Deadly bacterium found in Rajshahi’s drinking water

Water supplied by the Rajshahi Water Supply and Sewerage Authority – in most of the city’s municipality area – has been found “highly contaminated with faecal coliform,” exposing nearly 7.63 lakh residents to serious health risks.

The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) found the harmful bacterium as part of an initiative a month ago. It conducted water quality tests on samples from 104 supply points sent by Rajshahi WASA, and found the bacterium’s presence in all one of them, insiders said.

Senior chemist at the DPHE in Rajshahi, Shafiqul Islam said, “The standard level of coliform in potable water should be zero. We however found that the level of faecal coliforms is somewhere between 3 and 500 in the water supplied throughout the city.”

WASA sources said the water quality test shows most of the areas in the city have contaminated by the bacteria, including Seroil, Kumarpara Ward Commissioner’s Office, riverbank area on the south side of Sheikh’s Chalk Pump, Hadir Mor Baje Kajla Mahalla, Ramchandrapur Pump, Hazor Mor adjacent to Rabi Prachir, Boalia, Bou Bazar, Mathurdanga Junction, Khristanpara Junction, Upshahar New Market Junction, Miyapara Dharmasabha, Kazihata Mahila Commissioner Beli Upper Bari, Laxmipur Bakir Junction, PTI Junction, Keshabpur Court Urban Clinic, Raharampur Junction, and Mollapara Court.

WASA has been supplying water to the Rajshahi metropolitan since 2011. At the moment, the city’s daily water demand is 125 million litres, and WASA produces 104 million litres each day.

Addressing the issue, Mahbubul Alam Badshah, medicine specialist of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) and Dr Kaiyum Talukdar, civil surgeon of the district, said coliform bacteria is found in human, animal, and bird faeces.

“Drinking water mixed with these bacteria can cause immediate diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration. There is no tolerable level of this bacterium for drinking water,” said Mahbubul.

Pipes in the Rajshahi city might have been damaged due to the construction going on across the city, allowing sewage to mix with water in the WASA pipeline, says Nur Islam, Rajshahi City Corporation’s supervising engineer, adding that the water could contain livestock and even human faeces, providing a breeding ground for coliform bacteria.

He added, “We repeatedly informed WASA that the water pipes should be buried three feet below the road, or they could rupture during road construction.”

Commenting on the matter, Chief Engineer of Rajshahi WASA Parvej Masud told The Business Post, “It is very unlikely that this bacterium is forming in the water supply lines because of some possible damage in the sanitary sewers.

“We always install these two pipelines while maintaining a specified distance. However, the contamination can occur if citizens do not adhere to the rules and regulations we introduced.”

He continued, “We always encourage residents to regularly cover, monitor and re-install their existing water supply lines. But they often opt for low-cost methods, which eventually ruin the pipelines over time.”

“We have already taken steps after we received the DPHE report last week. Besides replacing the faulty water supply lines, we are encouraging residents to drink boiled water.”