WATER WATCH
 ARE YOU DRINKING SAFE WATER?
Assessing Drinking Water Quality through a network of schools

CLEAN-India monitors the water we drink Some of our water quality monitoring findings Our achievements in water quality monitoring What Can You Do? What Students have to say

Water, not just necessary to life, but rather life itself is being polluted by man. 

Over one billion people lack safe water, 80% of infectious diseases are water borne, killing millions of children each year. Several parts of India are facing an immense challenge to meet the basic needs of water. There arises an urgent need for understanding the status of drinking water quality the related problems and also the reason of the problems. This understanding will help those people, most affected by water quality problems to evaluate and change the situation.

CLEAN-India Monitors The Water We Drink

To understand the prevalent water quality in our country, CLEAN-India has taken up the task of seasonally assessing the drinking water quality, making people aware, and implement possible remedial measures. A key feature of the CLEAN-India approach to water quality monitoring is that groups of students analyze the drinking water quality, investigate the local environment conditions and instigate communities to take actions to solve the problems. Thus CLEAN-India provides a forum for children from across the country to join forces to monitor the quality of water in their respective areas.

Training Students First member students are trained on methods of sample collection and analysis using the Jal-TARA water testing kit. Jal-TARA is an easy to operate water quality testing kit developed by Development Alternatives and can perform basic tests to ensure that water is fit for drinking, domestic and other purposes. The kit can test 14 essential parameters for drinking and river water quality. These include simple tests to assess the levels of specific physical, chemical and biological components.

Sampling and Analyzing Water

The students then collect municipal, ground and surface water samples from various places ranging from slums, low income colonies, market places, religious places, industrial areas, residential colonies to their own school taps. Sample collection is accompanied with recording the details of the environmental condition around the water source to enable them to interpret the results later. The samples are then analyzed for the relevant parameters using the Jal TARA water testing kit. Wherever results are found crossing the permissible limits the samples are validated at Development Alternatives laboratory at Delhi or sent to State Pollution Control laboratory for other CLEAN-India centres. This helps the students in presenting accurate results.

The results are then collated and interpreted so that the students are able to understand the impact of human activities on the quality of water. The process is repeated every season to study the possible changes in water quality in different seasons. Thus, a learning process is imbibed in the students, which helps them draw up linkages between various aspects like human interference, sanitation, water quality and human health.

Feedback to the Community

When any aspect of the quality is found to be undesirable, the results are communicated to residents and other stakeholders in order to make them aware of the problem. Recommendations for safer water are also made by students. These vary as per the persisting problem. It may be as simple as maintaining the sanitation and hygiene around the water source or using chlorine tablets or adopting defloridation techniques or in the worst scenario looking for an alternative source of water.

Intensive Water Quality Monitoring

One of the ways adopted by some schools to spread awareness is by doing intensive water quality monitoring. For example CLEAN-Delhi has done water quality monitoring for more than four years. After monitoring is done for three seasons in a year, one is able to identify the areas where water is consistently found to be contaminated. To find the spread of this contamination, a number of water samples are collected from one area itself, which ensures representation of the entire area. All the samples are then analysed on the spot with the help of a mobile van. This process helps in identifying the extent of the contamination.

Further the results are immediately conveyed to the public along with suggestions on the precautions and possible remedial measures which can be adopted. Chlorine tablets are distributed in areas where Ammonia or bacterial contamination is found. The intensive monitoring also enables public to access the facility of getting their water tested at their doorstep free of cost. At the same time children understand the realities associated with water problems. Students and community then take action to ameliorate the environment quality at different levels.

Some of our Water Quality Monitoring Findings

Jhansi: Municipal Water had bacterial contamination

Lalitpur: All ground water samples tested were found to have nitrate level beyond permissible limits

Kodaikanal: Municipal water in some places has nitrate level beyond permissible limits

Bilaspur: Ground and Municipal water both have nitrate level beyond permissible limits

Dehradun: All water samples tested were safe for drinking.

Berinag: Streams had bacterial contamination due to bathing and washing activities near them

Ladakh: All water samples tested were safe for drinking.

Bangalore: Supply water was safe for drinking but lakes were found to be polluted.

Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon : Ground water or municipal water in many areas found to be contaminated with high Fluoride or high nitrate level or coliform bacteria.

For more details on water quality results click here

During the course of monitoring, the drinking water of a few schools was also found to be of poor quality and the school management since then has been advised of corrective actions.

CLEAN-India's achievements in water quality monitoring

• Students are trained on scientific skills for monitoring the environment quality that enables them to put into practice in real life conditions the theoretical aspects of chemistry that are learnt in the classroom.
• Students also realise the value of clean water leading to its conservation in personal life and water harvesting at school level, etc.
• Regular interactions with the community helps the students understand other related socio-economic factors which effect the water quality.
• More than 200 water quality monitoring stations established in Delhi and similar efforts underway in other CLEAN-India centres.
• Jal Boards, Ground Water Boards helping in taking remedial actions for problematic sites.
• Jal TARA Slow Sand Filter installed in schools and communities  where tap water showed bacterial contamination.

• First of its kind Interactive Digital Water Quality Map

The result of such rigorous monitoring is an interactive Geomatics Information System (GIS) based digital water quality map. The water quality map, developed though the CLEAN-Delhi programme, displays the municipal and ground water quality for different areas in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon. A cumulative index for the water quality has been prepared, which helps the database to grade the quality of water as ‘Safe for use’, ‘Check before use’ and ‘Purify before use’. This is depicted in different colours like GREEN for "safe" , YELLOW for "check" and RED for "purify" so that everybody can relate to it. The water quality map also contains past data and helps in formulation of trends.

CLEAN-India is a nation wide programme with similar efforts being carried out in other towns and cities of the country. In due course, water quality maps will be developed for every CLEAN-India centre. Each centre is doing water quality monitoring as per the requirements of the local environment and initiating relevant action. CLEAN-Shillong conducted a clean-up drive at the Umshyrpi river, which they had been monitoring. People from different communities and age groups participated in this drive. CLEAN-Berinag campaigned to avoid bathing and washing near the water springs.

The students have been deeply involved in this programme since 1996. The momentum that has been built up needs to be harnessed and the student's efforts need to be brought to fruition. Let us all join hands with the children in their noble venture of providing clean water for all. 

Filthy Water cannot be washed! – An African saying

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