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No action on water woes ‘before a plaint is lodged’
SHARJAH — The Sharjah Municipality has clarified that it can initiate action against owners of buildings for not maintaining overhead tanks and supplying contaminated water to tenants only if the latter lodged a formal complaint with the civic body.
The clarification comes in the wake of residents of 170 apartments in "Sheba", a building in Al Nahda, complaining about contaminated water being supplied to them for the past couple of weeks following a breakdown of the motors pumping water from the underground sump to the overhead tanks.
Civic body officials denied having received any complaints from the residents about water shortage or contaminated water being supplied to them.
A private company dealing with cleaning of overhead tanks has alleged that laboratory testing of water samples taken from the overhead tanks had revealed presence of harmful bacteria, which could cause skin irritation and other diseases, particularly among children.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Mushrif, Head of the Health Section of Sharjah Municipality, said the landlord was responsible for cleaning and disinfecting overhead tanks and ensure that it was free of any contamination. "If tenants of a building file a complaint about contaminated water supply, the staff of the Central Laboratory immediately take up the issue and collect water samples for lab analysis. And if the water is found to be contaminated, we initiate serious legal action against the landlord," he said.
With regard to the "Sheba" problem, he said no complaint had been lodged by the tenants so far, but assured that he would keep an eye and ensure that proper measures are taken if and when a complaint is lodged.
In the neighbouring emirate of Dubai, owners of buildings are held responsible for the cleanliness of overhead water tanks following Dubai Municipality's recent regulations.
According to the new rules, which came into effect following the approval of the executive regulations for the Local Order 11 of 2003 pertaining to drinking water vis-a-vis public health and hygiene late last year, it was made mandatory that the cleaning of tanks be carried out by approved companies. Till July this year, the municipality had approved six firms to carry out cleaning services for water tanks.
The municipality had set up a special sub-unit in March 2004 for the implementation of the system, under which landlords would be responsible for the cleanliness of water storage tanks. The Water Control Sub-unit, working on the executive regulations of the Local Order, drafted the practice and procedures to be followed by approved companies, their equipment and material, as well as the qualifications and training of those employed by such companies, earlier last year.
Khalid Sharief, Assistant Director of Public Health Department at Dubai Municipality, explained that private establishments with the necessary qualifications and experience in the field (water tank cleaning) were then invited to register with the department and submit their proposals and methodology.
The department has begun carrying out inspection of water tanks in residential buildings, schools – both private and government – mosques, public parks, government buildings, hotels, etc. and have been given the authority to penalise those not complying with the regulations.
The new regulations were enacted in the light of the fact that water supplied by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is fit for human consumption according to the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO), but the condition of storage tanks and the internal pipeline of buildings contaminate the water. It is this contamination that occurs in the storage tanks and internal water pipelines that the municipality aims to eliminate by implementing the new procedures.
As an added benefit, the new system is expected to cut down Dubai's dependence on bottled drinking water.
Under the new system, the authorities will keep the condition of the storage tanks and the procedures and practices of the approved cleaning companies in check. The system also covers manufacture of water tanks to ensure that non-toxic material is used. Additionally, hot water from taps during summers will be a thing of the past since the new system takes into consideration factors like overheating as a cause of contamination, and requires that tanks be either shaded or covered with an insulation material.
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