Untreated direct wastewater use a Pakistan case study

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Untreated direct wastewater use a Pakistan case
study

• Jeroen Ensink
• IWMI

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Pakistan

• Population 140 million (Census 1998), expected
  population 2025 280 million.
• Climate arid to semi arid
• 40 million people live in brackish to saline
  groundwater areas
• Regular irrigation performance low

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Untreated wastewater use in Pakistan

• Agricultural wastewater use occurred in all towns
  and cities (gt10,000 inhabitants) visited
• Different reasons for use
• Lahore, Faisalabad, Haroonabad
• Only 9 of cities had WW treatment facilities
• Used wastewater always untreated
• Total (initial) estimate for Pakistan 50,000
  hectares and gt 49,000 farmers

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Nation-wide survey (cont.)

• Wastewater in 50 of the cases sold by
  municipality or WASA to farmers
• Land rent up to six times higher as for regular
  land
• Court cases
• To get access to wastewater (Faisalabad)
• To stop access to wastewater (Quetta)
• To have farmers pay for wastewater (Lahore)

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IWMIs Pakistan Case studies

• Haroonabad (1999-2000)
• 65,000 inhabitants, no industry
• Faisalabad (2001-2002)
• gt2 million inhabitants, major industrial center
• Groundwater brackish
• Wastewater untreated
• Crops vegetables, fodder, wheat and cotton

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Study Outcome (1)Heavy metals
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Conclusions heavy metals

• Haroonabad
• Heavy metal accumulation not an issue
• Increased levels of lead at main ww-site very
  likely attributable to the Bus-stand
• Faisalabad
• Wastewater use at channel 4 site not sustainable
  decreased yields, decreased crop diversity,
  increased soil salinity

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Study Outcome (2)Water nutrients balance
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Study outcome (3a)Cross-sectional health studies
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Study outcome (3b)Vector breeding ( ve samples)
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Study Outcome (4)Household cost and income
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Wastewater-Use Management Issues in Pakistan

• No enforcement of industrial effluent disposal
  standards
• No national wastewater use guidelines instead a
  farmer knows best approach
• Farmers seem to prefer untreated wastewater
  instead of more saline treated wastewater
• Wastewater is sold by municipalities, farmers
  happy to buy ww a win-win situation? no
  incentive for change

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WHO 1993 vs WHO 1989/2003?
Localized health risk vs Dispersed health risks
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Comments or Questions?!
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