UN agencies support Afghan Government campaign to disinfect 17,500 wells

The Afghan Government, with support from three United Nations agencies, is set to chlorinate a total of 17,500 shallow wells in the country’s capital Kabul in an effort to reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal disease and the risk of other water related illnesses.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as non-governmental partners, are giving assistance to the chlorination campaign, which gets underway this week, UNICEF Communication Officer Edward Carwardine said in Kabul today.

The chlorination – a two- to three-minute process involving the mixing of chlorine powder and sand which is then deposited in wells to disinfect the water – will have a significant affect on tackling the estimated 7,800 cases of diarrhoea reported in Kabul every week. Mr. Carwardine said the illness is estimated to be responsible for more that 50 per cent of deaths amongst children under the age of five years in Afghanistan.

As the water table in Kabul has dropped in recent years due to drought, there has been an increasing reliance by communities on shallow-wells, many of which are poorly constructed and located close to household latrines, which increases risk of disease. Disinfecting the water is key to improving safety.

Teams of chlorinators will work over the next three months to chlorinate 17,500 shallow wells and all 20 water reservoirs in Kabul in three rounds, each lasting 21 days. All 16 districts of the capital will be covered, benefiting up to 2.5 million people. The exercise will be combined with the delivery of hygiene education campaigns to raise awareness of the causes of water-borne diseases and improve household hygiene practices.