Malayala Manorama vide letter dated 16th February 2007 requested Dr. T.V. Ramachandra, Co-ordinator, Energy & Wetlands Research Group, CES, Indian Institute of Science to carryout characterization of surface, well and tap water (based on sampling) in all districts Kerala (Ref: IISc:CP5624/0303/07-3269, 13th March 2007). Assessment of water quality was carried out through representative sampling from all districts (of surface water, wells and tap water – 5 samples each per district). Field sampling was initiated in March 2007 and carried out in two phases, during the last week of March, April and first week of May 2007. Research team consisted of researchers:  Karthick B., Boominathan, M., Sameer Ali (all districts) and Avinash K G (Southern Kerala). Mr.Ajith from Malayala Manorama was instrumental in guiding the team to all sampling locations and also successful completion of the field investigations.

The important recommendations covered under different sections of this report are:

1. Water Quality Concerns: Major portion of untreated sewage is let into waterbodies in most localities thus hampering the ecological balance of the system as the quantity of the pollutant entering the waterbody is beyond its neutralising ability. This has lead to the enrichment of nutrients and has resulted in the eutrophication of waterbodies (especially lakes in urban pockets).  

2. Pathogens - Presence of coliforms, E.coli, indicates faecal contamination; that is, it has come in contact with human or animal faeces. This indicates lack of maintenance of hygiene, which is evident from letting sewage directly into waterbodies (in urban area – towns, etc.) and dumping of solid waste in the catchment of waterbodies or open defecation (in peri-urban and rural area). Due to contamination, most of the waterbodies (both urban and rural) have become a flourished land for the pathogens (disease vectors), evident from frequent episodes of epidemic diseases – malaria, hepatitis, chicken pox, dengue, chikungunya, leptospirosis, dengue, etc.

1. The situation demands immediate intervention by the state authorities to prevent faecal contamination of waterbodies, through

• Decentralised sewage treatment plants for  each ward in a city. Decentralised wastewater treatment and recycle systems help in developing reuse programmes without distribution expenses (compared to centralized systems)
• Implementation of “polluter pays” principle through “pollution taxes” as per the water act of 1974, 2002 and National water policy, 2002. Government of India.
• Reuse and recycling of wastewater. Treated wastewater could be used for gardens and for flushing toilets (in urban areas), industrial use and irrigating crops, groundwater recharge.
• Checking leaky distribution networks – due to which contaminants come in contact with the treated water (in tap water distribution network). The government should come up with the measures to minimize such contamination – by changing very old distribution networks.
• Implementation of Eco-toilets (popularly known as eco-sanitation) in rural area to prevent open defecation, which  contaminates streams, rivers and lakes.

To ensure these are adopted, policy interventions required are

• Incentive scheme to encourage reuse and recycling of wastewater
• Support of innovative technologies and capacity building of private sector for design and implementation of water recycling and reusable technologies suitable to Kerala

2. Treatment options: Pathogens - Boiling is the best way to purify water that is unsafe because of the presence of protozoan parasites or bacteria. New technologies such as Ultra Violet sterilization, Ozonation produces satisfactory results.

3. Treatment options: TDS (Total Dissolved Solids): Distillation is the reverse of boiling.  To remove impurities from water by distillation, the water is usually boiled in a chamber causing water to vaporize, and the pure (or mostly pure) steam leaves the non volatile contaminants behind. The steam moves to a different part of the unit and is cooled until it condenses back into liquid water.  The resulting distillate drips into a storage container.  Salts, sediment, metal anything that won't boil or evaporate - remain in the distiller and must be removed. Other techniques are – Ion exchange, membrane separation technologies (ultra filtration, nano filtration, reverse osmosis, etc).

4. Adoption and implementation of integrated solid waste management (ISWM) approaches by segregating the waste at source, treating the organic components of solid waste, reuse and recycle of wastes, implementation and management of sanitary landfills (which prevents leaching and hence groundwater contamination).

