Background

The exploitation of shallow groundwater resources using low-cost appropriate technology has been the main strategy to provide safe drinking water to many rural communities. There are limitations to further success of this strategy for several reasons, amongst them, overexploitation of ground water leading to drying up of shallow wells or contributing to various forms of contamination. In areas of low rainfall it will be increasingly necessary to revert to the use of surface water to provide drinking water to rural communities.

Irrigation systems designers have tended to focus on irrigation water for crop production. With an increased focus on improved water use efficiency within irrigation systems, there is the risk that recognized uses of water - irrigating the main crop - will be prioritized to the detriment of valuable but unrecognized uses such as domestic needs. Therefore there is a critical need to understand the multiple uses of irrigation water, determinants and consequences of use, in order to inform water policy formulation.

The research questions

• To what extent is irrigation water used for domestic purposes in the South Asian Region?
• What are the health impacts of these domestic uses of water?
• What adaptations in irrigation system design and operation are needed to make domestic use of irrigation water a safe option?
• How will more efficient irrigation and "improved" irrigation water management practices affect the quantity and quality of water available for domestic purposes?
• What are the institutional arrangements that could best serve the multiple uses of water?
• How can the multiple uses of irrigation water (productive and non-productive) be valued?
• How can the irrigation and water supply and sanitation sectors best work together for the benefit of poor urban populations? This would include prospects for expansion of peri-urban wastewater irrigation.
• What are the possibilities for on-site sanitation in waterlogged irrigated areas?

Objectives

General objective

Bridge the gap that exists between the irrigation and water & sanitation sectors so that future initiatives take into account all uses and users of water, so that water will be used in a more efficient and sustainable manner to reduce disease and poverty.

Specific Objectives:

• Exchange established knowledge between researchers from different professions to foster better understanding of the irrigation - water supply linkages.
• Identify knowledge gaps that exist between the irrigation and water supply & sanitation sectors.
• Test the ability of collective efforts in bridging selected gaps and facing common problems, particularly through shared knowledge and dissemination, with the intention that future collaborative initiatives will be able to draw from this experience.
• Identify ways to improve availability and quality of water for basic human needs in irrigated areas.

Methods

• After an inception workshop with National partners, protocols were developed for several sub-studies. Two of these sub-studies were a chlorination study and a water quality monitoring study. The studies took place in the area irrigated by the Hakra 6R canal in Southern Panjab, Pakistan, where groundwater is unsuitable for irrigation, drinking or washing.
• Typical domestic water supply is through an open water reservoir (diggi) fed irregularly by a watercourse, and some seepage water.
• Water quality data were collected from a sample of households within villages weekly over a period of 1 year. The primary health outcome indicator was childhood diarrhea, which was related to various water quality measures at several points between source and consumption, water quantity and facilities available.

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