WASA’s monitoring system working

It is encouraging to note that District Metered Area (DMA), a monitoring system, has helped Dhaka WASA significantly cut its system loss and become self-sufficient in supplying water to city dwellers. Dhaka WASA’s current production capacity is 255 crore litres a day against the daily demand of 220-240 crore litres.

An official document says the overall system loss in areas covered by Dhaka WASA is 20 per cent. The introduction of DMA has cut the system loss by up to 35 per cent. In the past the system loss in the areas was 40 per cent. The improvement deserves appreciation.  

Living in the capital city cannot be thought of without adequate water. In the past there were scores of allegations from the residents of the metropolis regarding dearth of water. Water shortage brought life to a standstill in many areas in the city. There were also complaints of supplying water of dubious quality. Various waterborne diseases broke out in the city in the summer because of the contaminated water supplied to the city dwellers.

What is not justifiable is that although drinking water is not safe, the Dhaka WASA keeps increasing water tariff according to its sweet will. WASA authorities use chlorination to purify water and a high level of chlorine in the water can cause hypothyroidism. Thirteen per cent of the supply water in the city is drawn from the surface water, from river, while the remaining 87 per cent is pumped out of the groundwater. Besides, the purification capacity of the treatment plants having to work with 13 per cent of surface water cannot cope with the level of contamination in the river water.

The relevant authorities should analyse the situation and come up with a solution to ensure the supply of safe water to citizens. This is more pressing as WASA consumers in Dhaka has now increased to 3,60,343 from 2,72,844 in 2009. All this calls for an overhaul of the supply water network coupled with the establishment of more water treatment plants. This, evidently, is a time-consuming proposition but the need for safe drinking water is of immediate concern now.

 

 

WASAs monitoring system working

It is encouraging to note that District Metered Area (DMA), a monitoring system, has helped Dhaka WASA significantly cut its system loss and become self-sufficient in supplying water to city dwellers. Dhaka WASAs current production capacity is 255 crore litres a day against the daily demand of 220-240 crore litres. An official document says the overall system loss in areas covered by Dhaka WASA is 20 per cent. The introduction of DMA has cut the system loss by up to 35 per cent. In the past the system loss in the areas was 40 per cent. The improvement deserves appreciation. Living in the capital city cannot be thought of without adequate water. In the past there were scores of allegations from the residents of the metropolis regarding dearth of water. Water shortage brought life to a standstill in many areas in the city. There were also complaints of supplying water of dubious quality. Various waterborne diseases broke out in the city in the summer because of the contaminated water supplied to the city dwellers. What is not justifiable is that although drinking water is not safe, the Dhaka WASA keeps increasing water tariff according to its sweet will. WASA authorities use chlorination to purify water and a high level of chlorine in the water can cause hypothyroidism. Thirteen per cent of the supply water in the city is drawn from the surface water, from river, while the remaining 87 per cent is pumped out of the groundwater. Besides, the purification capacity of the treatment plants having to work with 13 per cent of surface water cannot cope with the level of contamination in the river water. The relevant authorities should analyse the situation and come up with a solution to ensure the supply of safe water to citizens. This is more pressing as WASA consumers in Dhaka has now increased to 3,60,343 from 2,72,844 in 2009. All this calls for an overhaul of the supply water network coupled with the establishment of more water treatment plants. This, evidently, is a time-consuming proposition but the need for safe drinking water is of immediate concern now.