Authorities fail to ensure installation of recycling plants at service stations

Rawalpindi : The authorities concerned in the Rawalpindi district administration have failed to ensure the installation of water recycling plants at car wash service stations.

In 2018, the district administration had geared up the crackdown on some 110 car wash stations in the city which had failed to respond to the notices and install recycling plants to stop the waste of water.

The crackdown against car service stations was started to take action against the violators.

The authorities concerned had issued notices to the owners of the service stations and decided to seal the service stations which failed to install recycling plants to stop the wastage of water.

A grand operation was also launched against car wash service stations and dozens were sealed but the desired result could not be achieved.

In 2018, after the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of water being wasted, the authorities concerned issued 110 notices to the owners of the car wash service stations in Rawalpindi city areas.

In compliance to the notice, a car wash service station in Rawalpindi had set up the first water recycling plant which was installed at the Khan CNG service station located on the road between Liaquat Bagh and Committee Chowk.

According to the owner of the station, previously, they used around 20 to 30 small tanks of water every day to wash cars.

But after installing the recycling plant, they managed to lower this to just a single tank of water per day.

The owner added that because the plant recycles the water which they had used to clean a car, they were able to reuse the water again and again.

The upshot of installing the plant, he explained, was that it had helped lower their water bill by as much as 80 per cent since they were using less water.

After the installation of the plant, the use of water at the service station had decreased drastically, he added.

The Supreme Court had earlier taken notice of falling underground water tables and had directed an inspection of companies that were extracting underground water.

The Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards had also failed to implement the decision of the Supreme Court and could not ensure the installation of water recycling plants at the service stations.

Earlier, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) had also proposed wastewater treatment plants be set up at vehicle service stations.

Automobile service stations use potable water for car wash which goes waste.

According to experts, the waste water at service stations could be recycled to get sparkle-clear water which could be reused for a car wash.

The wastewater of service stations has only one per cent of waste, including mud, grease, oil, sand, and detergents.

About 3 billion litres of fresh water is annually wasted in Pakistan which could be used by 666,000 people for drinking purposes.

A person on average consumes 150 liters of water a day.

With the demand for freshwater increasing, such plants will help reduce the pollution and wastage of potable water.