City dwellers of some areas are not getting the water supply they need as Chattogram Water and Sewerage Authority is in difficulty purifying river water.

Wasa officials said two plants that collect water from the Karnaphuli cannot cleanse the amount of water that they can usually do due to excessive muddy water.

The muddy water comes from hills and upstream with rainwater.

Residents of neighbourhoods in Agrabad, Halishahar, Chawkbazar, Katalganj, Dewan Bazar and Muradpur said they were not getting water supply regularly from the Wasa. Many of them were buying jar water or bottled water for drinking and other uses.

Amir Uddin, associate professor of Institute of Education and Research at Chittagong University, who lives in Agrabad Muhuri Para area, on Thursday said, "At times, there is supply water but the pressure is very low."

"Mud and moss is found in Wasa water and so we have to buy jar water."

He said he received clean supply water yesterday.  

Tapos Barua, a resident of Katalganj area, said, "We had to suffer due to salinity in Wasa water when it was not raining for a long time. And now after a week-long heavy rain in this region, we are suffering again for irregular water supply from Chattogram Wasa."

"We cannot afford to purchase bottled water and so we have to collect water from tube-wells from a distant place."

Contacted, Maqsud-ul-Alam, chief engineer of Chattogram Wasa, said the amount of water purified by the two plants dropped by around 10 crore litre daily over the last one week as water at the intake points in the Karnaphuli is excessive muddy.

The plants collect water from the river and then supply to the city dwellers after purification, he said.

The two plants -- Sheikh Hasina Water Treatment Plant-1 and Sheikh Hasina Water Treatment Plant-2 -- can purify 28.6 crore litres of water in 24 hours, said Maqsud.

We cannot afford to purchase bottled water and so we have to collect water from tube-wells from a distant place.

— Tapos Barua A resident of Katalganj area

Two plants could cleanse 18 crore litres daily in the last one week, triggering water crisis in the city, he added.

"But the situation is gradually improving and the amount of purified water has increased to 22 crore litres a day," he said.

Chattogram Wasa has four plants. The two other plants don't have the problem.

Contacted, AKM Fazlullah, managing director of Chattogram Wasa, said the plants can usually purify water with 500 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units), a measure of the cloudiness of a fluid.

But due to heavy rain and flood, it was found that water at the intake points in the river was so muddy that it was measured as high as 1,300 NTU, he said.

"If we had gone for filtering the water with the full capacity of the plants, there could have been a problem," Fazlullah said, adding, "It would have required a lot more chemicals and the production costs would have gone up."

"At present, mud in water has gone down and now water in the intake points in the river is 700 NTU," he said and expected that the situation would be normal next week.

Contacted, Alak Paul, professor of geography and environmental studies at Chittagong University, said people are cutting trees on hills indiscriminately that makes hills soil loose. "When it rains heavily, the soil goes to the river."

 "To prevent situation, we have to protect the environment and stop cutting trees on the hills."