Toxic Water: Selling Pipe Dreams in Murky Waters

For communities starved of safe drinking water—in fact, water—the government’s declaration to provide safe drinking water to all by 2024 is the stuff dreams are made of.

In December 2019, after the huge political furore on the suspect quality provided by the Delhi government, which did not meet the BIS standards, the Minister of Consumer Affairs announced that piped water supply would have to meet BIS standards. The ministry has also communicated to the Jal Shakti Ministry to adopt the BIS standards for drinking water for the drinking water program.

The Bureau of Indian Standards or BIS is the national body established for standardisation, marking and quality-certification of goods. In the case of drinking water, the standard to be adopted is the BIS code IS 10500: 2012.

This code includes a complex set of parameters such as colour, taste, acidity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, inorganic elements ranging from aluminum to zinc, toxic substances such as cadmium, cyanide, lead and mercury, pesticides and other organic compounds, radioactive substances, E.Coli and other biological contaminants, and more. The code mentions a list of 64 items to which drinking water has to comply.

While this is a long list, so is the list of pollutants and contaminant found in water, some of which are not even included in the BIS wish list.

Reality:

• In October 2019, the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) found dangerous levels of uranium concentration in the groundwater samples tested in the Lambapur-Peddagattu region of Nalgonda district in Telangana, known for its uranium deposits. These findings came amidst vocal concerns of high uranium levels in Tummalapalle, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, where uranium is being mined.

• Uranium contamination has been reported in Punjab since the early 1990s and in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Consumption of uranium causes kidney problems. Uranium is not monitored under the BIS code.

• In 2018, the Central Water Commission brought out a report sharing the findings of water quality vis-à-vis toxic metals in 16 river basins of India. Toxic metals found in these river basins included cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead and nickel. These figure on the BIS drinking water code.

• More than 82,000 rural habitations, home to some 45 million people, are exposed to excessive salinity, iron, fluoride, arsenic and nitrate.

Reports indicate that almost 80% of surface water in India is contaminated and a growing percentage of groundwater reserves are contaminated with biological, toxic, organic and inorganic pollutants, due to deficiencies in wastewater treatment and over-extraction. Studies indicate high levels of chromium and other industrial pollutants in Ganga waters. Medical research informs that people living along the Ganga river are more prone to cancer because of the pollutants in the water.

The main source of pollution in addition to domestic sewage—a mere 26% of the 27,000 million litres of sewage generated per day is treated before being disposed in water bodies—is agricultural runoff and industrial production.

Polluting industries such as distilleries, dye manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, fertilisers, soft drinks, ferro alloys, tanneries, chemical manufacturing and paper and pulp mills, electroplating, steel and aluminum manufacturing, and chromite and coal mining have polluted water resources with similar potential life threatening repercussions. Reluctant to invest in wastewater treatment, some companies have also engaged in reverse pumping of polluted water into the ground.

As per the Jal Shakti Ministry’s website, the National Rural Drinking Water Programme defines drinking water to be contaminated if the water is biologically contaminated or if it contains chemical contamination exceeding permissible limits. The list of water quality parameters they adopt include pH, arsenic, fluoride, total dissolved solids, E.Coli, nitrates, calcium, iron, magnesium, sulphate, alkalinity and turbidity. These standards are also not mandatory. More importantly, does this include the list of all poisons found in water sources?

Consumption of contaminated water has serious and often inter-generational effects. Groundwater is a critical source of drinking water, especially in rural India. Other quality issues already faced rural include excessive fluoride in groundwater in 20 states, which cause deformities in bones and teeth. Arsenic is found in seven states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Chhattisgarh. Harmful effects of arsenic consumption include bladder, lung, liver and skin cancer, heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

A commitment of allocating Rs 3.5 lakh crore for rural drinking water supply was made for achieving ‘har ghar nal se jal’ (functional tap water in every home) for rural India by 2024, that is, by the end of five years. On an average, this would mean an allocation of Rs 70,000 crore per year. The budgeted estimates as per the Union Budget documents of the Ministry of Finance is Rs 10,001 crore. No figures are available as to the expenditure made so far, nor are any guidelines available in the public domain.

The main economic burden associated with water pollution is the cost of cleanup and addressing the impact on human health. Unfortunately, in most studies, the health burden estimation costs have focused on domestic pollution.

According to estimates given by Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research (IGIDR) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in a hypothetical situation wherein all industries were complying with the existing pollution standards, industries will have to spend around 2-5% of their capital investment on pollution control. According to these estimates, the annual operating costs will be between 15-20% of the investment made on the treatment facilities.

The issue of water quality has now reached dangerous levels and needs a completely new perspective to address it. Water poisoning needs to be addressed on a war footing and will require a mix of technological, financial, institutional and social measures. This will include rethinking development, how a "Rs 3 trillion economy" is going to be achieved, adopting preventive approaches, polluter-pays principle and giving a careful thought and a time bound plan on how these are going to be addressed in the long run.

But first, acknowledge the problem. This itself will be a big step in the right direction. Or safe drinking water will remain a pipe dream for the people, and a rude one at that.

The writer has worked for more than 20 years on water resources and is now associated with the Safai Karmachari Andolan and the Tarun Bharat Sangh. The views are personal.