WSSP completes replacement of 297km of rusted pipelines

PESHAWAR: The Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) has completed replacement of 297 kilometers of rusted pipelines.

“The company has been replacing rusted water supply lines across the city to ensure that Peshawarites have easy access to clean drinking water,” said Hassan Ali, spokesperson WSSP, adding, the water supply lines had not been replaced since 2014.

Besides, it reconstructed and rehabilitated 100 tube-wells and replaced old machinery that increased water pressure. It also installed a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system on 46 tube-wells with financial assistance from UNICEF to measure water extraction automatically. The company has a potable water testing lab that checks water quality across the city. The company has recently installed water sensors on several tube-wells that automatically take samples and check turbidity and other concentration of different elements in the water at source level.

“WSSP believes that access to safe and clean water is essential for public health and rehabilitation would improve accessibility to clean drinking water that in turn guarantee health of the community and reduce burden on our hospitals,” said Hassan Ali, spokesperson WSSP.

WSSP also constructed 66 kilometers of streets and allied structures. The department successfully redesigned and reconstructed 73 kilometers of drains across the city. The company reintroduced changes in its designs of drains construction in light of worsening climate change.

Earlier, the drainage system was designed to drain out only domestic sewerage, without taking the unpredictable extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and flooding that are having a significant impact on urban drainage systems of Peshawar city. The system was unable to manage stormwater runoff.

The Project Department of the company also started using materials in construction of drains that make them waterproof and prevent contamination of groundwater.Despite limited funds availability, WSSP has constructed 2790 running feet drains from January to March this year. Besides, the department has reconstructed 2790 feet streets and replaced 12940 feet rusted pipeline in different localities of the city during this period.