LOTS
OF WATER; LITTLE TO DRINK
KARACHI -- Hardly a day goes by when people don’t come on the road
protesting the shortage of water in the southern port city of Karachi.
This, despite the fact that the shortage lies, not in water itself, but
in potable water, safe to drink.
The problems lie in old water and sewage pipes, sharing their burdens
to the peril of the population. Piped water is known as unsafe and in
need of boiling or costly household filters. Many of the sources of safe
water are commercial, truckers who dispense in cans or bottles. "Actually
there is no shortage of water in the city, but the mismanagement in the
distribution system and huge leakages have created a crisis-like situation",
according to Noman Ahmed, an associate professor at the city’s premier
engineering university, the NED University of Engineering and Technology.
Though the city is supplied some 600 MGD (million gallons daily) of water,
more than 40 % of this water is lost due to leakages and theft. The Karachi
Water and Sewage Board, the public sector utility is responsible for supplying
water to the city, and on many occasions has itself admitted numerous
occasions of water losses. Karachi’s population -16 million - needs
at least 20 million liters per day for drinking alone, out of the city’s
total supply of 600 MGD.
The main water resources for the city are the Kinjher and Halayjee lakes
located in the eastern part of the city where water comes from the Indus
River. Both the fresh water bodies get the water from the Indus, the major
river which originates from Kashmir (disputed territory between Pakistan
and India located in north of Pakistan) and falls into the Arabian Sea
near Karachi after traversing the entire country. The second source is
the Hub River situated northwest of the city where a dam has been built
to capture rainwater. Two years ago, Hub dam had gone due to the prolonged
drought. But plenty of rains in the catchment areas recently have improved
the water level of the dam.
The condition of these water resources needs to be reviewed afresh to
minimize the wastage of fresh drinking water. This object may be achieved
removing seaweed and other marine plants and mud from the Kinjher Lake
and the Hub Dam. This will minimise unnecessary contamination, increase
the water capacity, and maintain the depth of the lake and dam. As far
as purification facilities are concerned, at present Karachi has one purification
plant of the colonial era, the COD Hills treatment plant. Another purification
plant is being built at the Hub Dam. It would have a capacity of 80 MGD.
At present, water from the Hub dam is being supplied to the city untreated.
Potable water reaches a household through a network of iron pipes. Even
in relatively new settlements of the city these pipes have become worn-out.
In the old town areas, these pipes are rusted. Running side by side to
these water lines are sewage lines. This arrangement is prevalent in almost
every township of the city. As the water supply is intermittent, it creates
a pipeline vacuum, and if sewage line passing close by is choked it finds
its way into the water supply line resulting in contamination, says Professor
Noman Ahmed. The water supply is intermittent. When it slows down a vacuum
is created. If a nearby sewage line is full to the choking point, there
is a seepage of sewage into the water line, resulting in serious contamination,
reports Professor Noman Ahmed.
There is no metering system of the water supply, so the quantity of water
each household consumes cannot be gauged. In the areas where water supply
is in abundance people waste water by washing cars and using it on grass.
The city is still aloof from the concept of using recycled or wastewater
for such purposes.
Residences and businesses are charged according to the size of their
plot; still the water charges are not so exorbitant in face of such a
threatening situation. As Professor Ahmed remarked, "Actually there
is no shortage of water in the city, but the mismanagement in the distribution
system and leakages have created a crisis-like situation". Taking
advantage of the situation, water tanker operators make the most of it.
They have dug up wells and broken the water supply lines at some places
from where they pump up the water for their sale; actually disrupting
public water sources to ensure their own exclusive sales.
Water being supplied to the households should not be used unless it is
boiled or passed through a filter. Some – even most -- families use
this water untreated, because it is too much trouble, or because they
have no filters. The sale of small water filters which are installed in
the house, connected to the main lines carrying water to the houses has
become a good business. The filters cost from $100 to $250, so there are
families who cannot afford them. Tested from any laboratory, including
the Aga Khan Laboratory, a premier institution of the city, tests of the
unfiltered water have shown 100 % hazardous results.
According to Professor Ahmed, "The water is unsafe to drink. Virtually
100 % of the water is contaminated and contains E. coli to the level that
makes it unsafe for human consumption. Invariably people go for bottled
water or they boil it, thereby consuming extra energy".
The presence of E. coli confirms the sewage pollution in the water. The
result can mean the presence of intestinal pathogens which can cause many
ills, including typhoid, polio, and hepatitis. Outbreaks happen often,
many times claiming several lives. Six children died of stomach-related
diseases, caused by contaminated water during the week while this reporter
was researching this story.
The unsafe drinking water has boosted the trade of bottled water, which
has become big business. The bottled water available at grocery shops,
etc. is fairly safe, but the water sold by private operators through trucks
or tankers is not filtered.
The water supply from Hub depends on the drought conditions, whereas supply from the Indus would last, but problems like quality rather than quantity are hampering it. It is gradually becoming more and more hazardous as all public wastewater is being dumped into the main river by the northern province of Punjab. Punjab has essentially an agro-based economy, and untreated wastewater from its fields containing traces of chemicals and pesticides are dumped into Indus. The province of Sindh also follows the same practice as Punjab, but its share is considerably less. Add this potential damage by agricultural pollution from the nearby farm communities to all the other complexities, and the problem looms likethunder clouds over the busy, thirsty city.
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