Key Takeaways
- Experts warn of serious risks to rivers, canals, and groundwater from untreated sewage and industrial effluents.
- Vice-Chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University highlights the need for effective wastewater management.
- Research project aims to develop affordable, locally adaptable wastewater treatment solutions for rural communities.
Water experts have warned that untreated domestic sewage and industrial wastewater from Pakistan’s major cities are posing serious risks to rivers, canals, groundwater, and coastal ecosystems, threatening public health, aquatic life, and water security in Sindh.
The warning came during a seminar held at Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) in Tandojam, organized by the Department of Energy and Environment, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, under a Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC)-funded research project.
Presiding over the seminar, SAU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Altaf Ali Siyal emphasized the need for scientific research, effective wastewater management, and coordinated measures to protect public health and the environment.
He expressed concern over reports of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the Indus water reaching around 1,000, stressing the need for further scientific investigation.
Dr Siyal also referred to the deterioration of Manchar Lake, once an important freshwater resource, and highlighted environmental challenges associated with drainage systems in Sindh.
The seminar also discussed the environmental degradation of coastal areas, with mangrove forests along the Karachi coast reportedly disappearing, while mangrove coverage had increased in the Thatta and Sujawal areas.
Dr Muneer Ahmed Mangrio, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, highlighted that Sindh had more than 10,000 industries, with around 360 industrial units in Hyderabad reportedly discharging wastewater without treatment into the Phuleli and Akram Wah canals and the Indus River.
He stressed the importance of effective industrial wastewater management to prevent further contamination of water resources.
Prof. Dr Mahmood Leghari, Principal Investigator of the research project and Chairman of the Department of Energy and Environment, said many rural communities in Sindh lacked centralized wastewater collection and treatment facilities.
This made decentralized, low-cost treatment systems based on locally available materials particularly important for improving sanitation and protecting community health.
The ongoing research is examining filter substrates, including gravel and biomass, in combination with biochar, to improve the treatment of domestic wastewater through decentralized systems.
PCRWR Deputy Director Dr Nazar Gul presented data on wastewater generation in major cities, estimating the annual volume of wastewater generated by 10 major Pakistani cities at approximately 1.334 billion cubic metres, with Karachi and Lahore being the largest contributors.
