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Published By: Arghyam, Bangalore, India. Citation: Gravity Water Systems in Eastern Ghats, India. Produced by: Arghyam, Bangalore, India. Year: 2011

Available from: ARGHYAM, #599, 12th Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore, Karnataka INDIA. PIN- 560008

Email: info@arghyam.org | Phone: +91 (080) 41698941 / 42 Fax: +91 (080) 41698943| www.arghyam.org All photographs used in this publication remain the property of the original copyright holder (see individual captions for details). Photographs should not be reproduced or used in other contexts without written permission from the copyright holder.

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Development project such as this is a result of sustained effort of many organizations and people over time.

Studying the gravity water flow system to the level of detail that this document outlines would not have been

possible without the support of Arghyam's partner and implementing NGO Visakha Jilla Navanirman Samiti

(VJNNS). We are thankful to the extensive support from the staff at VJNNS.

We express deep gratitude to the people of the villages that we visited- the Panchayat Sarpanchs, Anganwadi

workers, farmers and families for their time. The treks across the terrain in which these villages are located and

the forests in which the springs are located made us realize the relevance and potential impact that these

interventions can effect. We have enormously benefitted from the technical analysis of pipeline and engineering

details contributed by R.Mohanasundar.

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GWFS Gravity Water Flow Systems

VJNSS Visakha Jilla Nava Nirman Samithi

GOI Government of India

PTG Primitive Tribal Groups

ST Scheduled Tribes

HGL Hydrographic Gradient Line

LPS Liters Per Second

LPCD Liters Per Capita Per Day

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"All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned."[1] - from The elephant

and the blind men

It appears that the ongoing water crisis of availability and quality is much like the classic story of “The Elephant

and the Blind Men”. The enormity of the problem often overwhelms the planners who much like the blind men

scope out a part of the problem each time. The picture that develops portrays a wide array of problems. But unlike

this story, the interpretation of water crisis should be done carefully considering both the macro (large scale) and

the micro aspects. Here the macro level refers to the basin level planning and micro refers to the local, community

and household level approach to address the quality and availability issues. Gravity water flow system is an

intervention at the community level where provisioning this system can address a village's drinking water problem

at the local level without the need to wait for the results of centralized planning to reach them. At the same time

such a participatory approach ensures a high degree of adoption of these systems by the community.

This document has been prepared in response to a general need for technical information on gravity flow water

systems that have been implemented in the Eastern Ghats of India. Although detailed design books and manuals on

GWFS have been around since the early 1970s the approach to commissioning such a project in different parts of

the world is being revised continuously. For instance, with the advent of modern technology the topographical

survey is no more done using theodolite, abney level or barometric altimeter. Similarly much of the piping material

is now plastic based (PVC/HDPE) which offer a greater degree of flexibility and cost savings.

Having said this, a caveat is in order. Spring sources have been found servicing the drinking water requirement of

households throughout the year at a minimal cost, in the study area. This does not imply that the spring source is a

comprehensive solution in itself. The areas where GWFS has been supplying water throughout the year to the

families have low population density and therefore low water demand. Spring source in other hilly regions may be

considered only for augmentative use if the water demand exceeds that of the available springs.

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The Gravity Water Flow System (GWFS) as implemented by VJNNS in Visakhapatnam district was observed and extensively studied in order to bring together a set of standardized and technically sound practices which can help the organization as well as many other agencies may be interested in exploring the feasibility of such a system in their geographies.

We summarize the key findings of the analysis at the onset to make it convenient for the reader to gauge the relevance of this report vis –a –vis their requirement.

Hydro geological understanding of the target area is paramount to any intervention approach. Although springs have been traditionally used in this region, harnessing them as a reliable source of drinking water supply is possible only if there is a clear understanding of spring catchment systems.

Spring catchment systems can be viable and sustainable sources of domestic water supply. In hilly regions where springs are a common occurrence emphasis should be given on these resources than going for ground water directly. In the study area it was observed that borewells have failed repeatedly, whereas a stable and perennial GWFS successfully served the same area.

Water Quality: Spring catchment systems often are the cleanest source of water occurring naturally. With little or no treatment this source can be harnessed for drinking water needs.

Energy Efficient System: The geography of hilly terrain offers a tremendous advantage of supplying the water from the spring source to the point of use at the least or no distribution cost at all. This is by far the strongest factor which makes GWFS the supply system of choice.

Simple Technology: The system is based on the simple phenomenon of water flow under gravity from a point of higher elevation (source) to a point situated on a lower elevation. Pipeline design for the entire water supply system remains the only technically challenging aspect. This too can be addressed with training.

Operation and Maintenance: A lower level of sophistication implies very low operational spending. The system once put in place runs smoothly requiring only a routine inspection of pipeline and taps. Technical glitches what so ever are addressed by the villagers themselves. The construction of the system involves concrete tanks and high density polyethylene (HDPE) piping for transmission as well as distribution. These usually last 6 to 8 years without undergoing any damage or defect.

Community ownership: Use of natural springs is often a traditional practice in many hilly regions. The people have a higher degree of familiarity with this source and acknowledge it as a part of their village ecosystem. When such a well integrated water resource is formalized and developed further with the help of the community itself then it certainly ensures a much greater sense of ownership among the people.

Traditional Knowledge: GWFS underscores the importance of traditional knowledge of the community and participatory development in water resource planning.

Benefit Cost Ratio: In times of increasing problems and shrinking budgets, GWFS wherever appropriate offers a high impact and value for the capital spent.

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MAP 1: MAP OF INDIA WITH ANDHRA PRADESH

HIGHLIGHTED. GRAVITY WATER FLOW SYSTEMS IN

VISHAKAPATNAM AND EAST GODAVARI DISTRICTS OF THE

STATE HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED IN THIS REPORT.

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PHOTO 1: A KONDAPALLI VILLAGER

PHOTO 2: PEOPLE FROM THESE VILLAGES DEPEND ON THE FORESTS FOR MOST OF THEIR NEEDS

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Running along a north-east south –west direction, Eastern Ghats cover an area of 75000 sq Km of the Indian peninsular. The Mahanadi basin marks the northern boundary for this range while the southern limit is flanked by Nilgiri hills. While Bastar, Telengana and Karnataka plateaus including the Tamil Nadu uplands lie on the west of these ghats, the eastern side is an extensive coastal area.

With such a large geographical expanse, these ghats enclose within them a vibrant and diverse set of tribes, cultures and biodiversity. The component hills of middle section of Eastern Ghats include Nallamalais, Yerramalais, Palikonda, Velikonda, Seshachalam and Kambakam Hills whose average elevation is 750 meters.

The area which concerns this report lies in the middle section of these ghats, in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. The region falls under tropical monsoon climate receiving rainfall from both south-west monsoon and north-east retreating monsoon. The average rainfall here ranges between 1200mm to 1600mm exhibiting a semiarid climate. The mean temperature in January

ranges between 20 degree to 25° Celsius and

maximum temperature shoots up to 41° Celsius

during hot season.

Geologically, this region is underlain by granite and granitic gneiss basement rocks. Repeated cycles of tropical weathering have created an aquifer system with extensive, low storage, ground water bodies that are annually recharged to varying degrees by the monsoonal rains. [2]

The landscape has many residual hills (with outcrop granitic basement) and an extensive pediment with a large number of small (2nd order) sub-basins drained by ephemeral streams (whose orientation is often controlled by fault lineaments). [2]

Fig 1. shows the study region marked on hydrological map of Andhra Pradesh.

It is these ephemeral streams that forms one of the key natural endowments of this hilly region. While the most common source of drinking water supply in these hills has been ground water tapped via borewells, the geoginic contamination( high iron load) makes it unfit for drinking. It is under these circumstances that the traditional source – spring catchments have been explored, studied and analyzed for their use as reliable source of drinking water.

