Water pollution, unavailability of drinking water, inadequate sanitation, open dumping of wastes, loss of forest cover are some of the problems faced by many parts of India. Heavy toll of infant mortality due to water borne diseases, the daily struggle for procuring water, mismanagement of waste water, improper sanitation are common features and are leading to serious consequences on human health and the economy of the country.

The situation demands immediate intervention in the management of these rapidly growing problems, especially through an integrated approach for water, sanitation and related issues. What is required is a community based problem solving approach to help the community groups understand local issues and take necessary initiatives to improve their local conditions.

The CLEAN-India programme spread across 78 Indian towns and cities, serves as a platform for taking community based remedial actions for drinking water conservation, augmentation and quality improvement. Some initiatives of CLEAN-India in the various parts of the country are listed below:

Tap Water and Roof top Rain Water Harvesting: Many schools in the CLEAN cities and towns have channelized the waste water from water drinking points/taps to gardens or are diverting the water for ground water recharge. Roof top rain water harvesting is also being taken up as a major measure.

Tippy Tap for water conservation: An initiative of CLEAN-Mysore, Tippy Tap is a simple device which dispenses a limited amount of water slowly and facilitates a thorough hand wash. In case of piped water supply, every time the tap is opened for a hand wash, an average of 300 - 500 ml of water is utilized. Using Tippy Tap it is possible to have a good hand wash with only 60 to 80 ml of water, thus conserving water to a large extent.

Propagation of Dry Garden / Eco Lawns: As a step towards water conservation and propagation of native plant species, drought resistant plantation (plants requiring less water) has been carried out in one of the schools of CLEAN-Delhi.

Soak pit construction: Water run offs and water logging are combated by constructing soak pits near water points like hand pumps. This is a sanitation measure and also helps in recharge of ground water. CLEAN- Amreli, Jhansi, Varanasi are some centres where such initiatives have been taken.

Tree plantation in water catchment area / river banks and Clean-up drives near water bodies are some of the other initiatives taken up to preserve our water resources.

Maintaining the quality of drinking water is of prime importance to ensure safe drinking water to the end consumer. The best way to ensure that drinking water is safe is to either protect it from contamination or treat it before use and maintain the quality till consumption.

There are basic treatment methods like boiling, sedimentation, filtration and chlorination which can be applied for any kind of water but specific purification technologies exist as per the contaminants and their extent of pollution in water.

Hence, incorporation of purification techniques would depend on:

FLUORIDE IN WATER ?

Sources: Sources of fluoride may be geological or anthropogenic (man-made). Weathering of fluoride bearing minerals (Fluorite, Fluorspar, Cryolite, Fluorapatite, Ralstonite and others) in the earth’s crust can lead to higher fluoride levels in groundwater. Further, overexploitation of Ground Water aggravates the problem of F concentration in water even more. Man made sources include fluorides added to certain pharmaceutical products (for treating hyperthyroidism), medicines, tooth pastes, insecticides, disinfectants, preservatives, super phosphate fertilizer, vitamin supplements and others. Health Effects: Long term excess fluoride intake (more than 1.5 mg/l) leads to 3 types of abnormalities l Dental fluorosis (teeth): Leads to damaged, discoloured teeth as fluoride poisons the enamel forming cells. l Skeletal fluorosis (bones): Leads to backache, pain in neck, shoulders and knee joints. In higher concentrations, it leads to crippling disease. l Non Skeleton manifestations (soft tissue and organs): Muscle fatigue, stomach problems, anemia, neurological manifestations. Detection: The permissible limit for Fluoride in water, according to WHO is 1.5 mg/l. The Jal TARA Fluoride testing kit helps detect Fluoride in water (refer back page) Drinking water treatment: One of the options for treatment of fluoride in water in the rural set up is the use of Domestic Defluoridation Units (DDUs). Treatment may be based on the principle of adsorption using Activated Alumina technology or Nalgonda technology. Hand pump attached systems can also be incorporated at the community level. For more details mail us at temf@devalt.org

ARSENIC IN WATER ?

Sources: It is naturally present in the earth’s crust. It may be found in water which has flowed through arsenic rich rocks. There are many hypotheses available for presence of Arsenic in water especially with the rising concern of its spread in the Gangetic basin. Deltaic and alluvial silts are also known to contain arsenic bearing rocks. Industrial effluents too contribute arsenic to water in some areas. Health effects: Symptoms of acute arsenic poisoning typically include vomiting, oesophagal and abdominal pain, and bloody "rice water" diarrhoea. Long-term exposure to arsenic via drinking-water causes cancer of the skin, lungs, urinary bladder, and kidney, as well as other skin changes such as pigmentation changes and thickening (hyperkeratosis) and ultimately leading to gangrene. Detection: The permissible limit for Arsenic in water, according to WHO is 10 parts per billion. The Jal TARA Arsenic testing kit helps detect Arsenic in water (refer back page) Drinking water treatment: One of the systems available for the rural set up is the 3 pot/ Kalshi system. The topmost pot is filled with Iron filings and coarse sand, the middle pot consists of fine sand and wood charcoal while the last pot serves as the collector of treated water. Other than these, there are also available Household Biosand Filters (HBF) and Domestic Activated Alumina based filters for Arsenic removal. For more details mail us at temf@devalt.org

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