As anybody in the water sector will tell you, the quality and type of instrumentation currently available in the water sector is woefully inadequate. Basic measurements of quantity and quality are difficult. Instruments have to be imported at a high price, maintenance is difficult and expensive, and local products are few and often have reliability issues.
Take the case of water meters. We still have to find a good, reliable instrument which will show the right readings and will not need frequent recalibration. A smart meter which will be electronic and can be read remotely would be of great help. The cost of the meter should also be affordable to the utility or the consumer. Innovation in this regard is crucial.
In apartments, a system of measuring flows in pipes to individual flats is needed. The instrument needs to be clamped on to the outside of the many pipes that deliver water to the flat. This will ensure equity and reward those who consume less, incentivising water conservation. Such an instrument is simply not available in India.
Bulk meters for zonal metering and retail meters help identify the gap between source and consumption, identifying losses in the system. Bulk meters are also difficult to obtain .
Leaks in pipes account for nearly 50 per cent of water pumped into the system. Good leak detection equipment can save millions of litres of water; yet in India it is virtually impossible to find such devices.
Groundwater
India is the largest groundwater user in the world with an estimated usage of 230 cubic kilometres per year. There are more than 25 million wells and borewells in India, according to a recent estimate.
Almost none of them are metered. It is very difficult to find a reliable meter for the two-inch pipes that supply water from borewells. In the absence of such meters there is no exact measure of the water extracted from the aquifer and all measures for sustainable withdrawal of water is approximate and not exact.
Municipalities do not know how much water comes out from individual borewells nor are they able to estimate the cost of groundwater extraction. Cost recovery for even operations and maintenance is therefore not done. We need good quality water meters for our borewells too.
The levels and fluctuation of groundwater provide much data and understanding of the subject. We are yet to find a robust device which indicates water table fluctuation with precision and at short time intervals. Cumbersome devices based on ‘jugaad' have to be used in the absence of such instruments by even our eminent research organisations.
Water quality in India is deteriorating alarmingly as it is affected by human activity. Naturally occurring minerals and salts harmful to human health such as fluoride and arsenic are emerging in many places. In the absence of robust granulated instruments for measuring the occurrence of these chemicals, planning for avoiding harm to human health becomes difficult. Testing is expensive and often unreliable.
There is also much to be said about measuring parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids, Chlorides, Nitrates et al in water which are very important but often neglected. Focusing on developing good R & D and incentivising manufacturers of instruments in the water sector will help manage this scarce resource from the household, to the apartment to the city at all scales.
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