ISLAMABAD (December 4): Four water purification plants set up by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Environment, and operated by UNICEF and Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal are providing safe drinking water to thousands of families affected by the earthquake, and four more plants are to be put in place shortly, according to a press release issued by the Emergency Hygiene and WES Communication Unit, Ministry of Environment.

“These water treatment plants have been provided under the Environment Ministry’s Clean Drinking Water Initiative, which is a pilot project to provide a water treatment plant in each district,” said Minister of Environment Major (Retd.) Tahir Iqbal.

The eight filtration plants contribute to extensive efforts by UNICEF, the Ministry of Environment and the Governments of NWFP and AJK to provide access to safe drinking water to the entire population affected by the October 8 earthquake, with vulnerable groups given priority. These initiatives include providing water purification tablets and household filters, as well as rehabilitating water supply systems and chlorinating water supplies.

“In addition, the PC-1 of a mega-project for providing water filtration plants at union council level in Pakistan and AJK, including in the earthquake affected districts, has been prepared on the directives of the President and the Prime Minister,” the Minister added. “It will be forwarded to Planning Division for approval soon.”

UNICEF is operating and maintaining the water treatment plants in collaboration with the Public Health Engineering Department in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Gari Dupatta. In Hattian (Attock) the plant is operated by Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal. Two more plants are ready to be set up once locations are identified. The plants will eventually be handed over to the local government authorities.

Four of the plants, each with a capacity of 2,000 gallons per hour, have been provided by the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak EPA), Ministry of Environment under the ongoing Clean Drinking Water Initiative. The other two plants, each with a capacity of 1,000 gallons per hour, have been donated by private vendors.

“The water treatment plants use a three stage filtration process to make water safe for drinking: rapid sand filtration, activated carbon filtration and ultraviolet disinfection,” said Irfan Saeed Alrai, Program Manager in Pak EPA. An adequate supply of clean water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene is critical for preventing the spread of diarrhoea due to contamination and waterborne diseases.

The Ministry of Environment and UNICEF have set up the Emergency Hygiene and WES Communication Unit in the Ministry of Environment to lead communication activities related to hygiene, water and sanitation.