Purifying contaminated water into a lifeline for communities
How acute watery diarrhoea triggered a first-of-its-kind sustainable safe water solution in Afghanistan
It started with bad, contaminated water. Between 2021 and 2022, Sorobi district in Kabul province was ground zero for acute watery diarrhea outbreaks in central Afghanistan. The disease would spread within and beyond the district, affecting thousands - including young children.
At the time, the main source of water for children and families in this part of Sorobi was the Kabul River, along with the waste it carried from the city. Some families had private wells, but these too were contaminated. So acute watery diarrhea was inevitable.
In many parts of Afghanistan, getting to the fast-decreasing groundwater is a challenge. It is even more difficult to access this precious groundwater in Sorobi because of the mountains all around and the impenetrable rock below. Ironically the only option for safe water – the solution- was back in the contaminated water from Kabul River.
Purifying Kabul River’s water
With thematic funding, UNICEF designed and constructed a water treatment plant in Sorobi district. It’s a system that brings contaminated water from Kabul River into sedimentation tanks, filtering it and separating the water from particles which are channeled back into the river. The filtered water is pumped into two chlorine-dosed chambers, automatically set to finally make the water safe for human consumption.
Once purified, the safe water is taken across a 12km pipeline to 1,200 families in five villages. In Faqir Abad village, a private and metered water connection from this system serves the family of Bibi-Awdara.
“In the past it took too long to fetch water, and it wasn’t clean. My children were always getting sick. But now even the tea tastes better,” says the mother of nine.
Keeping water management in the hands of the community
Bibi-Awdara and her family make monthly payments for the water, pegged at 15 Afghanis (about US$ 0.20) for every 1,000 litres.
Aminullah, a mechanic, conducts a monthly meter reading exercise, delivers the bills and collects payments. Managed by a local operation and maintenance committee, the funds are used to pay salaries – for the mechanics and for guards at the water treatment plant –as well as to cover maintenance and repair costs.
“Whenever there is a problem with the water supply, customers call me. The most common issues I attend to are jammed meters, broken pipes or replacing and repairing small appliances like gate valves,” explains Aminullah.
Amanullah is just one of well over one thousand mechanics UNICEF has trained since 2016, to oversee the maintenance of the community water supply networks it supported across Afghanistan. These mechanics work together with the community water system’s operation and maintenance committee in managing all mechanical and financial issues and are usually paid from the revenues. The local water user committee in Sorobi has been active since the inception of the water treatment plant project, often monitoring construction work. They and their families now enjoy the fruits of their labour, coordinating with mechanic Aminullah to keep the system running for decades to come.
“The potential for treating river water and turning it into drinking water in Afghanistan remains largely untapped” says Rolf Luyendijk, UNICEF’s Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Afghanistan. “With the rapidly lowering ground water tables, due to over-pumping of aquifers for irrigation, Afghanistan needs to build more surface water treatment plants to meet the growing demand for clean drinking water.”
