The recently concluded Aquatech 2010 featured the issues and the solutions surrounding potable water. Our local governments and the JNNURM scheme may not be doing enough to tap the resources available, so our solutions are stuck at the execution stage—especially in the India beyond its largest cities. R Ray takes stock.

Fathom this: 71 per cent of the earth’s surface consists of water, which makes a total volume of 1.38 cubic kilometres. That’s a considerable amount, but on closer inspection the problem becomes clear; 96.5 per cent of that is salt water and only 3.5 per cent is fresh water. And of that, we can only exploit 0.3 per cent as drinking water.

Alarming figures:

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