India's Water Issues (WARNING: Academic Content)

Gutter in the Tambaram market

       
         It has been nearly three weeks since our arrival in India. In our intense, 6-week study period at Furman, we read several articles on some of the issues that India is facing with respect to its water supply. Although I was able to assimilate the information in the articles and learn from the material presented to us in lectures, I feel that I have a much better understanding of the India's major hydrological challenges now that I have spent several weeks living in India. The following blog is dedicated to my personal reflections on India's water supply.
          Even before we arrived in India, Dr. Suresh and Dr. Khandke repeatedly warned the students in the India study away group to only consume bottled water. When we got to MCC, I began to understand why our professors were concerned about the quality of the tap water. It was around 4 AM when we began to groggily unpack our belongings into our rooms. Having not brushed my teeth since our layover in Germany, I was eager to freshen my breath, so I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste from my backpack and made my way to the bathroom. My brain was on autopilot as I squeezed toothpaste onto my toothbrush and ran it under the water flowing out of the faucet. After brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth out with tap water, I urgently began to spit into the sink with machine gun-like rapidity - the water possessed a foul, metallic taste. It was then that I realized my mistake and discovered that my professors weren't kidding when they warned us about India's questionable water quality.
          For me, this incident with tap water at the sink in our dorm room set the hydrologic tone for the trip. From that point on, I have tried to be more observant of water in India. Over the course of our time in India, I have noticed that I constantly feel dirty - it seems like its impossible to get clean, even after taking a shower. This is due in large part to the fact that the tap water in many parts of the state of Tamil Nadu can be considered hard water. Water is classified as hard water if it has high dissolved concentrations of group two metals like calcium and magnesium. When taking a shower, these ions in the water react with the organic acids of soap to form insoluble salts that form a slimy scum on the skin. As a result, the high ion concentration of the water makes it difficult to achieve a cleansing lather and one's skin remains partially dirty. In addition to this constant feeling of uncleanliness, a more humorous indicator of the abnormal water quality is how "poofy" everyone's hair has become after continual exposure to the water in India.
          However, the water on the campus of MCC is sanitary and potable in comparison to the water that I saw in the Tambaram market. While walking through the market place, I was shocked by the amount of trash that littered the streets. Everything from old candy wrappers to to rotting fish heads could be seen laying in the gutters. I was stood aghast as I watched a little girl in the market squat walk up to one of the gutters, squat down, and deposit the contents of her moving bowels in the stagnant drain water. It was also alarmingly common to see men publicly relieve the pressure on their bladders on the side of the street. India's water quality is literally shitty.
          After I witnessed firsthand the egregious conditions of the water in the Tambaram market, the dire state of India's water supply began to sink in. It is imperative that the water quality of Tambaram and the rest of India is improved. I suddenly felt very academic and snobbish after my summer working with the River Basins Research Initiative and conducting a research on dissolved organic carbon in the headwaters of streams in the upstate of South Carolina. Although my summer research was very interesting, I feel like not knowing the source of dissolved organic matter in a stream is a first-world problem in comparison to the dire water quality issues that India is facing. A slightly high pH value or a curiously abnormal conductivity reading in the Upper Saluda River seems trivial considering the fact that there are towns in India that have stagnated water bodies contaminated with human waste.
          Prior to coming on this study away trip, I had a tentative interest in pursuing hydrology in graduate school. After witnessing the horrid conditions of water in India, this feeling of interest has been confirmed and intensified. I feel an urgent need to help improve water quality. Going to school in Greenville, South Carolina, where high quality water is readily available from the tap, I have taken clean, drinkable water for granted. Witnessing the water conditions in India has made me more appreciative of water in the United States and has motivated me to develop ways in which water quality can be improved in countries like India.
          However, hydrologists can only do so much in improving the quality of water. There must be stricter Governmental regulations on public defecation and greater enforcement against littering. It will be interesting to see what policies the Indian government implements to improve sanitation throughout the nation.