6-Management of Groundwater for Drinking Water Supply in India.

Abstract

The drinking & domestic water supply needs of the country excluding the livestock needs work out to be 4.06 million hectare metres per year by the year 2001. The ground water plays an important role in planning and meeting the requirement of domestic, drinking and industrial water supply. Although, ground water is a renewable resource, its distribution varies depending upon the hydrogeological set up and location & design of water wells becomes a very important aspect to ensure sustained water supply. Over exploitation of groundwater results in progressive lowering of water levels and consequent decline in the yield and productivity of wells, intrusion of seawater, increasing cost of lifting etc. Urgent steps are needed for augmentation of groundwater resources in such areas by adopting suitable artificial recharge techniques. Possibility of recharging the groundwater, using treated sewage effluent and adopting Soil Aquifer Treatment Systems, in our metropolitan cities needs to be carefully examined. Desalination of saline water to bring the quality of water to permissible limit, suitable for drinking also offers wide scope to meet the water supply needs in areas where groundwater is saline but is the only source of drinking water. Development of deep aquifers in hard rock areas as groundwater sanctuaries to meet the urgent needs of drinking water in critical times of droughts is suggested.