What Wat-err?

Water Is Precious

Water is precious,
So its use should be judicious,
Lets be extra cautious
And never we will be oblivious.
To preserve the hopes of nature,
Conserve it and rapture,
Instead of share and care,
If we allow wear and tear,
Indeed there will be no more cheer.
So let us pleadge
" EVERY DROP OF WATER
IS OUR BLOOD ,
WE WILL CONSERVE,
SHARE AND CARE IT,
WE HAVE THE FORSIGHT
AND VISION
THE FOCAL SCIENCE OF THIS
WILL BE OUR MISSION."

Ritika Sahni
St.Mark’s Sr. Sec. Public school, Delhi

Water is essential for our very existence. Over one billion people round the world lack safe water, 80% of infectious diseases are water borne killing millions of children each year. There arises an urgent need for understanding the status of drinking water quality and its management.

Thus, to understand the prevalent water quality in our country, CLEAN-India, a nation wide environment assessment, awareness and action programme for school children has taken up the task of seasonally assessing the drinking water quality, making people aware, and implement possible remedial measures.

The programme involves school children as the best medium of information gathering and dissemination. With a vision to make the future citizens understand the importance of good quality water, CLEAN-India member students are trained to monitor the drinking water quality and on using Jal TARA water testing kit. Jal TARA is an easy to operate water quality testing kit developed by Development Alternatives and can perform basic tests to ensure that water is fit for drinking, domestic and other purposes. The kit can test 14 essential parameters for drinking and river water quality. These include simple tests to assess the levels of specific physical, chemical and biological components.

Students collect municipal and ground water samples from various places like slums, low income colonies, market places, religious places, industrial areas and residential colonies.

The children also take note of the local environment conditions to enable them to interpret the results later. The samples are then analysed for the relevant parameters using the Jal TARA water testing kit. A few essential tests are performed at the site itself. Wherever results are found exceeding the permissible limits the samples are validated at Development Alternatives laboratory or sent to Pollution Control Board laboratories. This helps the students in presenting accurate results.

Then, the results are collated and interpreted so that the students are able to understand the impact of human activities on the quality of water. The process is repeated every season to study the possible changes in water quality in different seasons. Thus, a learning process is imbibed in the students, which helps them draw up linkages between various aspects like human interference, sanitation, water quality and human health.

Feedback to the community

When any aspect of the quality is found to be undesirable, the results are communicated to residents and other stakeholders in order to make them aware of the problem. For poor quality water, the steps recommended by students can be as simple as boiling water at home to getting the leaking water pipelines repaired / replaced at both the household and community levels, etc.

The Objectives of water quality monitoring:

1 generate a database on the quality of drinking water
2 make communities aware of the status of their drinking water quality
3 to provide required information and knowledge to help people understand their water related problems and thereby take necessary remedial actions

Intensive Water Quality Monitoring:
One of the ways adopted by Delhi schools to spread awareness was to do intensive water quality monitoring. Delhi being the pioneer has done monitoring for more than four years. After the monitoring for one year i.e. three seasons, one is able to identify the areas where water is consistently found to be contaminated. To find the spread of this contamination, a number of water samples are collected from one area itself, which ensures representation of the entire area. All the samples are then analysed on the spot with the help of the mobile laboratory. This process helps in identifying the extent of the contamination.

Further, the results are immediately conveyed to the public along with suggestions on the precautions and possible remedial measures which can be adopted. Chlorine tablets are distributed in areas where Ammonia or bacterial contamination is found. Intensive monitoring also enables public access to the facility of getting their water tested at their doorstep free of cost. At the same time children understand the realities associated with water problems. Students and communities then take action to ameliorate the environment quality at different levels.

Achievements of CLEN-India in water quality monitoring

q Students trained on scientific skills for monitoring the environment quality that enables them to put into practice in real life conditions the theoretical aspects of chemistry that are learnt in the classroom.

q More than 200 water quality monitoring stations have been established in Delhi and similar efforts initiated in other CLEAN-India centres.

q Students also realise the value of clean water leading to its conservation for domestic use and water harvesting at school level, etc.

q Regular interactions with the communities helps the students understand other related socio-economic factors which effect water quality.

q In the public hearing forum during the 4th CLEAN-India MEET officials of Delhi Jal Board, Ground Water Board and other concerned authorities promised support to the children in taking remedial actions for problematic sites.

q Jal TARA Slow Sand Filter was installed in a member school where the school water tap showed bacterial contamination.

q Interactive Digital Water Quality Map for Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon

The result of such rigorous monitoring is an interactive Geomatics Informtaion System (GIS) based digital water quality map. The water quality map developed through the CLEAN-Delhi programme displays the municipal and ground water quality for different areas in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon. A cumulative index for the water quality has been prepared which helps the database to grade the quality of water as ‘Safe for use’, ‘Check before use’ and ‘Purify before use’. This is depicted in different colours like green for safe, yellow for check before use and red for purify so that anybody can relate to it. The water quality map also contains past data and therein helps in formulation of trends. The map is proposed to be put up at public places like airports, railway stations, schools, hospitals etc. from where it can be easily accessed by larger public. The water quality map for the regions will shortly be available in CD’s. This will help provide information on the prevailing quality of water to the concerned citizens through continuous monitoring.

CLEAN-India is a nation wide programme with similar efforts being carried out in 17 more towns and cities of the country ranging from Ladakh in north to Nagercoil in South. Water quality maps are also being developed for other CLEAN-India centres. Meanwhile each centre is doing water quality monitoring as per the requirements of the local environment and initiating relevant actions. CLEAN-Shillong conducted a clean up drive at the Umshyrpi river which they had been monitoring. People from different communities and age groups participated in this drive. CLEAN-Berinag campaigned to avoid bathing and washing activities near the water springs.

The children have been deeply involved in this programme since 1996. The momentum that has been built up in this programme needs to be harnessed and the students efforts need to be brought to fruition. It is time that all of us join them in their endeavour for clean water for all.

....Testing water samples was an all together different experience. We collected the water samples from various sites. We learnt of the various processes by which water quality could be tested and we were shocked to see the results in some samples. Now was the time to take some action and CLEAN-India, once again was the driving force behind us. We went to the affected areas, distributed chlorine tablets and made the people aware about the deteriorating water quality in their area. After experiencing all this we realised that it was the carelessness of the authorities and even the people due to which the lives of many people were at stake. We got in touch with the authorities who were responsible for this negligence and urged them to be more conscientious in their duty.

Salony Kapoor, Akanksha Jain, Class X,
Amity International School, Noida

A small Initiative

As a part of the environment programme in our school, children have been testing the quality of water in selected areas of Gurgaon. Our results showed that in one of the villages called Nathupur the water quality was not as per the prescribed standards. To make the local people aware about the bad water quality, a group of students from our school visited the village. The children spoke to the local people and also interacted with the village school children. They also distributed pamphlets containing information on water contamination and its remedial measures and also suggested simple measures like boiling and chlorinating. Chlorine tablets were distributed. This visit started off a new relationship between the villagers and our school children. We have started visiting the village regularly and interacting with the local school children on various issues like environment, pollution, possible ways of water purification etc. The village children were also taught how to make mini water filters using bucket and filter candle. This interaction with the village children has been an eye-opener which has enabled them to practically look into the problems and also understand the need of finding solutions jointly for both urban and rural areas.

The Sri Ram School, Gurgaon

By: TN Anuradha,
CLEAN-India,
Development Alternatives

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