A discussion on people of this region is in order because the actual impact of the drinking water intervention through GWFS can be holistically assessed only when the social milieu and economic context of the region is known. The communities inhabiting this region are distinct ethnic groups categorized as Scheduled Tribes (STs) which practice shifting cultivation. Agriculture has been their primary mode of sustenance but the changing political and socio-economic landscape of the region (which obviously reflects the national trend) has made them adopt alternative means of livelihood like charcoal production, coffee plantation and as migrant labourers to nearby towns.

In order to ensure the development of these communities, certain groups were identified for the first time in 1975- 76 by the Government of India (GOI). These groups were observed to be the poorest among the already poor scheduled tribes earlier identified. This new group was termed Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs). Criteria fixed for identification of these PTGs [3] are:

1. Pre-agricultural level of technology 2. Very low level of literacy 3. Declining or stagnant population

The tribes found here are Bhagata, Konda Dora, Valmiki, Kondu, Konda Savara (PTGs). Valmikis form a substantial population in Visakhapatnam district. They live in large villages side by side with Bhagatas

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and Konda Doras. The way Bhagatas live or dress isn’t very different from the Valmikis. Both these communities are relatively prosperous; their houses are well built and primarily agrarian. It is important to note that at an altitude between 800 m and 900 m the difficulties of communication have prevented a massive immigration of non-tribals from other parts.

The Samanta tribe from Orissa migrated to this region during the early wave of hydel projects in

Orissa and has settled in this region. They largely remain unassimilated and maintain a distinct identity of their own. They are now referred to as Kondus.

A hallmark of these tribes is community ownership of the natural resources that they benefit from. Their practices are largely in tune with the environment’s regenerative capacity.

FIGURE 1: HYDROLOGICAL MAP OF ANDHRA PRADESH (STUDY AREA HIGHLIGHTED IN RED) [2]

Poorly developed weathered granitic basement aquifer

Visakhapatnam

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PHOTO 3: MAN CARRYING CHARCOAL

PRODUCE TO THE MARKET. CHARCOAL

PRODUCTION BY FELLING BUSHES AND

TREES FROM FOREST IS ONE OF THE

MAJOR LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES IN THE

REGION.

PHOTO 4: A PATCH OF CLEARED FOREST LAND WITH TREES FELLED FOR CHARCOAL PRODUCTION

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Comprehensive healthcare data of the study area is difficult to come by, as the number of surveys done in the region is few and infrequent. A significant proportion of the illnesses prevalent in the region are due to the source of drinking water that is used. A study titled Illness and Treatment among Khonds of Visakhapatnam District by Rao et.al [4] of the Andhra University published in 2006 illustrates the intensity of the problem. In a survey of sample drawn from among the Khond tribe the team found 46% people suffer from various illnesses of the sample size of 2000 people who drink stream water. From a sample size of 657 people who drink well water, 67.5% suffered from various illnesses. Now these are some serious numbers considering the small population size of this group.

As much as the drinking water contamination poses a serious threat, an equally big problem is poor state of sanitation in this area. Almost all the villages practice open defecation, which obviously is a leading cause of poor hygiene and health of the people. Amidst these seemingly simple issues of poor quality drinking water, lack of clean sanitation and hygiene VJNNS planned an intervention in this area by helping people adopt naturally occurring springs as a source of drinking water. Springs in this region are abundant and have very good quality of water as they

lie underneath a less permeable sheath of rocky bed. While developing a spring source, the choice of spring is such that it is distant from the village than in its immediate vicinity. This ensures that a clean and uncontaminated spring source is chosen for drinking water supply.

Developing gravity fed water supply from the springs as an alternative to stream and well water for drinking offers tremendous advantage in terms of highly localized solution to the problem.

At the same time GWFS affects a strong community controlled management and operation of the instituted water resource. Both these benefits are of significance in this region considering the deficient state of public works and poor state of public utilities. The intervention as planned by the implementing organization involves a concerted efforts towards improving health, sanitation and hygiene in the region by first helping the villages develop an alternative source of drinking water i.e. springs which ensure clean and potable quality drinking water. The intervention approach is shared in the scheme below. Based on this scheme, a seven step procedure is adopted to address the issues raised in the intervention approach.

Acc

ess

to c

lean

dri

nki

ng

Wat

er

•Lack of safe drinking water

•Source far from village

•Malfunctioning/fallen in disused borewells

•Damaged spring boxes

•Geogenic contamination in ground water

•Contamination from open defecation

Po

or

San

itat

ion

an

d H

ygin

e

•Lack of personal hygiene

•Open defecation

•Failed usage of introduced ISLs because of non-availability of water in proximities.

Hea

lth

imp

acts

•High occurance of water borne disease

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TABLE 1 FREQUENCY OF ILLNESS VERSUS SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER IN KONDH TRIBES [4]

PHOTO 5: A GWFS STANDPOST AND A DYSFUNCTIONAL ANDPUMP IN THE FOREGROUND

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The primary objective of this study is to document this rather new source of drinking water system detailing the design process, explaining water transport across the hilly terrain by leveraging the flow of water under gravitational effect and finally develop a comprehensive set of information on how this system can be adopted in regions with similar geographical features and need. Of the 27 GFWS systems commissioned by VJNNS till date, we visited 8 villages to see the GWFS implementation. Out of the 8, 4 projects were chosen for detailed observation considering that they represent the entire gamut of issues related to planning, design and commissioning such a system. The list of these 8 villages visited and their details in Table 2.

GWFS systems from the following 4 systems were observed and documented in detail: Bappannadhara, Pallada, Gondipakala, Chikkudubatti and Jellurmettu -Boradavedi. Villages sharing a spring source were closely examined for water sharing issues and conflicts if any. Aspects like shared responsibility (for O &M), property rights and community participation in those villages were explored for insights on how to run such a shared system, efficiently.

For instance, the villages of Bappannadhara, Boradakota, Mirtwada and Kondapalli share a common spring source. The terrain across which the pipeline runs is quite challenging in terms of design and accessibility. The source lies deep in the forest and in the administrative boundary of Kondapalli village. This made water sharing complex due to Kondapalli asserting its ownership of the spring.

The entire list of villages where VJNNS has implemented GWFSs can be found in Appendix A.

A set of parameters were listed on which the 4 GWFS were observed. This set was developed based on an understanding of the necessary elements required for a successful implementation of GWFS. The case study section examines some villages on the set of questions in the implementation of GWFS in a village.

To gather information for the above aspects of a GWFS system we conducted the following exercises to understand the process adopted by VJNNS:

Pipeline Walk

Interaction with villagers

Discussion with VJNNS

Design and Planning

Network Sizing

Construction Costing and

Budgeting

Operation

&

Maintenance

GWFS & COMMUNITY

FIGURE 2: IMPLEMENTATION STAGES EXPLORED IN THE STUDY

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TABLE 2 VILLAGES VISITED DURING THE TRIP

Village

No of Units

No of Households Serviced

Supporting Agency

Status of Unit ( Functioning / Non Functioning )

District Name /Block(Mandal) Name

Year of Commencement

Remarks

Bappannadhara

1

85 CARE, India

Functioning

East Godavari /Prattipadu

2009

Technically challenging and successful

Chikkudubatti

1 60

CARE, India

Functioning

Visakhapatnam / Chintapalli

2007

-

Gondipakala

1 147 CARE, India Functioning Visakhapatnam / Chintapalli

2004 -

Diguvupakala, Chitralagoppu, Jellurmettu, Boradavedi

1 130 Arghyam, Bangalore

Functioning

Visakhapatnam / Chintapalli

2009 Project on going, construction completed

Pallada 1 67 Arghyam, Bangalore

Functioning

Visakhapatnam / Chintapalli

2009 Project on going, construction completed

Ravipakala

1 60 CARE, India

Functioning

Visakhapatnam / Chintapalli

2007 Supplies to Bodakondamma Temple as well as the village.

Boradakota &Kondapalli

1

120

CARE, India

Functioning

East Godavari / Prattipadu

2008

Supplies to three more villages via a balancing tank.

