KABUL (SW): Mohammad Ali Akbari, Head of Environmental Hygiene Department at the Ministry of Public Health, told Salam Watandar that they have tested the water used at the hospital and it turned out to be polluted and not drinkable.
He said that nearly 3 months ago after testing the water, they sent a formal letter to the officials at the hospital informing them about the problem but they continue to use the water anyway.
According to him, there are two water sources at the hospital out of which only one is drinkable which doesn’t suffice the needs of the hospital.
He added that the water system running at the hospital has more chloride and nitrate than need.
The normal amount of chloride is 250 ppm and 11 ppm is nitrate but the water at the hospital borne 276 ppm chloride and more than 32 ppm nitrate.
Officials at the Environmental Hygiene Department said that there should be a filtering device installed at the watering system but the officials at the hospital have yet to take any action about it.
Dr.Sayed Hussain Kamal, Head of the hospital, told Salam Watandar that they themselves wanted the water at the hospital to be tested and once the learnt it was polluted, they stopped using it.
Dr. Rashid Ramez, urology specialist, told Salam Watandar that drinking water polluted with chloride and nitrate could cause nausea, diarrhea and kidney failure.
He added if nitrate exceeded its necessary amount, it could even cause cancer.
According to the reports by Afghanistan Central Statistics Organization, 45 percent of the citizens in the country have access to drinkable water while in Kabul the number reaches to 50 percent.
ENDS
