87pc drinking water samples found unsafe nationwide

Source: Dawn

Date: Aug 6, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: A premier research organisation on water quality status on Friday said out of a total of 357 samples tested under the nationwide water quality monitoring programme, 87 per cent samples were found unsafe for human consumption. Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) found 68 per cent bacteriological, 24 per cent arsenic, 13 per cent nitrate and five per cent fluoride contaminations that made water “unsafe” for drinking.

Spread over five years, statistics were briefly shared at a workshop on ‘Development of Way Forward for Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Improvement’ where the speakers only had bad news for the participants.

The speakers said more than five million acre-feet of industrial and domestic wastewater produced each year was directly discharged into freshwater bodies. With more than 200,000 child deaths every year because of diarrhoea, Pakistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates. Out of 134 districts in Pakistan, 81 were deprived of water testing facilities.

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