Dharapalli 1 35 CARE, India Functioning East Godavari / Sankavaram

2007 -

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Walking along the entire length of the pipeline from the spring source to distribution tank and further to stand post was an important part of the exercise. This revealed numerous finer details of pipeline layout and flow dynamics which could not have otherwise been known. These treks-cum hikes along the pipeline is termed “pipeline walks”. A direct consequence of the pipeline walk is the elevation profile of each GWFS. The pipeline walk was conducted using a handheld GPS system to note elevation of the source and mark points along the pipeline. Noting the elevation of the distribution tank and then computing the elevation difference between the source and the distribution tank gave us an estimate of the pressure heads. This is an important consideration in the planning of GWFS. Smaller head difference as well as large distance between source and distribution tank can make it difficult to implement the system.

Pipeline walk was also done because all the 27 projects implemented so far have been based on approximations and experience based understanding of VJNNS team. Until this current effort no elevation, distance and alignment profiling had been done.

We conducted “pipeline walks” for three sites; Pallada, Jellurmettu and Kondapalli; examining the

alignment, marking the orientation using GPS and developing an elevation profile of each transmission pipeline. Finally HGL, head difference, flow rate, pressure at the end point were calculated to check the degree of efficiency of the entire system. This lack of vital scientific data often made it difficult for an outsider to understand or even comprehend the process of construction of GWFS. With more technical data available, it can now be shared with people not familiar or associated with the project. Table 3 shows the data gathered from pipeline walk conducted for Chikkudubatti village.

The waypoints were marked using GPS at 30 feet intervals and elevation noted at all those locations where there was a visible change in elevation of the terrain, and also at points where there was a change in the diameter of the pipeline. The data thus obtained was scatter plotted to see the topographic profile of the terrain through which the pipeline passed.

GPS data, elevation curve and the pipeline profile of two more villages is shared in Appendix B.

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PHOTO 6: A SECTION OF PIPELINE OF PALLADA GWFS

PHOTO 7: A SECTION OF PIPELINE OF KONDAPALLI GWFS

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TABLE 3: A SAMPLE DATA SET FROM CHIKKUDUBATTI VILLAGE

Sr No Waypoint Name Distance Leg length Course Position Elevation

1 Chikkudubati Village 0 ft

N17 47.971 E82 28.435 2672 ft

2 Chikkudubatti Source Tank 0.4 mi 0.4 mi

203° true

N17 47.687 E82 28.306 2731 ft

3 Cbp1 0.4 mi 31 ft 331° true

N17 47.692 E82 28.303 2732 ft

4 Cbp2 0.4 mi 10 ft 35° true

N17 47.693 E82 28.304 2730 ft

5 Cbp3 0.4 mi 15 ft 5° true N17 47.695 E82 28.304 2733 ft

6 Cbp4 0.4 mi 27 ft 286° true

N17 47.697 E82 28.300 2731 ft

7 Cbp5 0.4 mi 44 ft 9° true N17 47.704 E82 28.301 2728 ft

40 Cbp38 0.6 mi 15 ft 2° true N17 47.848 E82 28.293 2705 ft

41 Cbp39 0.6 mi 24 ft 29° true

N17 47.851 E82 28.295 2700 ft

42 Cbp40 0.6 mi 9 ft 35° true

N17 47.852 E82 28.296 2706 ft

43 Chikkudubatti Distribution Tank 0.6 mi 16 ft

55° true

N17 47.854 E82 28.299 2706 ft

2695

2700

2705

2710

2715

2720

2725

2730

2735

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

E

l

e

v

a

t

i

o

n

(

f

t)

Distance from the source ( ft)

Topographic ProfileTopographic profile

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PHOTO 8: DISCUSSION WITH GONDIPAKALA VILLAGE MEMBERS

Out of the 6 villages visited, we interacted with the people of Gondipakala, Pallada and Bappannadhara

GWFS here was installed as early as 2004.The interactions here helped us see the long term impacts of GWFS. Both direct and indirect impacts were explored with the villagers. As this village has abundant water, they shared it with two other settlements willingly.

GWFS installation in Pallada is only 10 months old and the short term impacts and

issues around the process of implementing were elicited during the interaction.

The issues of this village were different from the others. This project in VJNNS’ opinion was one of the most difficult ones to achieve. There were no spring sources in proximity to the village. A spring source supplying water to Kondapalli was chosen to supply to this village also. The source belongs to Kondapalli and during any dispute or lean season Kondapalli people either block the source or cut the supply pipes.

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VJNNS provided necessary information on cost estimation, general considerations for technical decisions and the processes.

The information gather from the above three processes will be shared through case studies of these villages and also from the Appendices.

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A spring occurs when the water table is at the ground surface, often along a hillside or in a low area. Although water flow may be quite variable during the year and from Year-to-year, even a small flow can be worth developing; for instance a gravity spring/seep spring of one liter/ minute is over a 1000 liters/ a day. The usable flow rate, at the time of year the water is required, must be determined before starting development. [6}

Springs in which there is a free flow of water due to aquifer pressure is called Artesian springs. They occur when water is trapped between impervious layers and is forced to the surface under pressure. At these springs the water comes vertically out of the ground. They are usually the easiest to develop, requiring no collection just an intake for piping. [5][6]

These springs have little or no aquifer pressure, being visible only as a wet area or by a difference of vegetation indicating water is present. They usually require a collection system connected to the distribution pipeline. [6] In Eastern Ghats, the area where VJNNS has implemented GWFS has poorly developed granitic basement aquifer and have abundant gravity springs. Unlike the artisan springs, these springs are independent of the aquifer pressure. Due to their continuous nature gravity springs are a reliable source to tap for drinking water purpose. Also in most of the villages where this supply system is implemented, there is no other alternate source of clean drinking water.

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FIGURE 3: ARTESIAN SPRINGS OCCUR WHEN WATER IS TRAPPED BETWEEN IMPERVIOUS LAYERS AND IS FORCED TO THE SURFACE

FIGURE 4: GRAVTIY SPRINGS FLOW ON A NATURAL UNDERGROUND SLOPE TO THE SURFACE. THE WATER FLOWS MORE OR LESS HORIZONTALLY OUT OF THE GROUND.

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VJNNS is working in the region since the early 1970s. Their focus has been health and education between the 1970s and 1980s. During this period the Government started numerous programs to improve health and literacy in this region.

Due to Government intervention, VJNNS moved on to other unmet needs like drinking water. As VJNNS also worked in healthcare related issues it found that the occurrences of water borne diseases were very high in this region. Thus VJNNS began to explore solutions to provide clean drinking water to the villages.

Early interventions were borewells and open dug wells as a source of drinking water. But these were not adopted by the villagers due to difference in taste, which occurred because of high iron levels in ground water of this region. The spring box system developed by the government also fell into disuse because of similar issues. Due to very low water levels in the summer season, people broke open these spring boxes to gain access to the water. They also carried out their washing and cleaning activities here, thus contaminating it. And so the quality of the water remained poor.

As an experimental one of the enterprising team members from VJNNS, Mr.Parthasarathy observed the springs and people’s preferences. He then developed a solution i.e. GWFS which had a good chance of adoption by people.

