November 12, 2002
Water, Water Everywhere? ... Let's take five with Moira Gunn. This is "Five Minutes".
The citizens of Karachi, Pakistan are a sturdy lot. Think about drinking the local water, and you'll know what I'm talking about. Every study that I've looked at it - whether performed by the government, concerned scientists or academia - has come up with brutal statistics.
Three-quarters or more of Karachi's water is foul. It's filled with such natural challenges as E. coli and shigella, right alongside chemical pollutants and more. Even bottled water doesn't fare well under analysis - fully half fail testing, so as you might expect, boiling your water is a typical daily pastime.
But even boiling doesn't overcome the unappetizing thought that the water contains dozens of problematic and invisible microbes, including the relatively tame "giardia." Having had a bout with it myself, contracted while I was visiting pastoral farm country in Delaware, I can tell you it's not a happy state of affairs.
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Like many urban concerns, it's not helpful to look at the water supply in isolation. Nor is it reasonable to believe that it happened overnight. Over the last thirty years, Karachi went from a city of just a few million to 14 million people, and growing. In once sense, it begged to happen.
You could simply say that the city exploded with teeming high-rises, while the sewage system was never revamped. You'd still be right if you noted that the city couldn't anticipate the pollution contributed from other cities, upstream in different countries, or that many more millions of gallons of its own raw sewage started pouring into the Indus River. Or that aggressively chlorinating the water at the source is not as effective as had been hoped, since it's delivered through a declining water delivery system.
And did anyone mention the heat? The daunting heat of Karachi plays its own part in making the entire water system a massive incubator.
So, what exactly is the effect on the people who live there? One environmental engineering survey determined that one out of five Karachi citizens suffer outright from gastro-intestinal diseases, and the children suffer even more.
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As you're considering all these salient points, let me add an additional observation: All technology has a life cycle. You buy a new car, and immediately, it starts to wear out. Even if meticulously cared for, it slowly deteriorates. And when you bought it, were you anticipating the birth of those twins? Well, the same is true for societal infrastructure.
Uncontrolled building in the face of huge population pressures will always catch up with everyone. And when it does, the problem can't be turned around in the space of a few months. Like a large ship out on the ocean, don't even think of about making a sharp right turn.
Considering the situation in Karachi, it's sobering that it happened so quickly - just a matter of a few decades. But once again, it makes the case that it's easier to go downhill, than up.
So, when the next bond issue shows up on the ballot, seeking to revamp your roads or your sewers, your bridges or your water system, think again. It may be expensive, but prevention beats both the disease and the cure.
Think Karachi - water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.
