The faculty members of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Abbottabad Campus, have praised the Choona Water Treatment Plant initiative launched by the Local Government, Elections & Rural Development Department (LGE&RDD), recognizing its critical role in preventing the depletion of Abbottabad’s groundwater reserves.
In a statement issued here, the faculty emphasized the importance of water conservation and urged the public to avoid water wastage and prioritize the use of surface water resources to safeguard underground aquifers for future generations.
As part of outreach and awareness efforts, the students and faculty from UET’s Architecture Department visited the under-construction Choona Water Treatment Plant.
The exposure visit was organized by the Water and Sanitation Services Company (WSSC) Abbottabad, in collaboration with the Directorate of Media, UET Peshawar Chief Engineer Mohsin Shehzad of the City Implementation Unit under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) shared key insights about the project.
He stated that the plant would be the first of its kind in Abbottabad, set to provide clean drinking water to 36,000 households. “This project is being developed under the KPCIP by the LGE&RDD with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),” said Engr. Shehzad. Responding to students’ queries, Engr. Shehzad explained that the plant would purify 6.85 million gallons (300 liters per second) of water daily, sourced from nearby mountain springs.
The water will be transported via a 17-kilometer pipeline to the treatment plant, located on an elevated hill in Choona, before being distributed across the city. The facility is designed to meet Abbottabad’s water demands until 2050.
Highlighting the region’s growing water needs, he noted that from May 1 to July 31, 2024, more than 6.25 million domestic and international tourists visited Abbottabad and its surrounding tourist destinations, placing immense pressure on the city’s water supply and underground resources.
