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Given the high level of capital investment and the history of government subsidized services, full cost pricing of water services has yet to take hold in India. As a result, it remains broadly underpriced leading to public perception that water is "free" The current tariff levels in India are too low to cover even operating costs. This paper examines the existing Indian urban water tariff models (fixed tariff, volumetric tariff, increasing block tariff etc.), their relevance and problems. It was found that none of the tariff structures could satisfy all the design objectives (cost recovery, economic efficiency, equity, affordability etc.). Also subsidies are not explicit and well targeted for poor population. There are several studies and issues that do demonstrate the opportunities for tariff increase and improved cost recovery. This paper highlights the results of such studies and brings out issues needing consideration. Improved cost recovery would lead to improved financial status of the water utilities. Also, subsidies, if designed suitably and well targeted, would serve the concerns of the economically weaker sections. Such reform process would eventually lead to socio-economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides updated status of the arsenic affected rural habitations in India, summarizes the policy initiatives of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (Government of India), reviews the technologies for arsenic treatment and analyses the progress made by states in tackling arsenic problems in rural habitations. It also provides a list of constraints based on experiences and recommends suggested measures to tackle arsenic problems in an holistic manner. It is expected that the paper would be useful for policy formulators in states, non-government organizations, researchers of academic and scientific institutions and programme managers working in the area of arsenic mitigation in drinking water, especially in developing countries, as it provides better insights compared to other available information in India on mitigating arsenic problems in drinking water in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most coastal cities use the ocean as a site of waste disposal where pollutant loading degrades the quality of coastal waters. Presently, the west coast of Mumbai receives partially treated effluent from wastewater treatment facilities through ocean outfalls and discharges into creeks as well as wastewater/sewage from various open drains and nallahs which affect the water quality of creek and coastal water. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to simulate and assess the hydrodynamic behaviour and water quality due to impact of sewage and wastewater discharges from the west coast of Mumbai. Hydrodynamics and water quality were simulated based on present conditions and validated by using measured tide, current data and observed DO, BOD and FC. Observed and simulated results indicated non compliance to standards in Malad, Mahim creeks and the impact zones of ocean outfalls. The developed model could be used for generating various conditions of hydrodynamics and water quality considering the improvement in wastewater collection systems, treatment levels and proper disposal for proper planning and management of creeks and coastal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests an approach to solve the Indian coastal water quality management problem based on waste load allocation studies and application of modelling techniques. The waste load allocation procedure suggested in this paper assists in deriving a quantitative relationship between the waste load discharged and the receiving coastal water concentrations or effects of concern as presented by water qualitystandards. The approach sequentially addresses the topics of hydrodynamics, mass transport, water quality kinetics and problems of bioaccumulation and toxicity. The water quality modelling section describesthe role of water quality modelling in WLA procedure. The paper alsodiscusses the criteria and procedures for formulation of coastal zone management plans. The second part of the paper illustrates the concept with the help of brief case studies wherein simple screening procedures and the water quality modeling techniques have been applied. The first case study describes the application of the WASP model to arrive at the level of treatment required for municipal wastewater being discharged into Mumbai coastal waters so that the designated coastal water quality criteria is not violated and the degree of treatment is optimized. The second case study deals with the study of differentoptions relating to disposal of tailings from an iron ore beneficiation plant keeping in view the impact of these tailings on marine water quality and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantity and quality of water available for irrigation is variable from place to place in India. There are regions where the farmers have no access to any surface water body, nor do they have any groundwater source yielding water of acceptable quality for irrigation. Insome of the coastal areas, neither surface water nor ground water ofacceptable quality may be available. In such areas, setting up an industry and transporting good quality surface water from long distances to the site may be useful for farmers in the adjacent areas; the treated wastewater from the industry may constitute a dependable sourcefor irrigation. This paper gives a brief account of some of these peculiar situations. Whatever the situation, it is necessary that the water used for irrigation is of an acceptable quality for the crop concerned, growing on the soil of the site. For a given crop, during itsgrowth cycle, it is essential that the concentration of the soil solution around the root zone with regard to dissolved solids and specific ions, does not exceed the tolerance limit for the crop. The tolerance limits for various crops are different, representing 8- to 10-fold variation. Soil type and meteorological parameters of the site, fora given irrigation scheduling, also govern as to what will be the maximum soil solution concentration during the growth cycle of the crop. For a given crop, given soil and prevailing climate, the quality ofirrigation water and management ultimately determine this maximum level. At a given place, the type of soil and meteorological parameterscannot be managed by human beings. The farmer can, however, exercisesome control on the quality of irrigation water by selecting an appropriate source or changing the quality by dilution and/or he can makecertain changes in the agronomic control and crop selection. In thispaper, an attempt has been made to describe a few more important irrigation water quality criteria which will be easy for the users to follow and ar [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]