Chapter 4 WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

Chapter 4 WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM Water is the basic component of all life and thus availability of water is essential for all living organisms. For human beings, it is not only the availability of water but clean water, low in soluble salts and free from micro organisms is essential. In urban areas, tap water is supplied by the municipal committees/corporations either from underground water resources or from surface water resources. Underground water resources are utilized by drilling tubewells and then pumping into the network of pipes reaching each household. The surface water resources are utilized by storing rain water in lakes, reservoirs or from perennial streams through canals. The surface water is first stored into big tanks and impurities are allowed to settle down. The filtered water is then treated with chlorine and supplied to the households through network of pipes. It has been found out from the survey that on an average, 69 per cent households receive the Corporation water supply whereas the remaining 31 per cent use either handpumps or have installed their own submersible pumps. The 54 th round NSSO data show that 70 per cent of the household in urban India depends on tap water (Municipal Supply), 21.4 per cent on tube well/open wells and the rest on other sources (Bajpai & Bhandari, 2001). However Shaban, (2008) reported that 92 per cent households in the seven major cities of India (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Madurai, Kanpur & Ahmedabad) depends on the municipal supply. Out of the 92 per cent households, 9.5 per cent depends on community taps. The number of households being served water by the respective municipal committees/corporations varied from 12,800 in Faridkot to 2,60,000 in Ludhiana. The water supply system of each city is discussed below: 125

4.1 LUDHIANA In Ludhiana city, the major source of water supply is tubewells. The corporation has installed 715 tubewells out of which 460 are powered by 40 HP electrical motors and 255 are powered by 25 HP motors, which supplies 86 lakh litres per hour. The water is supplied thrice a day i.e. 4 hrs (5-9 a.m.) in the morning, 2 hrs (12-2 p.m.) at mid day and 4 hrs (5-9 p.m.) in the evening (Table 4.1). It has been estimated that corporations supplies 75 percent water of the standard requirement. The average depth of tubewell is 145 metres which makes water free from the surface pollutants which may occur due to seepage of sewerage, industrial or agriculture chemicals. Table 4.1 Water Supply System in 5 cities selected for study. City Depth of Daily Water Source of Water Tubewells Supply Water Supply Charges (Meters) (hrs) Ludhiana Tubewell (715) 145 10 Flate rate/plot charges Jalandhar Tubewell (320) 200 12 Metered Gurdaspur Tubewell (13) 185 11 Flate rate/plot charges Bathinda Canal+Tubewell (3) 66-132 9 Tap wise Faridkot Canal - 2 Tap wise ( ) Number of Tubewells. Normally tubewell water is directly pushed into the distribution system without any or treatment because tubewell water is tested at the time of installation of tubewell both from chemical and biological point of view. If found safe then tubewell is installed. To occasionally disinfect the water supply system the water is chlorinated (Table 4.2). 126

Table 4.2 Measures taken to ensure clean water supply and conservation of water Parameter Disinfection Wastage of water ( percent of total water) Steps for water conservation Rain water Harvesting in new construction > 250 sq. m plot Rules to check wastage Treatment of sewerage water Recycling of waste water Regulating private submersible pumps City Ludhiana Jalandhar Gurdaspur Bathinda Faridkot Occasional Occasional Occasional 8 25-30 50 Educating people through media Yes Yes (Penalty imposed on defaulter) Awareness of users Fixing taps in public stand posts Yes mandatory Yes (Penalty imposed on defaulter) Awareness of users Filtration Data not available Awareness of users Filtration Data not available No programme Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No In progress In progress No No No No No No No No The water charges are taken from the users on flat rate basis. However, it varies with the size of plot. The water charges are Rs. 200/- p.m. for <125 sq.mt. plot and goes upto Rs. 350/- for plot size of more than 500 sq.m. (Table 4.3). In the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation award winner water supply project, compulsory 127

metered connections were approved for urban areas, slums and gaothan areas in 1999 itself. Subsequently meters were installed at all residential connections enabling the corporation to provide 24x7 water supplies for the entire city. Ultrasonic electromagnetic insertion type and mechanical type flow meters were installed at 62 control points for continuous monitoring. A system for conducting daily water audits was adopted which minimized the water losses of the corporation and allowed accountability of the water received as well as distributed everyday (Anonymous 2008a). The shift form intermittent to continuous water supplies reduced water contamination and led to better health conditions. This in turn increased consumer s satisfaction and enhanced consumer s willingness to pay water bills even in slum pockets. This initiative has increased the cost recovery of water supply in Badlapur from 75 to 90 per cent (Anonymous 2008b). Table 4.3 Water Charges for Corporation Supply (Rs / month) Plot Size (sq. m) City Ludhiana Jalandhar Gurdaspur Bathinda Faridkot <125 200 Metered 80 Tapwise Tapwise 125-250 210 Supply @ 110 1 st tap Rs. 1 st tap Rs. 250-500 280 Rs. 3.80/kl 175 20.00 2 nd tap 20.00 2 nd tap >500 350 175 Rs. 7.50 3 rd onwards Rs. 4.00 per tap per month Rs. 7.50 3 rd onwards Rs. 4.00 per tap per month The corporation estimates that 8 percent water pumped into the system goes waste due to leakage of pipes and open taps at public places. This wastage is much less as compared to the earlier study reported losses from 25 to 50 due to poor maintenace of transmission and distribution net work and leaking public supply taps in parks, public toilets, bus stand, hospitals etc. Low pressure and intermittent supplies allow back siphoning which results in the contamination of water in the distribution net work. 128