Seeing the farmers in hilly region use bamboo to transport water from streams lead to an idea that

water could be piped from the spring to the villages. He intuitively implemented this system in the first village, Damanapalli with the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) Funds. It was the first GWFS constructed by VJNNS. It was constructed largely on his approximations. The experiment worked.

Since then VJNNS has implemented around 27 of such systems on their own, they have advised the Chintapalli block administration; Visakhapatnam district, to implement such systems in 2 of their villages and 15 other NGOs in the region.

Expression of interest by the

community

Formation of a committee

Training Community

Selection of a suitable spring-

Spring flow (perennial/seasonal)

and yield

Ascertaining property rights

Altitude measuring

Water quality testing

Planning – matching yield with

demand, peak demand, spring

yield variance

Construction- collection tank,

pipeline, distribution tank,

distribution network

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Drawing on their experience over a period of time they have developed a process to implement the GWFS in a village.

Typically the villagers approach VJNNS with an application requesting GWFS system in their village.

Following the application, a study of existing water sources and water practices of people is undertaken to understand the needs clearly. A baseline survey of the village is carried out to explore the following

Technical survey of the source is a crucial parts of GWFS system. The process of engaging with community to get desirable results will be discussed in detail.

Water-sanitation practices

Source of water defecation practice personal hygiene practices

Source Identification and estimation of the viability of sources

Investigating already existing source of water Identification of springs in the area : Historical knowledge of villagers in identifying potential spring sources

Local community to identify the springs that don’t dry up during the summer season

Measuring the yield over a period of few months to see if any change in yields

Assessing the habitation in the catchment of the spring

Elder people in the village usually aware of

springs that have been alive since their

childhood, and such springs could be a potential

source

If in the vicinity of the spring is a pasture where

the animals go grazing during the most dry

season, that spring is a probable source

Localized green vegetation in otherwise dry

areas may also indicate the presence of a spring

It is often necessary to follow the streams and

rivulets, walking and hiking for hours to find the

rising point of a potentially good source.[7]

Measuring the yield during the source

identification over a period of month to see the

variation will reduce the probability of getting

the source wrong

Spring has a consistent yield with little variation

during rainy season and dry season.

If the identification process is carried out during

the summer (in this case march – may)the

margin of error is reduced significantly, as all the

other sources that are fed from aquifer recharge

will dry up.

The spring’s eye or the source origin when

excavated more or increased in size should alter

the yield of the spring.

Any spring with a consistent yield during the

non lean period with yields between 1 lps to 3

lps and with yields of 0.5 lps in lean periods have

been observed to be a reliable source.

The more distance a source is from the village, a

spring with better yield will be more reliable.

To get a distant source on a undulating terrain to

supply to a village, diameter of the pipe is

decreased to use the siphon effect to help more

the water.

To break pressure of the water in the pipes they

do not use break pressure tanks but vary the

diameters to use the pressure.

Sometimes, underground sources may emerge

directly into a stream or rivulet. It may be

necessary to check for changes in the flow of

water along the stream or rivulet to be

investigated in order to locate a spring with

potential for development.

27

to understand the water quality of the spring.

Calculate the yield of the spring using the Bucket method

Viability Survey of elevation of source and

distribution tank ( approximation) How viable will it be to supply the water to the village What will be the possible expenditure for te supply line to the village is again estimated. Using Bucket method the yield of the source is measured.

Socio-cultural background

Number of families, children, Festivals and celebrations, eating habits

Education Number of schools, education qualification of people

Occupation If they are farmers who engage in Podu cultivation then what type of crops do they grow? ( maize, turmeric, corn) People who make charcoal from the trees felled in the forest. Number of people who are employed in other occupations. Pensioners

Institutions Number of CBOs, committees and unions in the village

Health Survey Healthcare information of the village is collected from the community health worker .

After the Socio-technical survey and study of the water source a plan to construct and implement a GWFS for the village is submitted to the Panchayat. On approval by the Panchayat, a village committee is formed that is responsible for the activities, like

training of the villagers on various aspects of the GWFS construction and maintenance.

Water Testing is carried out at the spring source using field level water quality testing kits to ascertain potable quality of the water from that source.

First build a collection pit by damming the flow.

Make sure that the basin collects all of the

available flow. Then place a pipe through the top

of the dam so that all of the collected water now

flows freely through the pipe. Allow the spring to

run for some time after the dam construction

has been completed, and measure when the flow

becomes steady. If the flow of the spring is such

that the measuring bucket gets filled up too

quickly (in less than 5 seconds), the flow should

be channelled through several pipes, each of

which is measured separately. In this case, the

total flow is the sum of these separate

measurements. For the flow measurement, place

a bucket of a known volume under the pipe to

catch the water. For springs with very low flow,

a 1 litre bucket will suffice . For a bigger flow,

one might use a ten or twenty litre bucket;

alternatively, the flow can be divided into

several channels which are then measured

separately (see photo on cover page). With a

watch, measure the amount of time taken (in

seconds) to fill the bucket. Divide the volume of

water collected by the time of collection to find

the rate of flow in litres per second. Make at

least 4 to 5 readings in this way. If the amount of

time taken to fill the bucket varies by more than

10% to 20% between measurements, you know

that the collecting basin is either being drained

or is still filling up. Repeat the measurements

until a stable reading is achieved.

FIGURE 5: YIELD MEASUREMENT BY BUCKET METHOD [7]

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The results obtained from the survey are shared with the villagers. A micro plan is developed for the village through a participatory exercise. During this exercise a pipeline network is decided. On an average every 10 households share one stand post between them.

Often households are requested to move their cattle shed away from the stand-post to avoid source contamination. Similarly during this process they decide an area for all sanitation practices in a manner that they are away from the stand posts to avoid contamination. The villagers develop their own set of rules to en sure that neither the source nor the stand posts are misused by the people. In most cases the villagers agree and follow these rules b y mutual consent.

A committee is constituted from the village Panchayat members and other interested individuals are formed. The committee members are trained in basics of water and sanitation practices and this committee in turn trains their fellow people.

A local staff / animator from the implementation organization supports the committee members in the process. This peer learning process is very effective.

The approval of Panchayat, formation of committee

and engagement with the committee members is

taken seriously by VJNNS. The organization believes

that for GWFS to stay in use and get adopted by the

people as their own system these are necessary. In

one of the villages where the committee was lacking

the required level of activity and dedication, VJNNS

withdrew from the village.

Each committee member is responsible for a specific area. He is responsible for cooperation and successful adaptation of new practices (regarding water and sanitation) which they have been trained on earlier.

Following the ground work a bank account is opened, jointly operated by village committee and VJNNS. The fund allocated for construction of the GWFS and monthly user fee (collected from the villagers is deposited.

PHOTO 9: MICRO PLANNINF MAP OF PIPELINE AND VILLAGE ASSETS SHOWN ALONG WITH VARIOUS STANDPOST LOCATIONS

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Trainings were conducted on the following four subjects:

Water Source Management Household Water Management Personal Hygiene

Whether it is a water supply and/or a sanitation scheme that is proposed, the ultimate aim is to improve the health and quality of life of the community. Technical developments or improvements will give maximum benefit only if they are part of a wider hygiene education program. This may involve the changing of long held attitudes and practices and may well take considerably longer to achieve than the actual

construction of the scheme. Hygiene education must be a community activity so that everyone goes forward together without any group being left behind. It is usual for the women to be the ones who are primarily concerned with the health of the family, and education will normally concentrate on them. However, it is often the children who are the easiest to educate regarding the benefits of hygiene education, and then they insist on changes being made within the family unit. Training on personal hygiene, water handling practices and management of household waste is provided before the commencement of construction of GWFS.

