Community Water Plant

Fluoride-contaminated water poses a serious threat to affected communities. Excessive fluoride content (exceeding the WHO-recommended guideline of 1.5 mg/L) cause serious health issues like skeletal and dental fluorosis, debilitating bone diseases, infertility, skin infections, and so on.

Furthermore, this problem is not confined to Karnataka – it is a widespread problem across 17 of 32 Indian states, particularly Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. There are a number of water purification solutions. However, many of these solutions do not address the issue of fluoride and all existing de-fluoridization solutions (such as household reverse-osmosis filters) are out of reach of populations who need it most. The problem is not technology it is affordability and reach.

Swasti has partnered with the Gram Panchayat of Thimmampalli, Karnataka, to create a community-owned solution to the problem. Swasti has invested in a water de-fluoridization plant and the Panchayat has granted access to a raw water source. The aim is to distribute the water at a minimal processing charge affordable to all. These charges will pay for the plant, at which point ownership will be turned over to the community. This is envisioned to be a sustainable solution, independent of regular outside funding.

The water plant, launched on 12 January 2013, covers 24 villages in Bagepalli talukka (Chikkaballapur district), with a total of 2,061 households located within a 10km radius. The region was chosen for its high fluoride content, which is among the highest in India. The Panchayat suffers from extreme poverty, and lacks even basic facilities. The water is provided at a charge of 20-30 paise per litre. In less than three months, the water plant has begun to supply over 200 households (over 10 per cent of the area?s population).

Progress so far

Swasti and the community have created a reliable source of fluoride-free water. The health benefits have been demonstrated, with a number of villagers reporting a sharp reduction in joint pains after just two months of consuming the defluoridized water. Beneficiaries report higher productivity throughout the day, and lead visibly more active lifestyles.

As mentioned above, the project has 200 customer households. However, these 200 households are close to the plant. There is much greater demand from households in the surrounding villages – however, providing water to the doorstep of these households increases the final cost of the water. Transport costs and service charges for local distributors raise the cost of defluoridized water from 30 paise per litre to 75 paise per litre, which many of the poorest households cannot afford.