Rural Solutions

Water problem in Rural India
In the list of 122 countries rated on quality of portable water, India ranks a lowly 120. Although India has 4% of the world's water, studies show average availability is shrinking steadily. It is estimated that by 2020, India will become a water-stressed nation. Nearly 50% of villages still don't have any source of protected drinking water.

The ground reality is that of the 1.42 million villages in India, 1,95,813 are affected by chemical contamination of water. The quality of ground water which accounts of more than 85% of domestic supply is a major problem in many areas as none of the rivers have water fit to drink.

37.7 million People – over 75% of whom are children are afflicted by waterborne diseases every year. Overdependence on groundwater has brought in contaminants, fluoride being one of them. Nearly 66 million people in 20 states are at risk because of the excessive fluoride in water. While the permissible limit of fluoride in water is 1mg per litre in certain states it is as high as 48 mg in some places. Nearly 6 million children below 14 suffer from dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis.

Arsenic is the other big killer lurking in ground water putting at risk nearly 10 million people. The problem is acute in Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Paraganas, Malda and Vardhaman districts of West Bengal. The deeper aquifers in the entire Gangetic plains contain arsenic. High nitrate content in water is another serious concern. Fertilizers, septic tanks, sewage tanks etc are the main sources of nitrate contamination. The groundwater in MP, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kanataka and Tamil Nadu has shown traces of nitrates.

Another major rural water quality problem which is wide spread in India is bacteriological contamination which leads to diarrhoea, cholera and hepatitis.

Iron, hardness and salinity are also a concern. Nearly 12,500 habitats have been affected by salinity. In Gujarat it is a major problem in coastel districts. Often babies die of dehydration and there are major fights in villages for freshwater. Some villages have seen 80% migration due to high salinity.

Health is not the only issue; impure water is a major burden on the state as well. It is the poor who pay a heavier price spending around Rs 6700 crore annually on treatment of waterborne diseases. There is an urgent need to look for solutions for providing safe drinking water in places where water quality has deteriorated sharply.

Rural Water Quality Value Chain

Ground water being a major source for villages, the water quality herein is affected by bacteriological and chemical contaminants. The major rural water contaminants affecting the water quality are depicted in the graphic below :


Rite Water's portfolio of process technologies for addressing Rural Water Quality includes :
• Electrolytic Fluoride Removal Systems
• Salinity Removal Systems
• Iron Removal Systems
• Arsenic Removal Systems
• Electro Chlorination systems for disinfection