The Padma-Jashaldia Surface Water Treatment Plant is a major project by Dhaka WASA to supply safe drinking water to Dhaka city by treating surface water from the Padma River. The plant is located in Lohajang Upazila, Munshiganj, and has a designed treatment capacity of 450 million liters of water per day. It was inaugurated in 2019 after construction costs amounted to approximately Tk 36.7 billion, with significant financial support from the Chinese government.
Despite its large capacity, the plant currently operates at around 50-53% capacity, supplying about 240 million liters daily due to incomplete water supply pipeline infrastructure within Dhaka city. The purified water travels through a 34-kilometer pipeline along the Dhaka-Mawa highway, but bottlenecks occur when the pipeline narrows near Mitford in Old Dhaka, restricting full utilization of the plant’s capacity.
The project aims to reduce Dhaka’s reliance on groundwater by providing a larger share of surface water in the city’s water mix. However, full capacity utilization requires completion of distribution lines, for which Dhaka WASA has proposed an additional project costing Tk 6.32 billion to strengthen the city’s water supply distribution system. The full operation of this plant is crucial for meeting the growing demand for clean drinking water in Dhaka and ensuring sustainable water resource management.