An integrated approach to water quality management

Fluoride, arsenic, nitrate, and other chemicals in drinking water pose significant health risks (such as fluorosis and arsenicosis) to our population. According to government data (2016), about 21 million people in over 23,500 habitations were affected by arsenic and fluoride contaminated groundwater. In fact, while replying to a query in Parliament (December 2018), the Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation mentioned that out of 25,000 odd habitations across 16 states, 15,811 were affected by arsenic, and 9,660 were affected by fluoride.

In general, chemicals occur naturally in underground rocks. Hence, drinking water sourced from groundwater is more prone to chemical contamination. Excessive exploitation of groundwater has increased the exposure of chemicals in groundwater.  Because of this, in the last decade or so the government has made a conscious attempt to move away from groundwater, and surface water-based drinking water supply schemes have been set up. Additionally, Union budgets have allocated specific amounts to improve the quality of drinking water, and dedicated task forces and specific sub-missions have been constituted to address water quality problems.

Yet, chemical contamination of drinking water continues to be a major concern in India. In addition to the existing contamination, new contaminants like selenium and uranium have emerged. Clearly, something is not working.

Expanding the current imagination

The current imagination of safe drinking water is limited to surface water-based drinking water supply schemes and installing large-scale water treatment systems. But these solutions are infrastructure-focused; time- and cost-intensive. People also find it difficult to maintain them.

We need simple, low-cost, easy to maintain solutions in the mix—identifying and protecting safe sources, rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater, improving nutritional status, and more. In other words, we need to build a basket of safe water options to pick and choose from—a different approach to water quality management in India.

An integrated approach is necessary

Water quality management in India needs to combine actions from all the relevant sectors (including water, health, nutrition, education, women and child welfare). One way of doing this is by building networks—practitioners across fields of work can come together to take care of the different aspects that go into water quality management, such as:

One way of bringing these players together is through building networks. At the moment we have two such networks, that were conceived by Arghyam, and work on the problem of fluoride and arsenic in drinking water.

Over the last five years, these water quality networks have helped to define the water quality problem, connected ideas and individuals, focused on solutions, and fleshed out an approach to mitigate the problem at scale. They have roped in technology enthusiasts to test water quality, medical doctors and nutritionists to design health surveys, communicators to create messaging around the problem, and local nonprofits and the district administration  to lead the planning, execution and monitoring process.

Two organisations, INREM Foundation (who we represent) and SaciWaters, have anchored these networks. Over time, we have understood the importance of an integrated approach to address the water quality problem. We also learnt a few key lessons along the way.

What we learned

This article has been republished with permission from India Development Review (IDR). It was originally published here.

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