ID :
176783
Wed, 04/20/2011 - 12:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/176783
The shortlink copeid
Dangers of contaminated water in Pakistan
Karachi, April 19, 2011 (PPI): A new study conducted by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources PCRWR after tests of water sources across 24 districts in the country found that over 80 per cent of them provided water which was unsafe for drinking. PCRWR says 250,000 children die each year in Pakistan as a result of diarrhoeal illnesses which stem from drinking impure water.
The situation with water supplies was further worsened by devastating floods of 2010. To reduce vulnerability to waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF aims to focus a significant portion of its 2011 aid budget for Pakistan on providing safe water suppliers for 5 million people in flood-hit areas, as well as to over 900,000 Pakistanis affected by armed conflict. UNICEF’s initiative will also include education on safe hygiene.
Other agencies are also working to improve awareness about safe water. However, even when families are aware of the issues, sometimes they do not have the means to do what is necessary. For example, many people rely on small kerosene-fuelled stoves for their cooking and it is proving impossible to boil all the water they need because of rising fuel prices.
Some NGOs are working to supply basic filtration systems, such as Association of Humanitarian Development, which offers a filtration solution based on using two clay pots. This cost-effective method can clean up to 15 litres of water each day and has been trialled across Sindh province for past three years.
But in some locations, boiling or filtering water is not enough. In certain villages of Sindh which rely on underground water sources, residents are suffering from high levels of fluoride contamination. A high intake of fluoride causes dental and bone deformities, as well as thyroid and kidney damage.
Since many families suffer from poor nutrition, their bodies are more vulnerable to the affects of this contamination. Water which contains high level of solvents requires proper treatment in plants to make it safe, though some small-scale solutions are available. Association for Water, Applied Education & Renewable Energy AWARE set up small plants in certain locations or installed windmills to draw water from even deeper underground. However two desalination facilities set up by NGO are no longer in operation because local communities cannot pay for the fuel to run them.
The situation with water supplies was further worsened by devastating floods of 2010. To reduce vulnerability to waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF aims to focus a significant portion of its 2011 aid budget for Pakistan on providing safe water suppliers for 5 million people in flood-hit areas, as well as to over 900,000 Pakistanis affected by armed conflict. UNICEF’s initiative will also include education on safe hygiene.
Other agencies are also working to improve awareness about safe water. However, even when families are aware of the issues, sometimes they do not have the means to do what is necessary. For example, many people rely on small kerosene-fuelled stoves for their cooking and it is proving impossible to boil all the water they need because of rising fuel prices.
Some NGOs are working to supply basic filtration systems, such as Association of Humanitarian Development, which offers a filtration solution based on using two clay pots. This cost-effective method can clean up to 15 litres of water each day and has been trialled across Sindh province for past three years.
But in some locations, boiling or filtering water is not enough. In certain villages of Sindh which rely on underground water sources, residents are suffering from high levels of fluoride contamination. A high intake of fluoride causes dental and bone deformities, as well as thyroid and kidney damage.
Since many families suffer from poor nutrition, their bodies are more vulnerable to the affects of this contamination. Water which contains high level of solvents requires proper treatment in plants to make it safe, though some small-scale solutions are available. Association for Water, Applied Education & Renewable Energy AWARE set up small plants in certain locations or installed windmills to draw water from even deeper underground. However two desalination facilities set up by NGO are no longer in operation because local communities cannot pay for the fuel to run them.
