Groundwater, typically from borewells, is the main source of drinking water in our villages and small towns. For long thought to be a source of clean water, it no longer is so. Nitrates, fluoride, iron, arsenic, chromium, high salinity and bacteria are quite common in groundwater. How then to provide clean water for drinking and cooking purpose? Those who can afford it buy water treatment systems at the individual household level but what of the larger poorer community?
Enter community water treatment plants. These plants take water from any source, usually borewells, and through a system of Reverse Osmosis clean up the water to make it potable.
At the gram panchayat headquarters near Kanakapura town we stopped by a sleek modern-looking building with a clean glass façade. Inside you could look at stainless drums and various filters. On top of the building was a large HDPE tank storing water. As we watched a young man came in on a moped. He had with him a 20-litre plastic container. He marched purposefully to the water ATM as it called and put in a one-rupee coin. 10 litres of clean water was dispensed by the machine into his plastic container.
Another one rupee and the plastic container was full. He allowed us to take a sip of the water from the tap. It was clear and sweet. Every alternative day, by spending just a rupee, he is able to obtain clean water for all his household requirements. Many in the village make it a daily habit to collect the water.
These water-vending machines are now spreading all over the country. Usually land and a borewell is allotted by a gram panchayat. The capital cost for the machinery can come from MP or MLA funds partially or wholly.
User feeThe operating cost, especially the cost of electricity, is recovered by a user fee. This could be Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 for a 20-litre container of water or even a single rupee for 10 litres of water. This makes it affordable to a large section of the population, though perhaps not everybody.
Is this then the future of clean drinking water in villages? Questions are raised from several fronts. There are those who say water is being commodified and privatised, that water should be a human right and at least the drinking water should come free from the government.
Some argue that the Reverse Osmosis system is flawed and removes even essential minerals from the water and that in the long term this would be bad for health.
Others point out that the waste or reject water from Reverse Osmosis systems containing much of the harmful elements simply ends up in the soil and water nearby, thus causing environmental degradation.
How about the borewell and underground aquifers? What happens when the water runs out? How much profit is the private player exactly making and how is it to be ensured that the monopoly does not cause high, unaffordable prices in the future?
How about cities and towns? Why are people in slums and low income areas being ignored?
There are many worries and issues to be tackled in the future but for now villagers are happy at the clean water that they get. The water ATMs are moving in to fluoride- and arsenic-affected areas and providing succour to those in need.
Will we ensure universal access to this water in all our villages and low-income areas in cities? Will we ensure that prices drop down further and become even more cheaper? Can private players actually make some monies so that they are better able to expand coverage and network? Answers to these questions will determine how India s population has access to safe water.
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