Water ATMs: A solution to Delhi's water supply problems?

DW (English)

Many informal settlements around Delhi have no reliable piped water supply. Water ATMs offer residents a safe and affordable solution.

Transcript

00:01Water is likely the most precious commodity for people here.

00:05When the tanker arrives, everyone makes sure they fill up their canisters as quickly as possible.

00:12But no one knows in advance how clean the water that is delivered will be.

00:17They promised us clean water, but this is such terrible quality.

00:21And there's much less of it too.

00:25And that is often the case, say residents of Lal Bah.

00:28Lal Bah is one of Delhi's largest informal settlements in the northeast of the city.

00:35People here do actually have their own piped water supply.

00:39But Seema, a resident, tells us that the water only flows for a few hours in the morning.

00:44Sometimes there is none at all for days.

00:47And she says it's also undrinkable.

00:51You can't put this water in your mouth.

00:53It smells so much that the entire house starts smelling like a drain.

00:58We get stomach related diseases, headaches, fever and diarrhea if we drink this water.

01:05We have to buy filtered water for cooking.

01:08Because the water we get is so dirty, we can't cook with it.

01:11The safe alternative is bottled water.

01:12Almost half of those living in Delhi's informal settlements rely on this for drinking and cooking.

01:26Some tell us they can spend up to a tenth of their monthly income on water alone.

01:30For a while now though, Lal Bah has posted several water vending machines, also known as water ATMs.

01:40They provide clean drinking water for several hours a day.

01:44Vastev Thakur comes here everyday and fetches 40 litres of water for his family.

01:48He tells us the quality is far superior to that from the tankers.

01:54The water tankers come but their water is not as clean.

01:58They sometimes come without a lid and the water is full of insects.

02:03And if we drank the water that comes out of the tap at home, we'd get sick.

02:07On top of that, water from the vending machine is much cheaper than that from the tankers.

02:17It is not supplied through pipes but instead directly from a ground water reservoir.

02:24The pumped ground water is first filtered.

02:28Then it goes into a tank and is filtered again.

02:31After that it is collected in this tank where people can access it.

02:34The machine pumps 1200 litres of water out of the ground per hour.

02:40This is then purified using reverse osmosis.

02:44A process which results in clean water and a contaminated waste water product.

02:49Scientists find the handling of it concerning.

02:52They inject it back into the groundwater.

02:54So they'll just simply let it soak into the groundwater.

02:57Which I think is a problem because in that case we're contaminating groundwater for other residents

03:02who may be relying on groundwater over there.

03:06Twenty kilometres away at Nizamuddin railway station, there are more water vending machines.

03:12They are run by a start-up in collaboration with the railway authorities.

03:16The idea is to provide fresh, clean water on site for both travellers and railroad employees.

03:22The idea was to give two things like water which is affordable and that is cold to passengers.

03:36And so basically Indian railways have this contract, pan India to multiple vendors.

03:43One of them is us.

03:45Where they can put up this machine and then the rate of water is basically set by them already.

03:52And we pay basically a licence fee to the government.

03:55In Delhi alone, the start-up now operates 200 such vending machines.

04:02Also in cooperation with the municipal water board.

04:05Here, the vending machines use a combination of tap and groundwater.

04:10The water is purified with the help of several membranes and carbon filters.

04:15It's then chilled.

04:17The quality is continually monitored.

04:18I'm travelling to Haridwar. I have bought water from this kiosk. It's very good.

04:28It doesn't cause any stomach issues.

04:31It costs just 5 rupees.

04:33If we purchase water on the train, they charge us 20 rupees.

04:37This is so much better.

04:39The machine supplied water also saves on plastic waste.

04:42According to the provider, more than half of buyers fill their own bottles at the vending machines.

04:48And they save money as a result.

04:53When you buy a plastic water bottle, you are not paying for water.

04:58You are paying for number one, the cost of transporting that water to you.

05:04And number two, for the plastic bottle itself.

05:06In Delhi, various agencies, including the Jal Water Board, have installed water ATMs across the city.

05:14The previous government hoped they would improve water supply, especially in low-income districts.

05:19It's not clear exactly how many machines there are, but a further 5,000 are planned.

05:25But critics say more needs to be considered.

05:27Drinking water is just 10 liters or 15 liters in a day.

05:34So, that is not really the major concern.

05:37The major concern is where the bulk of the other water comes from.

05:41So, if you have to rely on tankers or uncertain water supply for the other part of the domestic water that you need,

05:50for hygiene, for washing, for cooking, for cleaning, then it really doesn't provide a solution.

05:58Back in Lal Bagh, Pintu is a water vendor.

06:02Every morning, he sells filtered water to neighborhood families.

06:06It's purified by a private company.

06:08Clean water has long been a business model in Delhi, and it will probably stay that way for a while.

06:13A modern water and waste water management system in the city would be more sustainable,

06:20but building it is costly and will take years.

06:23Until then, water ATMs could relieve the strain on the city's water supply.

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