Aftermath: Flood brings mud-filled water into Sukkur’s system

The water supply is cleaned with alum and bleach.

SUKKUR: A large number of people in the city have fallen ill because contaminated and muddy drinking water is being supplied by the North Sindh Urban Services Corporation (NSUSC) for the past 15 days.

At the treatment plant, water passes through a channel loaded with alum bags and is then collected in four large tanks. It is then filtered and supplied to the city’s pipelines. Munim Domki, who is in charge of water works, said that the Indus River is carrying a large amount of mud and sediment because of the floods. According to him, 12 bags of alum and permitted amount of bleaching powder are used to purify water every 24 hours. He said that the number of alum bags will be increased to 14, when he was told about contaminated water being supplied to the city. However, another official told The Express Tribune that only nine bags of alum are used in 24 hours. The remaining alum is sold in the market and not used in the plant, he claimed.

Hassan Ali Shah, the spokesperson for NSUSC, said that the water supply system was decades old and the pipelines carry a huge amount of rust and sediments which contaminate the water. The main water tank has not been washed for many years and half of it is filled with mud. NSUSC began cleaning the tank and hopefully it would be completed by September, he said. Health EDO Dr Tariq Abbas Dareshani said that the water was barely fit for washing or bathing, let alone drinking. “People should boil the water before using it to avoid waterborne diseases and skin allergies.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th,  2011.