PHOTO 10: VILLAGE LEVEL TRAINING ON WATER AND SANITATION ISSUES, SOURCE: VJNNS

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PHOTO 11: USE OF FLASH CARDS TO EXPLAIN GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES, SOURCE: VJNNS

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As a part of preconstruction training an exposure visit is organized to a village where GWFS has been implemented. The visiting villagers interact with the people to understand how they use and maintain their GWFS. They understand the practices, benefits and advantages of the system. In all they get to know what has been the experience of the other village from the GWFS implementation till the present.

Village committee members and some proactive women and individuals are taken on these exposures. It is essential to have women as a part of the village committee and also encourage more women to take part in the entire exercise. It is essential because they take care of the children and the house and run their household when they are convinced it will have an impact on the whole family and thereby to the whole village.Hardware Procurement

The procurement of hardware is done by VJNNS after discussing it with village committee. A written approval is given by the village to procure provided required material. An inventory list is maintained by the animator (community worker) who usually belongs to the same village and is employed by VJNNS. The animator in turn is then monitored by the village committee.

Shramdaan( donation of hard work): In the implementation phase a significant portion of the construction work is done by voluntary contribution of labor by the villagers themselves. The following are the contribution of villagers through shramdan:

Channel Digging

Foundation Works

All unskilled labor requirements during the process of implementation: including the construction of both source and distribution tanks, laying the pipeline etc.

Construction expenditure incurred for:

Wages of mason and plumber

Material cost of: cement, stones, chips, steel and HDPE (Teflon coated) pipes

Expenditure of one such system is shared in Appendix E.

Collection box protects the source of the spring from animals venturing into the spring area, from their droppings and from rain water overflow. If the spring flows over an area it is necessary to collect it at a place to make the flow manageable. During the rainy season rubbles stones other things carried by water may block the pipes to avoid this source tank is protected.

Base material Rubbles, gravels, chipped stones Plastering material

Side walls : Cement plastering ( 1:4 ratio of cement: sand) Bottom floor: Cement plastering (1:3 ratio of cement: sand)

Cover RCC Blocks ( 1:2:4) of (gravel chip: cement: sand)

The standard dimensions of the spring collection box are shared in the engineering diagram of the cross-section of source tank. In some places the dimensions are other than the standard. The reason for the smaller size is to do with the nature of the source. If the source is found to be on a Soft stone (which is recognized by the spread of wetness on the stone) then the area around it is not excavated thus limiting the size of collection box.

For hard stone plastering is not required. Plastering the inner walls of the tank is necessary. Plastering is done on the floor of the tank with 1:3 ratio of cement: sand).

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FIGURE 6: CROSS-SECTION

OF SPRING COLLECTION TANK

FIGURE 7: COLLECTION BOX

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

PHOTO 12: SPRING COLLECTION BOX ,

PALLADA

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PHOTO 13: EYE OF THE SPRING, POINT WHERE THE PEN IS PLACED IN THE TANK

Unplastered wall of a soft spring

RCC Cover for the source

Eye of spring/ spring origin/ spring inlet ( shown in detail in photo 9)

Plastered wall of the souce box

Spring outlet (shown in more detail photo10)

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PHOTO 14: OUTLET OF THE SPRING INDICATED WITH THE PEN

Plastered wall on the outlet side to reduce loss of water from the wall

Spring outlet

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FIGURE 8: CROSS-SECTION DIAGRAM OF DISTRIBUTION TANK

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FIGURE 9: FRONT VIEW OF THE DISTRIBUTION TANK

WITH SLOW SAND FILTER

Inlet hole

Inlet chamber and sedimentation tank

Flush valve to flush out water during cleaning process

Filter chamber

Screening plate

Outlet valve

Outlet chamber

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Distribution tank is composed of three main chambers, namely:

Inlet chamber

Filtration chamber (made up of two slow sand filters in series) filters

Distribution chamber

Usually the distribution tank is placed around 1.5 meters above the ground level. This is to keep it safe from interference by people and animals. This protects the water in the tank from contamination.

The water from the source tank is fed to the inlet

tank. The inlet is kept at the upper end of the tank.

This reduces the energy and velocity of water before

it enters the tank. If the velocity of the water is high,

the filtration process through the slow sand filter will

not be efficiently. The pipe bringing the water is

taken all the way down to the inlet chamber rather

than letting it fall from the top. At the bottom of the

inlet chamber there is a hole through which water

passes to the filter chamber. Letting the water at the

bottom of the inlet chamber also helps in the process

of sedimentation of the particles carried by the water

from the source tank.

The water from the inlet chamber goes to the filter

chamber from a hole at the bottom of the wall

separating the inlet chamber from the filter.

The water is purified in the filter chamber before it is distributed using a combination of slow sand filter and reverse slow sand filter.

Composition of the filter chamber: The filter chamber is made up of two sub chambers, a screening plate which rests at around 70 cms from the floor of the tank.

FIGURE 10: CROSS SECTION OF FILTER TANK

Length= 5 meters

Width= 2 meters

Height= 2.7 meters

Length = 1 m

Width =2 m

Height 2.7 m

Volume =5.4 m3

Length = 2.5 m

Width =2 m

Height =2.7 m

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Screening plate is made of 5 cm thick perforated concrete slab. The perforations are 1cm-2 cm in diameter. This screen plate is placed 70 cm from the bottom of the filter chamber. The purpose of this screen filter is to screen leaves, dry twigs and other undesirable floating particles from the water.

It is 70 to 80 cm in height and it is composed of pebbles and fine sand from river bed). In the reverse slow sand filter, a layer of sand, approximately 40 cm in thickness is placed on top of the screen plate followed by a 40 cm layer of pebbles.

Details of the filter media is described in the filter media preparation.

The second filter is made exactly similar to reverse slow sand filter, except that the first media put on the screen plate in this case is of pebbles which is then followed by sand on top of the pebbles.

Water enters the filter chamber from below the screen plate in the first filter, rises above slowly through the sand and then the pebbles. Then it overflows into the second filter from the top. The water traverses the entire section and passes through the screen plate again. The water from the chamber beneath the screen plate now leaves to the last chamber, the outlet /distribution chamber of the tank.

Outlet chamber of the distribution tank is connected to the transmission line going to the village. The outlet chamber also has a direct tap as an auxiliary. The outlet chamber is provided with a vertical open ended pipe attached along with the transmission pipeline. This is to ensure that the atmospheric pressure is maintained in the pipeline thus enabling a continuous flow.

FIGURE 11: SKELETON OF SCREEN PLATE

Slow sand filter is based on the sieve like

action of a fine layer of biological organisms

(called biofilm) which forms in the

interstices of the sand and gravel layers.

This biofilm cleans the water of its

impurities and biological contamination.

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FIGURE 12: TOP VIEW OF THE DISTRIBUTION TANK

FIGURE 13: 3D VIEW OF DISTRIBUTION TANK

Inlet chamber

Reverse slow sand Filter

Slow sand filter

Outlet chamber

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Teflon coated (inner walls) HDPE pipe with diameters ranging from 2.5 inches to 1.25 inches is used in the design of GWFS. Most of the pipes used spread out open or with very little protection from the sun and human activity. The material of the pipe is therefore an important consideration.

HDPE is one of the modern plastics widely regarded for its strength, durability and low price. These pipes are easy to lay, maintain and replace. Their flexibility is also quite advantageous for the hilly terrain in this region. Flexibility imparts easier alignment across the terrain. Teflon coating is preferred to minimize the frictional losses due to the flow.

The pipelines is either laid in trenches or buried a few inches below the ground. This offers surface protection to the pipes from being damaged.

Factors considered for selection of a path for transmission pipeline are:

Commons land with community ownership is preferred.

The path chosen should have minimum disturbance from human activity.

