British Raj
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Water & Sewerage Services in Karachi during British Raj
After the arrival of some British in Karachi at the end of eighteenth century, they had established a factory at the present SITE location, but it was closed down following a disagreement with the then local Sindhi rulers. Subsequently, British troops occupied Karachi in 1839 and the city served as landing port for British during the First Afghan War. The province of Sindh was then conquered by Charles James Napier in 1843.
Napier established a Water supply system for the extended city of Karachi with wells at Dumlotti in Malir area (presently known as dumlotti wells field) and a reservoir at the COD hills (now COD Filter Plant at Block – 17 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal).
[pic]
Charles James Napier, 1843
British solders were kept in quarantine at Karachi. On British style of living at that time, they were provided with a wet system of sanitation. In that system, the sewage flows owing to gravity and has to be pumped out for disposal.
For this reason, British engineers devised a unique system of power transmission. Steam engines at the Nishter Road site (presently at KMC Workshop in Lyari area) operated air-compressors and the compressed air was transmitted to various pumping stations via underground steel pipes. The underground `ejector pumps` used for lifting the sewage comprised a chamber with inlets for the compressed air and the sewage. The inlets were automatically activated by valves in sequence. On filling the chamber with sewage, the compressed air entered the chamber from top and ejected the water to rising main. Then, the cycle was repeated.
[pic]
An old ejector pump, part of Karachis original sewage disposal system, at Nishter Road. - A.R. Qureshi
Work on the Karachi Municipal Drainage system was done in two phases. The project was inaugurated by Lord Harris, governor of Bombay, in December 1889, and it was arranged so that the required ejector pumps
Water & Sewerage Services in Karachi during British Raj
After the arrival of some British in Karachi at the end of eighteenth century, they had established a factory at the present SITE location, but it was closed down following a disagreement with the then local Sindhi rulers. Subsequently, British troops occupied Karachi in 1839 and the city served as landing port for British during the First Afghan War. The province of Sindh was then conquered by Charles James Napier in 1843.
Napier established a Water supply system for the extended city of Karachi with wells at Dumlotti in Malir area (presently known as dumlotti wells field) and a reservoir at the COD hills (now COD Filter Plant at Block – 17 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal).
[pic]
Charles James Napier, 1843
British solders were kept in quarantine at Karachi. On British style of living at that time, they were provided with a wet system of sanitation. In that system, the sewage flows owing to gravity and has to be pumped out for disposal.
For this reason, British engineers devised a unique system of power transmission. Steam engines at the Nishter Road site (presently at KMC Workshop in Lyari area) operated air-compressors and the compressed air was transmitted to various pumping stations via underground steel pipes. The underground `ejector pumps` used for lifting the sewage comprised a chamber with inlets for the compressed air and the sewage. The inlets were automatically activated by valves in sequence. On filling the chamber with sewage, the compressed air entered the chamber from top and ejected the water to rising main. Then, the cycle was repeated.
[pic]
An old ejector pump, part of Karachis original sewage disposal system, at Nishter Road. - A.R. Qureshi
Work on the Karachi Municipal Drainage system was done in two phases. The project was inaugurated by Lord Harris, governor of Bombay, in December 1889, and it was arranged so that the required ejector pumps