Are we running away from Water?

The question raised in the BBC world debate in Singapore, “Are we running out of water?” is quite significant but the answer was a clear “No”. However a related question, I feel, the concerned authority for water and sanitation in the developing world should ponder, is whether enough effort is being directed to tackle the issue of controlling water supply and demand. Stop beating around the bush and get to the point?

Well, there are two issues. The first being the right to water and the associated plethora of similar social and economic issues associated with recycling and supply; and the other, of drawing the fine line between right and luxury. Do not get me wrong here, but as it stands today the definition of basic requirement of 133 lpcd^[1] is quite a luxury and the offence, of failing to supply even a drop to certain section of population, is heinous.

Let me ask you something; how much water do you drink a day? Well say at most 10 liters^[2]; and these 10 liters if you demand that you be provided with the best of quality and that too consistently and you prefer the “old” and not the “Newwater”^[1] then are you asking for too much? If you assert that it is indeed the obligation of the state to meet your demands; I would agree that you are not wrong.

So a shift in the focus, as rightly brought out in the debate, is indeed essential; but I would argue for something a bit different. The two requirements of water for sanitation and drinking water supply and distribution may best be handled by a corporatized and regionalized national public sector organization with two “parallel” distribution infrastructures.

The primary mission of the organization should be in the lines of providing the bare minimum and only the bare minimum requirement, say 20 lpcd^[2] of water of the best possible quality to “all the people” all through the day. The quantity of consumption to be strictly metered; and pricing through a slab system which, within the limits, suitably subsidizes the lower consumers and above limits economically prohibits the larger consumers, which usually are VIPs, hotels^[3], from further use. (Of course it can be argued that this will, to an extent, deter economic development.)

The above strategy promises four benefits; one it will moderate consumption and may achieve the impossible but much needed^[3] “equalization of consumption”. Two, it will make recycling and other conservation technologies, previously economically infeasible, feasible. This is bound to promote sustainable utilization. The third benefit would be in the lines of increasing the quality as the quantity demanded reduces. The fourth and the final is to improve seasonal availability on account of better regional sharing as the quantity is lower; plus a national body is in charge.

But yes, this leaves us with a lot of problems as well, in the lines of installation, starting with the additional cost involved in a parallel system. Note here that a majority of the cost of “digging and putting the pipes”^[1] ,which is visible as the prohibitive factor, is in the “digging” and this means that parallel systems may prove feasible for new city/rural supply developments, though implementation for existing localities may prove economically prohibitive. Another issue would be as to how to meet the “additional” demand. This is where the second “money making” role of the government organization comes in; it will provide water treated to less stringent standards to private players at a suitable margin, and perhaps to larger consumers (hotels etc), who will in turn treat it to the standards demanded by the consumers and in turn sell them profitably.

Reference

[1] BBC World Debate, Water

[2] Minimum water quantity needed for domestic uses, WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia

[3] 30 litres for some, 1,600 for others: Inequities in Delhi's water supply, By Arun Kumar Singh; infochange

[4] Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Rural Development Govt. of India, http://ddws.nic.in/ [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_India