4.2 JALANDHAR Jalandhar city was the second largest city selected for the study. The population is literate with an education index of 2.0, only 27 per cent were matriculates the rest were graduates, postgraduates and professional. The source of urban water supply is tubewells. There are 320 tubewells with a total discharge of 250 mld. The tubewells draw water from a depth of 200 m (Table 4.1). The tubewell supply water for 12 hrs a day, 5 hrs in the morning, 5 hrs in the evening and 2 hrs at noon, which means that water supply hours at Jalandhar are two hours more than in Ludhiana. The water is not given any kind of treatment before pumping into the system because water is drawn from greater depth and pre-tested for chemical and biological properties is considered safe for drinking. The corporation is not regulating the installation of private submersible pumps in the city. The water supply is metred and charges are received at the rate of Rs. 3.80 per kl for domestic purposes and Rs. 7.60 per kl for commercial purposes (Table 4.3). The corporation estimates that 25 to 35 percent water goes waste etc and even within households itself taps in lawns are left open as the supply is not round the clock and the tap starts leaking when the supply comes next time. The steps being taken by the corporation to avoid wastage are awareness of the user s through print and electronic media at state level and fixing taps/valves at public water supply posts. The penalty is also imposed by the corporation whenever they found that water is wasted. The waste water is treated in the sewerage plants installed by the corporations before its disposal into streams or used for irrigation. The installation of rain water harvesting units is compulsory in the new constructions and the harvested water is used for recharging the ground water. 4.3 GURDASPUR Gurdaspur is a smallest town as compared to Ludhiana and Jalandhar and is located in the north of the state. The total population of the district as per 2000-2001 census was 3.35 lakh out of which only 25 per cent was urban. The municipal 129

committee supplies water to 14,481 households. The city water supply is through 13 tube wells of 27 BHP capacity. The depth of tube wells was 185 m (Table 4.1). To disinfects the water supply system, occasional chlorine treatment was given. The Municipal Committee is not regulating the installation of private pumps nor has any data regarding the number of pumps. The user charges are collected on the basis of plot size viz 80 Rs/month for 125 sq m plot, Rs 110 per month for 250 sq m. and Rs. 175 per month for >250 sq m. The water is supplied 11 hours a day (Table 4.3). The Municipal Corporation estimates that 50 percent water supplied goes waste due to leakage in pipes or open/leaking taps at public places i.e. parks, bus stand, government offices, municipal toilets etc but no regulation has been drafted or implemented to check the wastage of water. Only occasional awareness camps or posters are organized for the general public to save water. The sewerage water is not treated before its disposal to drains and use for irrigation around the periphery of the town. The raw untreated water used for irrigation is potential health hazard but since the town is small and there is no industry worth mentioning in the town. Therefore municipal committee s resources are not sufficient to install water treatment plants. In the democratic system no authority wants to annoy the voters by imposing taxes on public utilities. Similarly the water harvesting structures are mandatory for newly constructed houses and only those plans are approved which include water harvesting structures but in practice these structures are never constructed and no penalty is imposed for non compliance. 4.4 BATHINDA Bathinda is located on the South east side of the state and the annual rainfall is only 40 cm and temperature is as high as 47 o C is quite common in the month of June. The sand laden strong winds from Rajasthan side in the month of May and June create hot and dry conditions. The underground water is high in salt content and thus unfit for domestic use as such. So the major source of water supply to the residents is canal water which supplies 40 million litres per day when the water is flowing in the canal. Though canal is perennial but canal closures are there due to inadequate supply of 130

water from the Bhakhra Dam. The canal supply is supplemented through three tubewells installed at a depth ranging from 66 to 130 m where the water quality was found better. The numbers of households receiving water are 27,472. The Corporation has no data regarding the hand pumps or submersible pumps installed by domestic users. Since canal water contains lot of impurities it is filtered to remove impurities and alum is also added to coagulate the finer clay particles. The filtered water is then treated with chlorine to free the water for microorganisms. The supply of water to the residents was variable and depended upon the availability of water in the filtration cum storage tanks. The supply varied from 2 to 5 hrs in the morning and 2 to 4 hrs in the evening. No mid day supply was available. The corporation officials admit the wastage of water but did not estimate the same in quantitative figures but suggest that metred supply will help in checking the wastage of water. The corporation has not framed any rules to check water wastage such as washing of vehicles and passages. The water supply is charged on flat rate basis on the number of taps in each household. The first tap is charged at Rs 20/- per month, second tap at Rs. 7.50/- per month, third and subsequent ones at Rs. 4/- per month. The Corporation at present has no plan to recycle the waste water and redistribute for specific purposes. However the corporation promotes the installation of water harvesting structures at household level. The corporation approve only those building plans in which water harvesting tanks are provided. 4.5 FARIDKOT Faridkot is located on the South-western side of Punjab and falls in zone IV of agroclimate region of Punjab. The rainfall is only 40 cm but passing of Rajasthan canal and Sirhind feeder from the North-eastern side of the town has raised the water table significantly. The domestic water supply to the town is from canal water which is filtered and treated with alum and chlorine and supplied to the consumers. The water supply is only for 2 hrs a day which is supplied zone wise at different timings in the city (Table 4.1). Thus people have to make their own stand by arrangements. The 131

supply hours were minimum among the five towns studied. The number of households covered were 12,800/- the water charges are flat rate on the basis of number of taps i.e. Rs. 20/- for first tap; Rs. 7.50 for second tap and Rs. 4.00 for subsequent taps (Table 4.3). The municipal committee has no data regarding wastage of water in the supply system. The committee has not framed any rules to check the wastage of water. The sewerage water flows as such in drains and no treatment is given before its disposal. The committee has made it mandatory to include water harvesting structures in new houses/building. No plan is approved without water harvesting structures. 4.6 CONCLUSION To conclude it can be said that Municipal Corporation/Committee supplies tube well/canal water depending upon the quality of underground water. In cities where underground water is of good quality tube well water is supplied. In cities where the tube well water is supplied the water supply hours remained 10 to 12 hrs per days in three shifts. In two cities where canal water is supplied the supply hours are reduced and varied from 2 to 9 hrs depending upon the availability of water in the canal. Zerah (2000) reported that within the city of Delhi the water supply varied from 4 to 24 hours. McIntosh (2003) noted that consumers without 24 hours water supply tend to use more water than with continuous supply because consumer tend to store water which they throw away to replace with fresh supply each day. The water charges are flat rate either on the basis of house size or on the basis of number of taps. Only in Jalandhar water supply is metred. The sewerage treatment plants are also only in two cities, in remaining three cities the raw sewerage flows into drains. There is no data base for private water supply. The regulation to avoid wastage of water is also in Jalandhar and Ludhiana. However in all the five towns the water harvesting structures are mandatory included in the building plan. In a nutshell the corporations are taking note of increasing demand and decreasing water supply and try to effect economy on water use. The interdependencies between water, health, well being and economic growth make it clear that water services policy and practices should not be viewed in 132

isolation but seen as an integral part of social and economic development and the creation of liveable and sustainable cities. This will require an intersectoral, cooperative approach to planning and management across the urbanized area. Such an approach is also necessary because urban water service problems are not the result of some inherent properties of the services but are products of urban governance, the availability of human and economic capital and the politics governing resource allocations between sectors and social groups. In other words, water problems will not be solved by sector professionals acting alone but will need to involve those with the power and authority to manage urban development, those responsible for priority setting and resource allocations at both the national and local scales, and those charged with mitigating the unwelcome consequences of urban growth. 4.7 REFERENCES 1. Anonymous., (2008a) From Intermittent to Continuous Water Supply, ASCI Journal of Management, 38(1): 94-97. 2. Anonymous., (2008b) Implementing a Continuous (24x7) Water Supply System by Navi Mumbai Muncipal Corporation, ASCI, Journal of Management, 38(1): 101-104. 3. Bajpai, P. and Bhandari, L., (2001) Ensuring Access to Water in Urban Households, Economic and Political Weekly. September 29: 3774-78 4. McIntosh, Arthur C., (2003) Asian Water Supplies: Reaching the Urban Poor, Asian Development Bank and IWA Publishing, London. 5. Shaban, Abdul., (2008) Water Poverty in Urban India : A study of major cities, Seminar paper UGC Summer Programme, June 30 July 19, 2008 6. Zerah, Marie-Helene., (2000) Water: Unreliable Supply in Delhi. Manohar, Centre de Science Humanities, Delhi 133