CDA to challenge PCRWR’s report

The water supplied through various filtration plants all over the capital is safe for drinking, according to the CDA.

ISLAMABAD: The water supplied through various filtration plants all over the capital is safe for drinking, according to the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

CDA on Tuesday rejected the results published in a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) that found water from nine of CDA’s filtration plants unsafe for human consumption.

The report “Water Quality of Filtration Plant” tested water from 32 filtration plants and found samples from nine of them to be contaminated with bacteria. One filtration plant was not operational and was not tested, according to the report.

The report said that a major reason behind the contaminated water was the filtration plants’ poor operation and maintenance, and lack of adequate water-quality monitoring.

“CDA will challenge the report as it is baseless and unauthentic,” Ramzan Sajid, official spokesperson of CDA, told The Express Tribune.

He added that PCRWR had no right to release their report to the public without first consulting CDA.

“CDA owns the filtration plants. PCRWR will have to take permission from us before collecting water samples from them, and then too a CDA official must be present at the time,” Sajid said.

He insisted that all filtration plants were checked on a “regular basis”.

Published in  The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2010.