic bags that choked most of the city’s drains. "As the government departments fall short of dispensing their duties, the civil society must join hands to demand action against water contamination,” he said.

He also emphasised the need for separate drainage systems for industrial effluents, treatment plants and using treated water for irrigation.

"We can cut down our health budget up to 50% by urgently providing potable water to the people,,” he said.

According to WASA officials, 345 out of the 360 water filtration plants are functioning in different parts of the city to provide clean drinking water. The plants were installed by the government and NGOs on a public-private partnership basis and are now looked after by a welfare trust.

A WASA spokesman claimed that the agency was catering to the needs of 70% of the city population by supplying 88.5 million gallons daily, including 56mgd through 29 tube wells from the Chiniot well field area, 20mgd through 25 tube wells from the Jhang Branch Canal, 8mgd through eight tube wells from Rakh Branch Canal and 4.5mgd from Jhall Khannuana and Millat Town water works.

"We do not deal with water filtration plants as it was the project of the Municipal Corporation Faisalabad," he said.

The spokesman disclosed that work on the water treatment plant near Maddhuana drain had not yet started.

Regarding he rural areas, statistics show that 345 water filtration plants in more than 840 villages of the district are insufficient to meet the residents' needs.