As far as possible cultivated land is avoided. If a pipe is taken through a cultivated land, there is a possibility that pipeline is damaged during ploughing, harvesting etc.

Shortest distance is preferred after considering the above. This is necessary to reduce the cost of

pipe and also frictional losses due to the length of pipe.

Paths which people use to walk are avoided to reduce possibility of damages.

People’s convenience and agreement among people will be taken by drawing village maps to decide the path of transmission line from distribution tank to stand post

At its heart, GWFS is essentially an age old technique of channelizing water over long distances to the point where we would like to use it. In our case it is drinking water, which is transmitted to habitations or villages through pipes. The flow in the transmission is maintained by gravitational potential available on account of elevation difference. The water source (springs) is located at a higher elevation than the village. The discharge from these springs flow downward under the effect of gravity. When this gravitational flow is carefully channelized, it can drive a fairly large supply network because in steep terrain, gravitational potential maintains a pressure head in the water distribution system.

To understand the technical parameters, some fundamentals of the flow dynamics and basic concepts of pipeline flow should be understood. Refer to the box below for an outline of concepts involved. These concepts have been from earlier works on GWFS by Thomas D Jordan (Jr) at Practical Action manual from SKAT consulting and others.

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The main pipeline which transmits the water is referred to as transmission main and the branch line that distributes

the water is service main. The distribution network may have different configurations which are planned in

accordance with the village layout. All the projects studied have a branched configuration. It is important to note that

the cost of water distribution network depends upon the proper selection of the geometry of the network. Since most

of the implementations studied, cater to not more a relatively smaller number of households (maximum of 450

households) the distribution network doesn’t appear to have much impact. But when planned for a larger number

distribution network planning is critical.

A set of basic physical principles govern the behavior of water and the dynamics of flow. An understanding of these

principles is necessary to design and successful engineer a GWFS in any hilly region.

The energy due to gravity at a site is equal to the elevation difference between points. This elevation difference is termed head with units of feet (for water, more accurately, as feet of head of water). In the case of water, this energy is equal to: • 1 foot of elevation drop = 0.433 psi of pressure head • or, for every 2.31 feet of elevation drop = 1 psi of pressure head Pipe size and flow rate must be ‘matched’ to this energy using the following steps: • the elevation drop or elevation head is measured • a flow rate is chosen • the ‘end-of-pipe’ pressure is • then a pipe size can be chosen- different pipe sizes and pipe materials will have different flows for a given elevation drop (i.e., they have different friction losses) (‘friction losses’ are only ‘lost’ to the water system as energy is converted into heat)

This states that for constant water flow in a pipe, flow in one part of a pipe is equal to flow at any other part of the pipe, as shown by: Point A Flow = Point A Velocity x Point A Area, = Point B Velocity x Point B Area, etc As flow is velocity multiplied by pipe area, changing the pipe cross sectional area (a larger or smaller pipe) will cause a

change in velocity. This becomes useful when selecting a pipe size or in negative pressure conditions.

When no water is flowing in a gravity-pressured pipe (as when a trough float valve is closed) it is in static equilibrium.

Water levels are at static level and pressures in the pipe are termed static heads. As no water is flowing there is no

energy loss to friction and the pressures in the pipe are their highest at all points (equal to their elevation below the

inlet), highest pressure being at the lowest point.

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When water is flowing in the pipe friction loss occurs that reduces the pressure energy at all points along the pipe.

With a constant flow a system is said to be in dynamic equilibrium and pressures are termed dynamic heads.

To fully illustrate the conditions along a pipe, static and dynamic equilibrium conditions can be plotted on a drawing

of the profile of the system. When the points of static or dynamic equilibrium are connected they form a line that is

termed the hydraulic grade line (HGL). This line represents the energy level at each point along the pipe (refer to

Figure 1, below).

The HGL for static equilibrium is a horizontal line at the level of the water source, as in static conditions the pipe has

an energy level equal to its elevation below this water source elevation (no friction loss is occurring).

The HGL for dynamic equilibrium is a line sloped downwards from the water inlet to either the pressure at the trough

float valve or to zero if the outlet flow is to atmosphere. This line always slopes downward, indicating a ‘loss’ of energy

as water flows downhill and energy is lost due to friction.

Siphons are a unique gravity flow situation where the pipeline goes over a point that is higher than the supply water

elevation before falling to the delivery elevation. A siphon uses the differences in elevation and atmospheric pressure

to flow water. If the both ends of the pipe are submerged and air is removed at the high point (primed), atmospheric

pressure on the supply water surface will move water up the pipe to the high point (if this point is set at an

appropriate elevation) and gravity will move the water from there down to the delivery point. Alternatively, with a

check valve (foot valve) on the intake and a control valve on the outlet, closing the outlet valve, filling up the siphon

pipe with water, then opening the outlet valve will start the siphon flow.

A siphon will work better under the following conditions

• the short leg is as short as possible

• the high point is as low and as close to the inlet water surface as possible

• the high point is less than 15 feet above the HGL (decrease by 3 ft for every 3000 ft elevation above sea level)

• the slope of the long leg is greater than the HGL slope

• the flushing flow rate is used to avoid air buildup at the high point

• minimum fall across the siphon is used

• an inlet check valve and outlet control valve are used

• an outlet box is used to prevent entry of air into the siphon (water can be piped from this box to the trough)

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FIGURE 14: HGL FOR A TYPICAL GWFS [5]

FIGURE 15: HGL FOR A GWFS SYSTEM WITH UNDULATING TERRAIN [5]

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The pipeline fitting is done by a plumber hired for laying the transmission pipeline between the source and distribution. Prefabricated joints made of GI pipes (Galvanized Iron Pipes) are used to join HDPE pipes. It is recommended to reduce the number of joints as much as possible to reduce the frictional losses. The diameter of the pipes used in GWFS ranges from 2.5 inches to 1.25 inches.

The only fitting required in the entire GWFS pipeline network is joining the pipes using joints. A joint is required in two cases:

When diameter of the pipe changes

To join pieces of pipes in a regular run of the pipeline. The standard lengths of pipes provided by the manufacturer:

TABLE 4 TABULATION OF THE CHANGE IN DIAMETER OF PIPELINE OBSERVED DURING THE PIPELINE WALKS

Sr No

Village Name /Source Name

Distance from Source to Distribution tank (km)

Diameters changed through the pipeline ( in inches)

Starting Dia

Change 1 Change 2 Change 3

Change 4

1 Bappannadhara/Kondapalli Source

2.7 km 2.5 2 1.5 1.25 1.5

2 Kondapalli / Kondapalli Source

0.965 2.5 2 1.5 1.25 -

3 Pallada 1.45 2 1.5 1.25 - -

4 Boradavedi/Jellurmettu Source

0.65 2.5 2 1.5 - -

PHOTO 15: A GI PIPE JOINT

Diameter (in inches)

Length of pipes in roles (in meters)

2.5 50 2.0 150 1.5 200 1.25 250

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Peak demand in the village ranges from 2 to 3 hours in the morning. On an average there are 10 taps in a village of 0.5 inch diameter. During the peak hour, assuming that all the taps are kept open (at the maximum flow rate of 4 liter/minute) the total flow from 10 taps will be is 40 liters/minute.

The distribution chamber of the distribution tanks are built for a capacity of around 6000 liters. Now Since the total demand is 2400l/hr the tank can easily supply for this demand. Therefore the GWFS has the ability to supply at a stretch for around 3 hours of peak demand.

Concrete Screen plate : 5 cm thickness, (Hole diameter 2 cm)

Two filters namely slow sand filter and reverse slow sand filter are used in the distribution tank. Material used and the preparation of the filter media is same in both the filters except the order in which the material are layered. In the case of slow sand filter the bottom layer is made up of pebbles and sand on top.

