Developing a plan of action for the Water Filtration Project

The goal of this week was to develop a plan for the implementation of the GDL’s new water filtration project that will serve the Bagar area. Here is a little background on the project: India’s contaminated water is responsible for a large percentage of illnesses faced by both rural and urban populations. Bagar’s water is no different. With high levels of fluorides and biological contamination, the water is a source for many illnesses through the year with peak levels occurring during the monsoon season. Additionally, buildup of fluoride through the life of an individual can result in adverse effects in bone, brain development and teeth (1). It is not uncommon here in Bagar to hear stories of individuals who have skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease (2). These illnesses can easily be reduced through introduction of basic water filtration. Our aim is to provide safe drinking water to the entirety of Bagar at a low, affordable price of RS 0.2 ( $0.005) per liter including delivery costs. The goal of this week was to understand the needs of our intended water plant and to find a way to meet these needs through the infrastructure of Bagar. With this information, I also wished to create a plan of action for setting up this project.

The goal for this week was successfully met. I was able to determine that our current water supply here in Bagar will be unable to match the demands of the filtration system. However, through discussions with the local water works and the district collector I have come up with alternate plans of meeting the systems demands and continuing with the project. With this information I have come up with a project plan as follows. First, I will obtain and test samples from Bagar’s 3 major well pumps that service the area. Following this, I will survey the population to determine an effective pricing point. Additionally, this survey will also serve as a method of educating the public about the dangers of drinking contaminated water and as a tool for advertising our upcoming service. Following this survey, I will be working directly with the water works and the Jhunjhunu Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) to establish a low cost supply of water sufficient for our needs. With a supply established, I will then proceed to have the water filtration unit setup and distribution started. The next step is now to have Bagar’s water tested and distribute my survey to 200 families.

My largest hesitation with the project and its plan are pricing and issues of scalability. Even at our current forecasted rate of RS 0.2 per liter, it will cost a family of eight, 240 rupees per month for drinking water. This price may still be too high to allow us to reach a large percentage of Bagar’s population. Additionally, arrangement of our current water supply is contingent on the government in this area. With the intention of scaling the project to different areas, we may not be able to rely on the government and therefore may not be able to replicate our model throughout India. For more information on water contamination in India and its effects on health, please visit the following sites

(1) http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/newscience/2007/2007-0705wangetal.html#cdc
(2) http://fluoridealert.org/fluorosis-india.htm
http://ddws.gov.in/bharatnirman/water_1.html