Water is basic human need and about one billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water and they drink contained water (WHO-UNICEF,2015). With increase in population and urbanization, the per capita availability of drinking water is further depleting (Jackson et al. 2001). In view of the growing challenge of water scarcity, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have specifically dedicated SD6 to access of all people to clean water and sanitation by 2030. Under target 6.2, the global water scarcity has to be eliminated by 2023, through water conservation, community awareness and better planning.
The water resources in developing countries are continuously deteriorating both qualitatively and quantitatively. The use of contaminated drinking water has led to many water borne diseases. Majority of the water sources are open, not protected and resultantly the contamination from domestic wastes, industrial effluents, animal wastes, sewerage and human wastes, pollute the water. About 2.4 million people have died due water borne diseases which included 1.8 million children (Bartram and Cairncross.2010). Most of these casualties have been caused in developing countries. In most of the rural areas, defecation in the field is common and the sewage is flushed into open fields, which contaminate both the surface and ground water (Messeret B, 2012).
The availability of clean drinking water has also been a challenge for Pakistan both in urban and rural areas. The per capita availability of water in Pakistan, has sharply declined from 5140 cu-m to 1000 cu-m, since independence in 1947. With the increase in population and urbanization, this challenge will grow further (Mumtaz and Saniea,2014). The rapid industrial growth and infrastructural development has further threatened the availability of clean water to the people (Daud et al, 2017). About 20-40% patients in the hospitals suffer from water borne diseases including cholera, dysentery, typhoid, gastrointestinal disorders, hepatitis and diarrhoea (Nabeela et al. 2014). This causes a loss of 0.6-1.44% of GDP annually to the nation (Tahir et al., 2010). Hence access to clean drinking water in Pakistan is becoming a major public health issue (Khwaja and Aslam,2018). The health effects of microbial and chemical contamination of drinking water have been reported in many studies (Shigeta, 2001, Aslam, 2016 and Daud et al. 2017). According to Azizullah et al (2014), Pakistan ranked 80th in the world for access to safe drinking water. About 80-90% population in rural areas don’t have clean water to drink (The United Nations Systems in Pakistan,2013).
In northern Pakistan called Gilgit Baltistan (GB), snowmelts are major sources of water in rivers, Nullahs (streams) and springs. The spring water is often clean but if the springs are not properly protected, various wastes mix with spring water making it contaminated (Nadia et al,2021). In majority of the communities, the melted water from Nullahs is supplied through man made channels for irrigation, domestic and drinking purposes (GWP,2000). Due to Lack of proper treatment facilities, the sewerage is disposed-off in the soakage pits, which intercept the ground and river water. The domestic effluents are discharged to rivers and Nullahs due to poor enforcement of laws, which creates many health related challenges. 56% of water samples from seven major town of GB were found contaminated with faecal material (GB-EPA,2018). Serious water quality concerns were reported in the earlier studies at GB (Ahmed and Ali Bhai,2000; Raza and Karim,2004). High incidence of heavy metals with Chronic Daily Ingestion was found in the children through water in the population living in Hunza basin of GB (Said and Kashif,2020). Due to high concentration of Zinc in water of Hunza valley, it was recommended that quick action may be taken to protect the water from non-point contaminations like fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture (Saira et al, 2019). Due to contaminated water in different parts of the GB, gastrointestinal diseases are prevalent in different parts of the region (Nafees et al, 2014). Regular and more frequent water monitoring has been recommended for water quality assessment in Gilgit Baltistan (Fatima et al, 2023)
In rural and peri-urban areas of GB, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), initiated community managed integrated Water and Sanitation Extension Program (WASEP) in 1997 and provided clean drinking water to half a million people in about 600 villages. Initially the projects were initiated in rural areas but later it was extended to peri-urban and urban areas (Nanan et al,2004). The WASEP approach was based on Community Based Water Management (CBWM), which improved the quality, efficiency and performance of the Rural and Urban water supply schemes (Klemeier, 2000 ; Prokopy,2005).The extension of community managed rural water supply approach to the urban areas can face political, governance and social issues (Tigabu et al, 2013; Behnke et al, 2017 and Kativhu et al, 2018).
According to Nannan (2004), the WASEP approach for Community Managed Rural Water Supply Schemes (RWSS) is based on the following major principles:
i). Potable water supply infrastructure: The infrastructure from source exploration & protection, to properly designed water tanks, supply and distribution lines was developed for the WASEP program, based on good practices around the world
ii) Community mobilization and participation: This was found the strongest part of the success factor of the program. Community was involved in the source identification, system design, source protection, water distribution and governance of the water supply schemes for sustainable use.
iii) Water quality management: For quality assurance of water, periodic quality testing of physical, chemical and biological properties was carried out.
iv). Health and hygiene education: This is an important part of the WASEP interventions, female health workers were involved to educate the people, particularly the females for use of clean water, handwashing and other hygiene principles.
v). Household sanitation infrastructure: To improve the sanitation of the household, water flushing based toilets were developed with community support and appropriate soakage pits were developed for the sewerage.
vi). Grey water drainage: Earlier there was no proper grey water disposal before the WASEP. Under this program, proper drainage and disposal of grey water was planned and executed.
The target of the program was to assure the compliance of the water quality to the WHO Standards, as baseline. These standards are given in Table 1.
Table 1. WHO recommended physical properties of drinking water (WHO,2018)
S.N
|
Properties
|
WHO recommended Values
|
|
Physical
|
|
1
|
Color
|
≤15TCU
|
2
|
Taste
|
Non Objectionable/Acceptable
|
3
|
Odor
|
Non Objectionable/Acceptable
|
4
|
Total hardness as CaCO3
|
≤500 mg/l
|
5
|
Turbidity
|
≤5NTU
|
6
|
Salinity (NaCl)
|
≤500
|
7
|
pH Value
|
6.5-8.5
|
8
|
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
|
≤500
|
9
|
Electric conducted
|
|
|
Microbiological Properties
|
|
1
|
All water intended for drinking (e.Coli or Thermotolerant Coliform bacteria)
|
Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample
|
2
|
Treated water entering the distribution system (E.Coli or thermo tolerant coliform and total coliform bacteria)
|
Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample
|
3
|
Treated water in the distribution system (E.coli or thermo- tolerant coliform and total coliform bacteria)
|
Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample
In case of large supplies, where sufficient samples are examined, must not be present in 95% of the samples taken throughout any 12- month period.
|
TCU: True Colour Unit, NTU: Nephelometric Turbidity Units,
Source WHO (2017)
In addition to WASEP, a large number of water supply schemes have been commissioned by the Government Departments (Water and Sanitation Authority; WASA etc.). These projects are facing many challenges of quality and quantity, governance and repair & maintenance.
In this research physiochemical properties of water samples collected from selected WASEP and control projects (commissioned by Government and other agencies), were compared for their quality assessment. This research is part of major research project funded by British Academy to explore the possibility of upscaling the WASEP Rural Water Supply systems to the Urban water supply systems of Gilgit Baltistan, as the urban areas of the region are faced with severe water shortages. The major project was comprised of three components Engineering and Quality audit, Anthropology and community involvement, and Economics of the completed projects by WASEP both in urban and rural areas of GB.