Pebbles (dia 3 to 5 cm)

Sand screened from 16 gauge mesh

Both treated with bleaching powder.

Pebbles -30 to 40 cm

Sand: 40 cm

Capacity of filter: Filter area minimum 2 sq meters to maximum 2.25 sq meters.

Each square meter area of the filter can filter around 2.53 m3 (2530 liters) of water/ hour. If the flow rate of the water through the filter is increased, then the water may not be filtered effectively. Therefore it is necessary to have at least 2 square meter of filter to meet a peak demand of around 6000 liters /hour.

Whereas the peak demand in most of the cases is never more than 2400 – 3000 liters / hour.

Periodical cleaning of the slow sand filter is important because over time the thickness of the biofilm increases and this reduces the flow rate of water. If the biofilm formation in the filter is not checked it can impair the filtration process completely. Due to this the filter is cleaned once in

There are 18 taps in the case of Gondipakala, and 16 taps in Kondapalli village.

Tank capacity in Kondapalli = 6000 liters

Yields of spring source very high.

In this case the source has the ability to supply 24 x7 of peak demand, because of this high yield.

Another tank known as the ‘Balancing Tank’ (tank to hold the balance water) is installed to supply water to two other neighbouring villages and the capacity of this tank is also 6000 liters.

For an average of 10 taps, at consumption rate of 3 - 4 l/min.

Total need = 30 to 40 l / min.

Taps (0.5 inch taps – minimum 3 liter - maximum 4 liters/min output while functioning in parallel)

Demand/ hour = 2400 liter/hour discharge (10 taps x 3 liter/min x 60 min)

Tank capacity = 6000 liters (maximum)

Gondipakala, Kondapalli (high yield at source)

Therefore, 3 hrs supply is possible.

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every six months by removing all the layers of sand and gravel and reconstituting them again. Before the

sand and gravel is put in again, it is washed thoroughly and treated with bleaching powder.

PHOTO 16: A STANDPOST CONSTRUCTED ACCORDING TO GWFS GUIDELINES

Height of tap from ground should be 21- 24 inches. Surface should be flat and no pit should be constructed to keep pot, to avoid stagnation of water.

Tap projection should not be more than 9 inches, if more the tap will sag. 0.5 inch dia tap used, to ensure a continuous flow with good pressure.

Platform dimension: 1 .5 meter by 1 meter.

These guidelines to build a stand post are necessary to avoid contamination of water and ensure good quality at all times.

A drain from the platform should be constructed to avoid water stagnation on the platform.

Maintenance involves cleaning the distribution tank and filter media once in every 6 months. Silt deposited from the tank is also cleared and thus a periodic cleaning ensures quality of water using. Apart from this ay damage, replacement or renovation work is undertaken with the funds collected as user fee from the villages.

A user fee of Rs 5 to Rs 10 is collected from every household to meet O&M expenses of GWFS.

Water quality is tested either sending water samples to a regional testing lab or by using field test kits. The samples unfiltered and filtered are tested and quality improvement is evaluated.

Training is conducted on the following aspects:

Maintenance of source, tanks, taps ,pipelines and operation of supply is explained to people.

They are shown how to check leakage, change pipes and manage waste water.

Fixing monthly user fee and methods of collection and payment..

Course of action in case of breakdowns.

Opening of bank account to manage user fee and expenses for O&M, more towards financial management

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After a successful trial run of the system it is transferred to the villagers i.e. the villagers take charge of operating the system and its upkeep from here on. This is a relatively smooth process as most of them are familiar and trained on all the aspects of GWFS.

Processes that facilitate the efficient functioning of GWFs are curtail for its long term sustainability. Monitoring these processes ensures transparency and high level of efficiency. For example, monitoring bank account transactions and expenditures builds confidence among the users who pay monthly for water supply. The appointed committee is mandated to oversee every aspect of GWFS operation and ensure that no irregularities occur at any stage. of the system.

Water usage committee collects the user fee for maintenance of the system. A fee ranging from Rs 5 – 10 per home /month is levied to cover the costs of O&M.

The financial details of the total funding, expenses incurred and the villagers’ contribution is stated clearly on a display board which is usually erected at the entrance of the village. This is a rudimentary method to make all the project details public and often found to be highly effective.

The field staff of VJNNS checks on a regular basis if the system is working and if the committee is functioning to people’s satisfaction. Although a proper follow-up mechanism is not in place the project has not suffered any setback or problem. However it is difficult to follow up with the village after a GWFS is constructed and successfully implemented. It is observed that the funds allocated for the project is spent by the time it is implemented.

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PHOTO 17: GONDIPAKALA VILLAGE

PHOTO 18: 3MEN SORTING COFFEE BEANS, GONDIPAKALA

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CASE STUDIES

GWFS in this village was commissioned in 2004. The people of this village approached after seeing a similar system in Digupakala village.

Gondipakala makes an interesting study in how availability of water impacts the overall development of a village, from children’s health to agriculture.

Technically this village has a typical GWFS construction involving processes described in the earlier sections. What is noteworthy is the course of development of this village after it constructed a GWFS for itself. It is also an interesting in the long term impacts GWFS because the facility here is almost 8 years old.

The source harvested for Gondipakala is owned by a farmer from Digupakala (which already has a GWFS helped by VJNNS). This farmer having experienced the benefits of GWFS, knew that this spring source on his land could help Gondipakala. He readily agreed to share the spring with Gondipakala as an act of charity. 110 households now benefit from this source. This was further scaled up to 37 more households of two settlements which came up adjacent to the village.

The yield of this source is approximately 3l/sec. This is considered a good yield and the water harvested is sufficient for the household needs of this village. This remaining water which gets harvested is diverted to other farm activities like cultivation, coffee beans cleaning etc.

The village relied on a small stream which ran closer to the village, for all their water requirements. This meant that the women spent around 2 hours to fetch water every time they needed it. This obviously reduced their availability for more productive activities like tending to their farms. Their contribution to income generation due to this was rather small.

Men, apart from farming worked as casual laborers during the lean season. There was very little work to be found in the drier months. On occasions like festivals or marriages people paid Rs 500 to Rs 1000 to truck water.

Village

GWFS commencement year:

Number of households served:

Elevation of Village:

Elevation of source:

Elevation of Distribution tank:

Source to Distribution tank distance:

Peak Water Demand: 16 taps x 3l/min x

60 min =

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An Anganwadi worker shared her experience saying, “I

used to open the centre late and close it early in the

evening because of our water problems. Now that I

have water supplied right at my door step. I am able to

take care of the children well and also manage to pack

a lot of other activities in the time gained.“

The village underwent many obvious and also subtle changes in the years since GWFS implementation.

The piped water supply round the clock has almost had a liberating effect on the women. It means sure and certain water availability. The 2 hour hike to the stream and back is totally eliminated. Quite obviously, there is more water available now due to proximity of the tap and 24 hour nature of the supply. There is also a remarked change in hygiene practices of the families in this village. Activities like hand washing and bathing are more frequent now.

Since the source harvested for this village has a high yield there is a significant amount of water left even after household demand is met. This excess water is

channelized to the farms and kitchen gardens around the households. This is remarkable because farming here was either rain fed or from irrigation channels fed from streams. This limited the cropping period as well as the scope of farming. With the development of the new source, farming is gradually extending over the entire year than being limited to rainy season. The farmers are also experimenting with newer crops and horticultural varieties than being limited to coffee which was grown traditionally. For instance, a progressive farmer from the village is experimenting with strawberry cultivation for over a year now, which is the first in this region.

A progressive farmer from the village is experimenting

with strawberry cultivation for over a year now, which

is a first in this region.

