Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan

This research assesses the quality of water and water supply infrastructure under the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan. Water samples were collected from 26 randomly selected rural and urban WASEP projects and 12 control sites. Results show that...

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Main Authors: A. Shah, M. Ali, K. Ali, M. Ahmed, J. Tan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IWA Publishing 2022-05-01
Series:Water Practice and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://wpt.iwaponline.com/content/17/5/1046
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author A. Shah
M. Ali
K. Ali
M. Ahmed
J. Tan
author_facet A. Shah
M. Ali
K. Ali
M. Ahmed
J. Tan
author_sort A. Shah
collection DOAJ
description This research assesses the quality of water and water supply infrastructure under the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan. Water samples were collected from 26 randomly selected rural and urban WASEP projects and 12 control sites. Results show that 94% of rural and 83% of urban water samples from WASEP projects conformed with WHO standards for drinking water with no Escherichia coli colonies overall compared with 8% of rural and 0% of urban control sites. This corresponds with higher water infrastructure scores for WASEP projects based on engineering audits of water at intake, system, and network level. These findings demonstrate the importance of water infrastructure design for the delivery of clean drinking water, and the role of the WASEP model of community water management in improving the delivery of potable water. HIGHLIGHTS The approach was unique in solving rural water supply issues.; Community Involvement plays a pivotal role in the success of water supply schemes.; Upscaling of the concept rural water supply rationale to the urban setting was a major challenge.; Water infrastructure was also assessed on a quantitative scale besides quality of water.; Comparative assessment of two types of water supply projects provided important data.;
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spelling doaj.art-3d9ed5af80f4497f9395e53fed6656812022-12-22T03:41:49ZengIWA PublishingWater Practice and Technology1751-231X2022-05-011751046105710.2166/wpt.2022.053053Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern PakistanA. Shah0M. Ali1K. Ali2M. Ahmed3J. Tan4 Department of Civil Engineering Technology, Karakoram International University, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Department of Physics, Karakoram International University, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Department of Environmental Sciences, Karakoram International University, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Gilgit, Pakistan Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), Aga Khan University, London, United Kingdom This research assesses the quality of water and water supply infrastructure under the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan. Water samples were collected from 26 randomly selected rural and urban WASEP projects and 12 control sites. Results show that 94% of rural and 83% of urban water samples from WASEP projects conformed with WHO standards for drinking water with no Escherichia coli colonies overall compared with 8% of rural and 0% of urban control sites. This corresponds with higher water infrastructure scores for WASEP projects based on engineering audits of water at intake, system, and network level. These findings demonstrate the importance of water infrastructure design for the delivery of clean drinking water, and the role of the WASEP model of community water management in improving the delivery of potable water. HIGHLIGHTS The approach was unique in solving rural water supply issues.; Community Involvement plays a pivotal role in the success of water supply schemes.; Upscaling of the concept rural water supply rationale to the urban setting was a major challenge.; Water infrastructure was also assessed on a quantitative scale besides quality of water.; Comparative assessment of two types of water supply projects provided important data.;http://wpt.iwaponline.com/content/17/5/1046drinking watergilgit-baltistanpakistanwasepwater infrastructurewater quality
spellingShingle A. Shah
M. Ali
K. Ali
M. Ahmed
J. Tan
Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
Water Practice and Technology
drinking water
gilgit-baltistan
pakistan
wasep
water infrastructure
water quality
title Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
title_full Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
title_fullStr Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
title_short Assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community-managed water supply systems in northern Pakistan
title_sort assessing water and water infrastructure quality in community managed water supply systems in northern pakistan
topic drinking water
gilgit-baltistan
pakistan
wasep
water infrastructure
water quality
url http://wpt.iwaponline.com/content/17/5/1046
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AT mali assessingwaterandwaterinfrastructurequalityincommunitymanagedwatersupplysystemsinnorthernpakistan
AT kali assessingwaterandwaterinfrastructurequalityincommunitymanagedwatersupplysystemsinnorthernpakistan
AT mahmed assessingwaterandwaterinfrastructurequalityincommunitymanagedwatersupplysystemsinnorthernpakistan
AT jtan assessingwaterandwaterinfrastructurequalityincommunitymanagedwatersupplysystemsinnorthernpakistan