Assessment of health impacts of quality water provisioning from groundwater sources: a micro-level study in India

Abstract

Many nations have implemented policies to improve drinking water quality, but challenges arise from overexploited or contaminated groundwater-based sources. This paper aims at examining the aspects of water scarcity, security, and sustainability within an Indian village context. We attempt to compare two rural water supply sources in Nagla Chandi village in Uttar Pradesh, India: (a) untreated groundwater sourced from bore wells and (b) treated water from a reverse osmosis (RO) plant. We observed that subterranean minerals are the primary pollutants of unprocessed water drawn from borewells, which form the main source of drinking water. Even though water from the RO plant meets all the quality parameters of potability, frequent breakdowns of the plant due to improper management force the villagers to drink untreated water from the dug wells fitted with hand pumps, affecting their health. We also found a high incidence of water-borne diseases. The case analysis suggests enhancing village water treatment projects by training local artisans for system repair and increasing Panchayat staff to include trained engineers for technical advice and maintenance. The paper proposes reducing the cost of water testing in rural areas to make it possible for local organizations to regularly assess water quality and implement corrective actions.