High salinity found in WASA water
Tushar Hayat . Chittagong
The people in the Chittagong city have been facing acute crisis of drinking water for the last two weeks as they cannot use WASA-supplied water because of high salinity.
The water supplied by the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Chittagong contains high salinity and it is not worth use for human consumption, according to sources concerned.
Official sources at the Environment Directorate said they have found more than 1200 milligrams of salt in one litter of WASA water while the permissible limit is 600 milligrams.
Residents of different city areas including Agrabad, Halishahar, Maderbari, Nasirabad, Chandgaon, Patenga, Bakalia, Muradpur and Chawk Bazar, reported their sufferings due to high salinity in WASA water.
Mahera Begum Hashi, a housewife of Chawk Bazar area in the city, said they are getting changed taste of foods cooked by WASA water.
‘I have not used extra salt in cooking foods for the past one week’, she added.
Shah Alam Tuhin, a resident at Halishahar Housing Estate, said he had been using bottled water for his three-month old son for the last two weeks.
‘Elder members of my family are drinking supply water as we cannot afford to buy bottled water for all,’ he said adding that they often face diarrhoeal diseases by drinking WASA water.
Dr Shakhawat Ullah, a physician at the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital, said water with high salinity might cause outbreak of intestinal diseases in the city.
‘Diabetic patients could be the worst victims if they drink this water,’ he noted.
WASA sources said the water of the River Halda become salty during winter as the seawater enters Halda through the River Karnaphuli. Climate change is responsibly for the situation, they added.
Decrease in amount of water released from the Kaptai Lake due to unusual fall in water level has increased salinity in Halda water,’ said CWASA chief engineer Mohammed Shafiqul Islam.
He also said they had taken an initiative to set up six deep tube wells adjacent to Halda water purification project.
‘Salinity in water will reduce significantly if they could supply purified Halda water by mixing it with underground water, he added.
‘The city dwellers will start benefiting from these deep tube wells next year,’ he said adding that there was no alternative but to wait for the rainy season to get supply water with permissible salinity.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
