City by the sea’s water woes

If you go to a doctor in Karachi with complaints of typhoid, hepatitis or cholera, one of the first things he or she may ask you is from which source you have been drinking water. In a recent study conducted by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), 86 per cent of the samples collected from various parts of the city were contaminated with various disease-causing pathogens. Only two of the 28 samples of water met minimum hygiene conditions for consumption. Further gruesome details in the report revealed that of the 640 millions of gallons per day (MGD) supplied to Karachi, only 440 MGD were filtered. Twenty per cent of this scarce resource is lost because of leaking pipes and 15 per cent is siphoned by thieves.

It is old news that Karachi’s tap water is hazardous to health. However, what many people do not realise — and statistically this is about 80 per cent of the people included in a survey who reported that they drink water directly from the tap — is that this water is deathly hazardous to human health. Tap water is also ubiquitously used for household chores and bathing, which exposes the body to hazardous bacteria. Children and adults should be especially wary of waterborne illnesses in the summer as swimming pool usage goes up, with the risk of bacteria such as naegleria fowleri, which causes a fatal brain infection, being in the water.

When there is such high risk to the lives of people, with the entire city exposed to contaminated tap water, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board must be urged to take adequate measures to purify our tap water. At least minimum steps must be taken before water is supplied to homes, such as complete filtration and chlorination of all supply. In addition, awareness should be spread amongst localities that using tap water directly for drinking is dangerous because of its fatal contaminants. This is one area where the government should spend a good portion of the city’s budget in order to protect its citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2013.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.