3. Water Quality Concerns - Trace elements contamination: Recharge and withdrawal of water have to be balanced. Fluoride contamination happens naturally, when water withdrawal is higher than the recharge, as in Palghat, Alaphuza, Wayanad, etc. (as the water would have interacted with the geological strata containing these elements). Fluoride contamination also happens, when  domestic sewage (urban area), insecticide, pesticide, herbicide (rural area) contaminates ground water aquifer.

4. Abatement and treatment of pollution: Abatement and treatment programmes should include capacity building of farmers for improvement in application of fertilizers and pesticides through better extension of agronomy know-how, which will help in reducing water contamination.

5. Large scale conversions of watershed area of waterbodies have altered the hydrological regime while enhancing the silt movement – lowering water yield in the catchment affecting the ground water recharge.

6. Recharging groundwater aquifer though

1. Practicing watershed conservation and management practices: Water contamination coupled with scarcity has necessitated to re-look into the current planning and management approaches. Sustainability can only be achieved through conservation of natural resources. Watershed management encompasses the entire system from uplands and headwaters to floodplain wetlands and rivers. Watershed management is an iterative process of integrated decision making considering both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (land and water) in a watershed. Human alterations of lands and waters directly affect water yield, sediments and nutrients, and thus fundamentally influence aquatic ecosystems. Buffer zone is to be created and maintained to enhance the water yield and hydrology of the waterbody. 500 to 1000m across waterbody and valley zones are to be declared “no activity zones”. There is an urgent need for

• Restoring and conserving the actual source of water - the water cycle and the natural    ecosystems that support it - is the basis for sustainable water management; 
• Environmental degradation is preventing us from reaching goals of good public health, food security, and better livelihoods world-wide; 
• Improving the human quality of life can be achieved in ways that also maintain and enhance environmental quality; 
• Reducing greenhouse gases to avoid the dangerous effects of climate change is an integral part of protecting freshwater resources and ecosystems.

2. Rejuvenate traditional community water harvesting systems: this aids as efficient means of rainwater harvesting at community levels. Apart from recharging arrest groundwater depletion, it also raises the declining water table and can help augment water supply. State should plan for community harvesting structures in each village and in urban ward to minimise problems associated with  water scarcity.

3. Measures to prevent contamination of aquifers (domestic sewage, agriculture runoff, etc.).

7. Improving efficiencies and minimizing loss of treated drinking water

Kerala state despite abundant water resources faces acute water scarcity, due to contamination and misuse of resources. This highlights the need for good decntralised governance to ensure efficiency and transparency in decision making processes with respect to the management of natural resources. The year 2007 has been aptly declared the Water Year for India, which emphasises the need for everyone to ensure water security and sustainability.  The Government has provided adequate policy framework for conservation and sustainable mangement of waterbodies.  However, lack of implementation has lead to large scale anthropogenic activities in river and lake catchments, which has altered respective system’s ecological integrity in violation of the Indian Fisheries Act – 1857, the Indian Forest Act – 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act – 1972, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act – 1974, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act – 1977, Forest (Conservation Act) – 1980, Environmental (Protection) Act – 1986, Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act – 1991 and National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development – 1992.  Despite environmental laws, there is no significant development towards sustaining ecosystems due to the lack of awareness of the values of these ecosystems among the policymakers and implementation agencies. The effective management of waterbodies requires a thorough appraisal of the existing laws, institutions and practices. The involvement of various people from different sectors is essential in the sustainable management of waterbodies. Apart from government regulation, development of better monitoring methods is needed to increase the knowledge of the physical and biological characteristics of each water resources (wetlands, lakes, rivers), and to gain, from this knowledge, a better understanding of system’s dynamics and their controlling processes. Discussions based on accurate knowledge and increased awareness of water issues can then begin to develop management strategies (to protect, restore and/or mitigate) that account for the function and value of all water resources in the face of natural and socioeconomic factors, while continuing to satisfy critical resource needs of the human population.

Keywords: Water quality, Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands, Groundwater, Tap water