Drinking and other Domestic Uses

Given the many problems associated with flush toilets and the sewerage system, pit toilets offer a viable solution in India. However, the use of soakpits raises the question of groundwater contamination. This paper assesses the impact of pit toilet leachate on groundwater quality in Mulbagal town (pop ~ 60,000) in Karnataka relies on pit toilets, and uses groundwater for drinking.

Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink!  How truly these lines depict the picture of present scenario. There are lots of organizations, people and experts involved in the discussions and making efforts at international level to have safe, sustainable drinking water for all. Yet the efforts are not enough…

The briefing papers include the following:

The newsletter refers to the nationwide campaign carried out by Arghyam, with the aim of creating awareness on water quality issues with a specific focus on fluoride contamination in groundwater sources, by engaging students from across the country in a water quality testing, analysis, and reporting.

In the newsletter, the spotlight is turned on:

The Congress was jointly organised by Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Thiruvananthapuram and the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram 

Inauguration of the conference

Around 350 participants including eminent scientists, agricultural experts and students participated in the event. The conference was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri. Oommen Chandy. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister, highlighted that development and environment were linked and that the approach to the cause of agriculture and environment needed to be realistic since the state could not neglect both development and environment. He also pointed out that Kerala was one state having a very high reputation in preserving and protecting the forest cover, which was much  higher than the national average in the state. This was possible due to the will and awareness of the people of Kerala. He emphasised the need for a more realistic approach to deal with issues related to the agriculture and environment.

Inaugural speech by the Chief Minister of Kerala

Preventing groundwater abuse depends on the users' knowledge of what constitutes this over-exploitation and abuse, and why it is undesirable. The success of APWELL, therefore, depends on participatory hydrological monitoring in which the users were trained in basic hydrology and charged with monitoring the hydrological balance of the watershed.

This document by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation provides essential components that should form part of detailed project report in village/multi village’s rural piped water supply scheme.

The main components of the guidelines include

Introduction

This handbook prepared by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute has eight chapters:

Chapter 1 introduces the objectives and approaches adopted to prepare the handbook.

The report objectives include: