Journal of Water Resource Research and Development Volume 3 Issue 2 Feasibility Study on Rural Water Infrastructure Preethikha S.1*, Karthigai Priya T.2 1M.E. Student, Infrastructure Engineering and Management, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. 2Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. *Corresponding Author E-mail Id:[email protected] ABSTRACT Water is the basic element for human survival and development, and access to safe drinking water has been a vital national goal in rural areas. Sufficient, safe, continuously-available drinking water services are important for human health, well-being and development. In the rural regions of India, due to the drought climate, scarce water resources, economic status and technology, the problem of drinking water has been seriously endangered the health of the people, and hindered the development of the socio-economic status of people. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require nations to ensure adequate and safe water supply for all. The objective of the paper is to assess the current water supply status and the water quality in rural study area with various types of water supply. The water sample of various available sources is collected and tested for its quality. Further the study was performed by means of questionnaire. The results from the study is seen as initial guidelines that can help to formulate strategies and to perform a feasibility study to select an appropriate and sustainable technique for providing safe drinking through adopting low cost technique with less dependency on labour so that the cost of supply is also minimum and affordable. A Simple and inexpensive, on-site water filtration technology is proposed for removal of micro-organisms that pose significant health risks in underdeveloped, rural areas. Thus, this study proposes an effective filtration technique for providing drinking water for rural household at affordable cost and with long term sustainability. Keywords:-Access to water, drinking water source, perceived water quality, reliability of supply systems, volume of water consumption. INTRODUCTION water supply in India. The local Water is an indispensable natural resource government institutions in charge of for access to water, drinking water source, operating and maintaining the perceived water quality, reliability of infrastructure are seen as weak and lack of supply systems, and volume of water financial resources to carry out their consumption. The survival and wellbeing functions. Various factors may contribute of humankind. Globally, 844 million to the difficulty in developing sustainable people lack access to clean water. Among rural water supply systems. The rural which 79% lives in rural areas and are of communities are likely to be less capable low-income group. The rural population of achieving economies of scale in water lack access to basic water supply needs supply. At the same time, households and which results in tremendous human health in rural areas may have more limited and economic loss. Rapid improvements capacity than wealthier urbanites to raise are being made in augmenting drinking the capital needed for water infrastructure. HBRP Publication Page 1-6 2020. All Rights Reserved Page 1 Journal of Water Resource Research and Development Volume 3 Issue 2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and Maintenance (O&M) of rural water GOAL (SDG) supply schemes. The Sustainable Development Goals framed on 25 September 2015 have IMPACT DUE TO ECONOMIC committed the international community to FACTOR expand international cooperation and Household income certainly has an impact capacity building on water and sanitation on domestic water needs in rural areas. In related activities and programmes, and also order to have a reliable water supply, they to support local communities in improving also tend to depend on low cost and water and sanitation management by 2030. sustainable water supply sacrificing the quality of water which in turn increases Realizing the importance of water and health risk in rural people. Developing sanitation the global community, has led to own sources of water, reduces the a dedicated SDG on water and sanitation – household’s dependence on public water the SDG 6, which aims “to ensure supply which is irregular and it provides availability and sustainable management of them with an option of accessing multiple water and sanitation for all.” Through this water sources. Almost every household Goal 6, the countries of the world have with low incomes or those below poverty resolved to achieve universal access to safe lines mostly depend on purchased water drinking water and adequate sanitation and for meeting their water demand. hygiene to all in the next fifteen years. LITERATURE REVIEW RURAL WATER SUPPLY Andy Neupane et al., (2018) This paper is CHALLENGES AND SCHEMES IN about the different aspects of rural water INDIA supply system’s sustainability and its Accessing safe drinking water continues to functionality in terms of water tariff and its be one of the most complex challenges importance. A case study has been carried facing rural communities. Despite out in Nepal. The status of water supply considerable and concerted investments and its coverage in rural Nepal was studied over the past decade, many rural along with its functional access and communities still encounter huge clean sustainable use to safe water service. For water supply challenges – even to the the Sustainability of Water Supply System, extent of women walking for kilometers to they checked the following parameters find clean water. With its numerous such as economy, natural resources advantages, groundwater supply forms a institution and physical infrastructure. And significant and integral part of the solution the paper concludes that the functionality to address rural water issues. Government and sustainability of water supply system of India (GoI) revamped the existing all of the different parameters are equally Accelerated Rural Water Supply important. Institutional Sustainability and Programme (ARWSP) and launched it as Economical Sustainability were sought (by the National Rural Drinking Water water users) more important than other two Programme (NRDWP) with major aspects because these two parameters are emphasis on ensuring water availability in the governing one for other two as well. rural areas with respect to its portability, Institutional Sustainability and Economic adequacy, affordability and equitable Sustainability (Water Tariff) weight 80.5% distribution on sustainable basis, while of total weightage suggesting the also adopting decentralized approach in importance of Water Users Committee and planning, implementation and Operation Water Tariff in rural areas for water supply system. HBRP Publication Page 1-6 2020. All Rights Reserved Page 2 Journal of Water Resource Research and Development Volume 3 Issue 2 Hongxing Li et al., (2018) In their paper the world at an alarming rate, while the they examined the impact of available freshwater resources almost socioeconomic development on drinking remain constant. This paper presented the water safety in rural China. They used aspects of safe drinking water which cross-sectional data at the provincial level, consisted of background information, as achieving rural drinking water safety definition of water safety and access, meaning access to a safe, affordable, benefits, principles and regulations, factors sufficient, and sustainable drinking water challenging the sustainable water supply supply remains a key challenge for and water quality standards and parameter. government agencies and researchers in China. Using a theoretical framework Ananta Raj D (2016) His study aims to called Pressure-State-Response (PSR), analyse the factors associated with they organized the existing data into state willingness to pay for improved water and pressure indicators. They found supply system in rural Tanahu, Nepal. For significant drinking-water-safety-related this conducting the study, the researcher differences across provinces. Their selected a one hundred and twenty-seven analysis suggested that, overall, China’s households were selected for data recent and rapid socioeconomic collection. Used a structured questionnaire development yielded substantial benefits to collect the data. To find the factors for China’s rural drinking water safety. associated with the willingness to pay the However, this same development also Chi-square test was used for improved negatively impacted rural drinking water water supply system. This study shows safety via increased groundwater over- that there was no any significant abstraction, reductions in water supply, association between willingness to pay for and environmental contamination. The improved water supply system and social, paper closes with a discussion of demographic and economic variables. So, implications and options for improving this study concluded that type of water drinking water policy, management, and source, quantity, fetching time, will for regulation in rural China. change, and prevalence of some disease (Jaundice, Dental Pain) are the major Olumana Dinka M (2018) This paper factors influencing willingness to pay for discusses about adequate, reliable, clean, improved water supply system in the study accessible, acceptable and safe drinking area. water supply availability for various users. The United Nation (UN) and other The extensive literature