The coffee which these farmers harvested was sold to coffee board without any value addition and these fetched lower margins. When the coffee board observed the improved water availability in the village, it helped the villagers with coffee beans washing equipment and also supported with funds to build a cemented platforms to dry the beans. The farmers of this village have been identified as progressive ones. The farmers in the village have been experimenting with different variety of crops and fruits since the water supply have been fixed.

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PHOTO 19: STRAWBERRIES GROWING IN A NURSERY

PHOTO 20: CHILDREN CONNECTING A HOSE TO THE FARM

53

Bappannadhara is situated at 900 meters above sea level in the hilly region of East Godavari district. GWFS here was implemented in 2009. This village is included as a case study because of the technical challenge involved in implementing the system and to highlight the importance of ascertaining the ownership status of the spring sources that are harvested for GWFS

The spring source for Bappannadhara is directly shared by Kondapalli and indirectly (fed by overflow) by Boradakota and Mirtwada. The source is owned by Kondapalli and the people here often assert and tend to control the supply of water. During the visit it was found that water supply to Bappannadhara was impaired due to a suspected obstruction in the pipeline which was perhaps done by Kondapalli village. Had a clear ownership status and water sharing process been established in the planning stages of this GWFS implementation, such a situation would not have risen. The learning from this experience is that source ownership and property rights must be clearly established before undertaking GWFS implementation.

All the villages under this GWFS lie in a hilly terrain where pipeline design is often challenging. Transporting water across a distance of approximately 3 kms and also ensuring a good end-pipe pressure can be a rigorous undertaking. The orientation of the village from the source is such that the transmission pipeline had to negotiate two hill

ridges. It is noteworthy that this was accomplished by VJNNS and the people of this village with a

minimal understanding of pipeline engineering. The pipeline alignment had to be economical as well as sound enough to maintain a smooth flow.

The yield of this source is 3 l/sec and is observed to be sufficient for the two villages sharing it. In fact, there is a excess flow which is fed to a balancing tank from where two other villages are using the water.

Village:

GWFS commencement year:

Number of households served:

Elevation of Village:

Elevation of source:

Elevation of Distribution tank:

Source to Distribution tank distance:

Peak Water Demand: 10 Stand post x 3

liters/min x 60 min/hour =

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PHOTO 21: A VIEW OF KONDAPALLI VILLAGE

PHOTO 22: SPRING SOURCE OF KONDAPLLI GWFS DEEP IN THE FOREST

55

The above figure illustrates the orientation of the GWFS system of Kondapalli source. As stated earlier, it is shared by Kondapalli, Bappannadhara, Boradakota and Mirtwada. The water in the red coloured transmission line first reaches the Kondapalli distribution tank from where the excess water overflows into the ‘Balancing tank’ which supplies to Boradakota and Mirtwada. The second transmission line in violet colour supplies to Bappannadhara.

This GWFS implementation was difficult to build because: Planning and construction did not involve the use

of any precision equipment like a GPS device, flow meters or gradient measuring instruments.

Source to end use points are spread over a 3 km distance in a hilly terrain.

The pipeline lies on a flat land for over a kilometer, where maintaining flow pressure is scientifically difficult.

The elevation profile of the pipeline illustrates the terrain and the flow challenges that the design had to encounter. This profile was plotted using a GPS device during a pipeline walk from the Kondapalli source to Bappannadhara distribution tank. To analyze if the water can flow through this elevation profile under the various flow conditions Hazen-William's equation was used. This also gives the Hydrographic Gradient Lines (HGL). Considering a pipeline diameter of 2 inches: Hazen-William's Equation, Q= HGL and principle of continuous flow is explained in pipeline laying and pipeline fitting section in the document.

Kondapalli Distribution tank Mirtwada

Boradakota

Bappannadhara Distribution tank

Water source collection tank

Diversion tank for Bappannadhara

Balancing tank

Spring Source

54.063.2510292.1 SdC ´´´´ -

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PHOTO23: BALANCING TANK 0F KONDAPALLI GWFS WHICH SUPPLIES WATER TO THREE ADDITIONAL VILLAGES

PHOTO 24: DISTRIBUTION TANK AT KONDAPALLI

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Although the calculation here is done considering a pipe diameter of 2 inches, in the actual field observation it was found that the diameter of the pipe changed at 5 places. The orange line represents an HGL with a yield of 2 l/sec and considering the

varying pipe diameters. Blue, green and red coloured lines represent HGLs for yields of 2 l/sec, 1 l/sec and 0.5 l/sec respectively with a constant pipe diameter of 2 inches.

TABLE 5 CHANGES IN DIAMETERS

Village Name /Source Name

Distance from Source to Distribution tank (km)

Diameters changed through the pipeline ( in inches)

Starting Dia

Change 1 Change 2 Change 3

Change 4

Bappannadhara/Kondapalli Source

2.7 km 2.5 2 1.5 1.25 1.5

The point on the pipeline where the pipe diameter is changed is illustrated on the elevation plot. Changes 1 and 2 were made to facilitate flow

from lower elevation to higher elevation. The first change in diameter is important because at this point water has not yet gained sufficient momentum and if at this point the elevation

increases then it becomes difficult for the water to flow upwards.

Change 3 is to increase the velocity of the water, as the distance it has to flow ahead is flat. Change 4 is done to ensure that enough force is generated so that the water flows upwards to the distribution tank.

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1473

1424

1469

1207

1187

1170

1220

1270

1320

1370

1420

1470

1520

1570

0.00 1000.00 2000.00 3000.00 4000.00 5000.00 6000.00 7000.00 8000.00 9000.00 10000.00

Ele

vati

on

in f

t

Distance from the source in ft

Bappannadhara -Elevation Plot from Source to Distribution Tank

HGL line for 0.5 lps

HGL line for 1 lps

HGL line for 2 lps

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REFERENCES

1. ^ a b "Elephant and the blind men". Jain Stories. JainWorld.com. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 2. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWAT/Resources/GWMATE_CP_19AndhraPradesh.pdf 3. http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Labour&Wel/33.pdf

4. Rao ,V.L.N., Rao,S., Bharathi ,K. and BusiIllness ,B.R. Illness and Treatment among Khonds of Visakhapatnam District,Andhra Pradesh. J. Hum. Ecol., 20(2): 83-86 (2006)

5. Government Order, British Columbia., UNDERSTANDING GRAVITY-FLOW PIPELINES Water Flow, Air Locks and Siphons (Jan 2006)

6. Government Order, British Columbia.,ACCESSING SURFACE WATER SOURCES: Dugouts, Springs, Creeks, Rivers and Lakes in Technology and Management

7. Meuli,C.,Wehrle,K.,Spring Catchment. SKAT, Swiss Centre for Development Cooperation (2001)

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Design and Planning: How is the demand for GWFS from the community estimated? What parameters and approaches were adopted to identify a reliable spring source? How is the community engaged in the design and planning phase? What methods were adopted to ensure ownership of a GWFS of the community?

Network sizing

For what demand is the system designed? How many years can the system serve the community without any additional capital investment What is the per capita water consumption assumed while building the system? What is the peak flow factors considered?

Construction What measures were taken to ascertain source protection? What was the size of the distribution tank arrived at and how? What is the filtering mechanism adopted to make it fit for potable use? What is the material used for pipeline construction? What is the period of reliability of tanks and the pipeline? What is the role and contribution of the community in the construction process?

Costing and budgeting

What is the breakup of cost involved for building a GWFS (source, distribution tank, pipeline, distribution points, labor? What is the contribution from the village? What mechanism is adopted to fund the O&M expenses?

Operation and Maintenance

Who oversees the O&M issues? How is the expenditure for O&M issues met?

GWFS and Community

What was the process adopted to get the community to participate? What are the direct and indirect benefits that have accrued since the commissioning of the system?