public water pump in kolkata
Can there possibly be a scarcity of water at the geographical location of Kolkata, in the world’s largest river delta? As to judge from the first impression, this is not so. Public water sources are scattered around the city, with pumps and wells distributed along major roads, where the water mains run.
It is around these water sources that habitats and economies emerge. Families have installed shelters (which often double as vending spaces during the day), tea stalls and street kitchens cluster where water to wash their dishes is easily available.
The other interesting thing about Kolkata’s water distribution system is that the city has two separate networks (in addition to innumerable private borewells): One for filtered (drinking) water, and one for unfiltered river water, for washing clothes, flushing toilets, and the like. A grey water system at a city scale, owing to wise urban planning that foresaw the city’s future growth and water issues as the infrastructure was first built?
The very idea of constant, publicly accessible water supply is one of exemplary social ideals, and the separation of filtered and unfiltered water systems for different types of use has great ecological benefits. Intelligent as this system may seem, it appears that it is causing so many problems today as to make the city plan to quit the distribution of unfiltered water completely. Due to leakages in the ageing pipes, the drinking water is often contaminated, officials claim, therefore endangering people’s health. Also, many of the poor do not distinguish between the hand pumps, delivering filtered water, and the wells, delivering unfiltered water, when they fill their cups for drinking. And it is no secret that the Hooghly river, especially so at this downstream location, is highly polluted.
If the secondary water supply was cut off, however, this would not only exacerbate (future) water scarcity, but many people would be left without access to water for their non-drinking needs.
According to official statistics, the city today has a supply of 202 litres of drinking water per person and day. That is more than twice the per capita amount available in Mumbai. Yet Kolkata is growing, and groundwater is exploited to the extent it gets contaminated with saline water in many areas. The city is starting to think about water supply as a problem, and to plan for new ways to deal with this situation.
In this context, it would be a huge mistake to neglect the existing secondary system of river water pipes. Fresh water pipes need to be proofed against leakages, whether the source of contamination be unfiltered river water, stormwater runoff, or sewage. And there is a huge potential the existing system could be used in innovative ways for grey water storage, by interlinking both networks as to feed grey water back into the pipes after usage, therefore reducing not only fresh water demand, but also sewage loads.
This, for Kolkata, might be one important – and inexpensive – component of absorbing growth in water demand in a sustainable manner.
