Water is drinkable but gets dirty in pipelines: WASA

The water supplied by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is drinkable, but it can get dirty due to problems in the pipeline, its director (technical) AKM Shahid Uddin said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, Shahid Uddin also urged the clients to inform WASA if they face any problems.

Five people, from the city's Jurain and East Rampura areas, as part of a demonstration, went to the WASA office on the day to make its managing director drink ‘sherbet’ made with WASA water.

The programme was chalked out after the MD, Taskim A Khan, had remarked that WASA water was 100 per cent drinkable.

AKM Shahid Uddin talked to the agitating WASA customers on behalf of the MD. When asked who was responsible to take care of the pipelines, Shahid said, they were not always informed of the problems.

He promised to take measures to solve the problem.

On 17 April, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in a report said 91 per cent clients boil WASA water before drinking. It said natural gas worth at least Tk 3.32 billion is burnt every year for boiling the water. Rejecting the study, the WASA MD later said the water was 100 per cent drinkable.

The remark infuriated WASA customers from several areas of Dhaka.

The protesters waited for two hours in front of the WASA Bhaban with WASA water, lemon and sugar. Police and Ansar members had to be deployed in front of the WASA office to avoid any untoward situation.

The MD must apologise and step down, said Mizanur Rahman, one of the protesters. He also demanded the utility bill they had paid be returned.