Unusable WASA water
The WASA water at West Dhanmondis several areas has become unusable because of its foul smell. Even for bathing and other household uses, let alone drinking; the water has become seriously contaminated. According to a report of a vernacular daily, after boiling the foamy water remains blackish and the bad odour of water is not removed. The locals are maintaining their daily activities buying water which is financially a very difficult thing. According to the report, after the WASA recently replaced its pipe, the problem has occurred. Locals complain that narrow pipes were used replacing the wider ones and this has also made the flow of water inadequate. Obviously, if the WASA does not take immediate steps to supply pure water there, it may turn a serious health problem for the dwellers there. Developed countries apart, even in many countries of our region, before drinking people do not have to boil water supplied by their governments, like in Bangladesh. Those who drink WASA water straight without taking any measure for making it pure are known to suffer
from various stomach ailments. True, supplied water, like gas and electricity, is misused by many people and they need to be cautious about the practice, but WASAs failure to provide usable water to the inhabitants of the city is really unacceptable. As the people pay money for water, WASA has to supply usable water to them.
The WASA supplies Buriganga and Shitalakhya water to city dwellers after treating it at its Saidabad water treatment plant. But experts have long ago declared that water of these rivers has become so polluted that it has gone well beyond any treatment. As explanation to the unusable condition of water, WASA authorities often mention this as the cause. For a long time, it is said that the government has a plan to supply water to the city dwellers after treating water of the less polluted Meghna river. But we do no know why this plan has not still been materialised. The WASA also needs to its goal of harvesting rainwater as well as recharging the layers of groundwater. There is also the prospect of desalinating the sea water. Since the energy cost of desalination is rather high, harvesting rain water and bringing water from Meghna or other less polluted sources should be the option. The Dhaka City is expanding fast, horizontally as well as vertically. And this makes it an imperative for WASA to have an effective and sustainable water supply mechanism for the citys increasing population.
