Hidrologia: Pesquisa Atual

Cost of Unaccounted for Water - An Empirical Study In Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Ramesh R and Narayanasamy N

In Tamil Nadu state, India, it is the responsibility of the state government to provide drinking water to every household. This is carried out through the lowest elected government at the village level. Of late, the government puts into practice concepts like Demand Driven Approach, which demands the community contribute financially for any social infrastructure to be created, including drinking water supply. This approach seems to give financial matters the overriding priority blinding all the other realities such as actual requirement as per technical standards, and responsibilities of Operation and Maintenance etc. That means being able to contribute financially puts the local community in a position to get water supply infrastructure even excessive of the technical norms. This results in excessive draft of ground water resulting in wastage of fresh water. Especially in a piped water supply system, the water pumped from the ground whether they are used or wasted has an economic value – as this is a service provided using electric power. It is found through an empirical study that the community is insensitive to the cost of water wasted. This study conducted in 17 villages found that all the 17 Village Panchayats (village administrative units) put together, on an average 35 per cent of the water pumped is either excessively used or wasted. It means merely by being judicious in the use of water, each Panchayat has the potential of saving approximately one-third of the expenses incurred on water service delivery. The research paper elaborates this point.