Report on

Installation of Revers Osmoses Plants

in Villages Adil Sipra and Bhirki of Tehsil Paroa,
District DI Khan

Society for Human & Environmental Development (SHED)

1. Background

According to the baseline survey report, due to severe floods in 2022, the water sources of both the
targeted villages were severely contaminated and the local population were didn’t have many
resources to dig out new bores. Most of the communities were relying on more than one source of
water which are water ponds, hand/water pumps, and water supplied by private water supply
tankers. According to the survey data, most of the households were paying for the water supplied by
the private individuals operating water tanker services in the area.

The baseline data indicate that most of the population was using secondary sources of water due to
the insufficient quantity and bad quality of water in the reported primary source. Water fetching
was the main responsibility of both men and women aged 18-60 years while a smaller number of the
girls and boys aged 5-18 years are also tasked with water fetching and the majority of households
collect water from water sources 1-3 times per day.

Based on the provided data, the major water quality issues faced by the residents of project villages
are bad taste and salinity. Overall, the prevalence of waterborne diseases in the two villages
combined shows that diarrhea is the most common disease, followed by stomach aches, acute
watery diarrhea, kidney stone, and dysentery.

2. Introduction

As per baseline survey findings in both targeted villages, the need of clean drinking water was the
most prioritized need of the locals in both targeted villages of Adil Sipra and Bhirki. Through
provision of clean drinking water, not only the needs of water were going to be fulfilled but also the
expenditures on the health and medicine were also going to be reduced as they were quite high.

Keeping in view the findings of the baseline, the SHED WASH Engineer along with Project Manager
consulted with the stakeholders of the project including the community elders, Education
Department, Public Health & Engineering Department (PHED) and District Administration for the
prominent and sustainable solution to the water needs. After a series of meetings with stakeholders,
the only solution for the clean drinking water was found as Reverse Osmoses Water Filtration Plants
in both the target villages.

Furthermore, an MOU was signed between the District Administration, Education Department and
SHED defining their respective roles and responsibilities for project interventions generally and for
RO Plant specifically. The Education Department agreed to provide the space inside government
schools for installation of solarized Reverse Osmoses Plants and District Administration agreed to
monitor the operation and maintenance.

3. Geography

3.1. Location

The main target locations of the project are village Adil Sipra situated in Union Council Lunda Shareef
of Tehsil Paroa, and village Bhirki situated in union council & Tehsil Paroa, of District DI Khan. Both
these villages are revenue villages, and many sub-villages/ settlements are based under the
jurisdiction of these villages.
3.2. Transport

Both the target villages are in the rural areas of the Tehsil and have bumpy & uneven roads. The
distance from DI Khan of village Adil Sipra is 45 KMs and for Bhirki it is 55 KMs. The suitable transport
for these villages is four-wheel drive vehicles or high roof vehicles due to bumpiness. Due to flash
flood of 2022, the District Administration cut down the roads to by-pass the flood water into river
Indus through different flood carry channels and these patches are still rough and not have been
repaired till date.

4. Problems of the Exist Water Networks

As the target areas are disaster prone and have faced many floods in past and present, the water
quality is severely damaged due to flash/ floods. The water contains high TDS, extremely bitter taste,
and is also Arsenic which is the reason the water is not fit for drinking purpose. The Public Health and
Engineering Department has drilled the bore up to 1000 feet, but the water quality did not improve a
bit. The local government does not have sufficient resource to install a suitable water filtration plant
in the area. It is worth mentioning that the electricity load-shedding is very high in the targeted
villages as both villages have been provided electricity for only 2-3 hours a day so the water filtration
plants cannot work efficiently under these conditions.

5. Need of Project

Due to flood 2022, the villages Adil Sipra and Bhirki, the livelihood of the local population in both
targeted villages were severely affected thus resulting into temporary displacement in the camps
established by the district administration and other parts of the Tehsil Paroa, safe from the flood.
When the situation after floods came normal and the water level in the villages lower down then the
local population came back to their damaged homes. The complete infrastructure was damaged due
to very high intensity flash flood.

The local government and district administration does not have enough resources to provide the
basic needs to flood affectees but with the help of I/NGOs and civil society organizations, the district
administration started the services provision immediately. Even though the services were not
enough to cover all the flood affectees, but at least emergency services started in the area. Clean
drinking water is the most needed service to fulfil the need of the affectees and to avoid any
outbreak of the disease in the area. Therefore, the RO Plants were needed to be installed in both
targeted villages but due to lack of sufficient funding, the district administration could not install any
RO Plant in Tehsil Paroa. But as the I/NGOs had started their operations in the area so they were
requested by the District Administration to install the RO Plants in few blocks of Tehsil Paroa.

For the same reason, SHED Organization conducted technical assessment for installing the RO Plants
in targeted villages which was the most prioritized need of the locals (as per baseline survey). During
the Technical Assessment, the water demand as per population in both villages was kept in focus to
design the RO Plant with the suitable capacity. The area of water taps was designed keeping in view
the dignity of women and girls to fetch water easily.

6. Water Quality Tests

The water quality testing was conducted before and after installation of RO Plants. The water
samples were collected from the source of RO Plant. The RO Plants were designed after the initial
water quality tests results of both sites. The scanned test results are shown in below table.
The Water Quality Testing of Adil Sipra before Installation of RO Plant

The Water Quality Testing of Bhirki before Installation of RO Plant

The Water Quality Testing of Adil Sipra after the Installation of RO Plant
 The Water Quality Testing of Bhirki after the Installation of RO Plant

Collection of water samples in village Bhirki during

Technical Assessment of RO Plants

7. Problems
and Challenges

During intervention
of any project
interventions, the challenges
and problems are obvious. The same happened during the installation of RO Plants. Few challenges
are listed below,
1. During hiring of the contractor for installation of RO Plants, it was tried to hire one of the best
companies, so the profile and experience of the vendors was focused alongside the price
quotation. So, a company was hired whose office is in Karachi, the capital city of Sindh Province
which is 1000 KMs away from DI Khan. This resulted into the delay in supplies and installations of
RO Plants equipment.
2. During installation, the weather was extremely cold, cloudy, and foggy for almost one and half
month so the installed RO Plants could not be functional right after the installation.

8. Training and Capacity Building of WASH committees and local operators

The training and Capacity Building of WASH Committees and operators of the RO Plants were
conducted by the Vendor of RO Plant Installation which covered the following topics:
 Clean Drinking Water Management
 overview of desalination plants (RO) (components and monitoring)
 Review (SOPs of generators, water quality and standard solar system
 Changing of Filters and filling the chemical in respective tank
 Discussion & question and Post-test then end of training.

9. Achievements

It is indeed a big achievement for all the stakeholders as latest model RO technology Plants have
been installed in both villages. But it is specifically a great achievement for both the SHED
Organization and Tdh Foundation for providing a highly needed service to the most vulnerable
communities i.e. safe and clean drinking water with durable and sustainable technology. Indeed, the
results will be for a long term period.

Solarized RO Plant System in Govt. Primary School, Village Bhirki, Tehsil Paroa, DI Khan
 Children and Men fetching water from RO Plant in Village Bhirki

People fetching water from RO Plant in Village Adil Sipra, Tehsil Paroa, DI Khan