MR Amin, Chattogram

Intake channels and pump stations have been constructed on the banks of the Karnaphuli river. In these two projects, phase 1 and phase 2, 28.6 million liters of water are taken from the river for purification. The water is then sent to the receiving well.

There chemical alum, lime, chlorine and polymer are mixed with water. Then the water flows through the flocculator channel for 30 minutes and then enters the clarifier unit and is kept for 80 minutes.

There, the sludge in the water settles in the form of slugs as the bottom of the clarifier unit. which is being collected through automatic slug collector. Purified water enters the clarifier unit through a rapid sand filter. The water treated in the rapid sand filter is collected in the clear well reservoir.

Then the water germs are destroyed by application of chlorine gas. In this way Chittagong WASA is making water potable in several steps.

Despite providing proper services to the residents of Chittagong city, they are earning Tk 132 crore annually from the 2 treatment plants of Raguni under the Sheikh Hasina water treatment plant of Chittagong Wasar. WASA is purifying 28.6 million liters of water per day in these two projects Phase 1 and Phase 2 constructed at a cost of Tk 4930 crore in Pomra area of Rangunia. This water reaches the consumer level and earns about 165 crore rupees annually. And for this WASA is spending 33 crore rupees. Excluding all costs, the net profit is about Tk 132 crore per year. However, if the system loss can be reduced from 25 percent, it is possible to make more profit.

According to WASA sources, Chittagong WASA undertook the project to purify the water of Karnaphuli river due to acute water shortage in Chittagong. Sheikh Hasina water treatment plant Phase 1 was first built in Pomra area of Rangunia at a cost of Tk. Which was inaugurated in 2017. The daily production capacity of this project is 143 million litres. As a result, WASA's production capacity has reached 32 million liters. As the project was launched successfully, Sheikh Hasina took the project of phase 2 named water treatment plant at the same place. It has been implemented with joint funding from Japan's JICA, Government of Bangladesh and Chittagong WASA. The total cost of this project is 4 thousand 491 crore 15 lakh taka, but the project work has been completed with 3082 crore taka. Out of this, JICA invested Tk 2274 crore and Bangladesh government invested Tk 808 crore.

Although the production capacity of these two projects Phase 1 and Phase 2 is 28.6 million liters, 25 million liters are reaching the customer level. The remaining 3.5 crore liters of water is wasted as system loss. By selling this 25 million liters of water, Chittagong WASA is earning 165 million taka per year as 50 lakh taka per day. Out of this, they spend 24 crores per month on electricity bills, 24 crores per year on chemicals, 3.5 crores on staff and 50 lakhs on maintenance and 33 crores per year. 132 crore net profit per year.

The total cost of implementation of these 2 projects is Rs. 4930 crores. In this, 3200 crores has been taken from JICA for the interest rate of 1 taka. Which amounts to 32 lakh taka per year. Maqsud Alam, chief engineer of Chittagong WASA, said, “Phase 1 and Phase 2 treatment plants established in Rangunia under the Karnaphuli water treatment plant project are 2 WASA mega projects. They are located about 40 km from the city. Water is extracted from the Karnaphuli river and after purification, water is supplied to consumers through pipelines to reservoirs at Nasirabad in Chittagong city and elevated tanks at Halishahar.

Currently 28.6 million liters of water is being produced daily from these 2 projects. For this, 30 crore liters of water is being drawn daily from Kanyaphuli. Annual profit is around 132 crore excluding expenses. Earlier the system loss was 33 percent and now it has been reduced to 25 percent. We hope to further reduce the system loss. If the system loss can be reduced, the amount of profit can be increased. But WASA is basically a service organization. Our main task is whether we can provide the service properly. But we have managed to earn good amount with proper service. From which even after paying the expenses, the money will be deposited in the WASA fund by paying the loan.

Stating that Phase 1 project was officially inaugurated on March 12, 2017 and Phase 2 project on March 16, 2022, he said, "In 2016, the production capacity of Chittagong WASA was only 120 million liters. It is very less than the demand. After the launch of this project, it has been possible to control the water crisis by 70 percent. At present, WASA water demand in the city is 58 crore liters per day but WASA is able to supply 47/48 crore litres. Currently there are 97,000 WASA customers, of which 9 percent are industrial customers and the rest are residential customers. DPP has been submitted to the Ministry in 2022 for the production of 20 crore liters of water considering the demand of the customers. The implementation of which the Korean Exim Bank has agreed to finance.