World Water Day: ‘Arsenic in water supply cannot be removed’

The WASA has moved for making septic tanks mandatory.

LAHORE:

“There is no easy way to remove arsenic contamination from drinking water for household users,” said Dr Javed Iqbal, managing director of the Water and Sanitation Agency, on Friday.

He was talking to newsmen after a seminar held at the Punjab University on World Water Day.

He said 94 filtration plants had been installed in the city and more would be installed soon. He said these filtration plants will provide safe drinking for citizens to take home.

He said it was unfortunate that there was no public awareness about these filtration plants.

“Rich people don’t drink tap water, so it’s not their problem is,” he said.

The seminar was organised by the Department of Sociology.

Iqbal was the chief guest. The guest speakers included WASA Deputy Managing Director Syed Iqtadar Shah and Engineering Director Abdul Qadeer. Institute of Social and Cultural Studies Director Dr Muhammad Zakiria Zakir was also present.

Qadeer informed students at the seminar about the upcoming changes in regulations for septic tanks. He said the WASA had moved for change in regulation, making septic tanks mandatory.

He said septic tanks were low-cost tanks installed beneath ground level to clean waste water. He said these tanks cleaned water up to 50 per cent. He said septic tanks also separated solid waste from sewerage water.

He said after passing through septic tanks, the water could be used without further filtration in parks and gardens. He said these tanks would only be termed mandatory for house seven marlas or above in size.

He said the WASA would soon launch a project to raise ground-level water. He said two wells would be dug at Gaddafi Stadium and at Mcleod Road.

He said that the area would be monitored for a year to access the outcome of the project. He said WASA would maintain these wells for three to five years. He said that there were around 40 points in the city where there was a need for such wells.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2014.