Hydrological status and outlooks

Chapter 6. Water is critical for the sustenance of livelihoods, economic and social development, and the natural environment. With many parts of the world experiencing more variable hydrological conditions and more severe, and more frequent extremes, water resources management is increasingly critical for human and environmental well-being (Kundzewicz & Matczak, 2015). Hydrological status and outlook systems make use of current, historic, and forecast hydro-meteorological data to appraise current hydrological status in relation to that localities “normal”. This indicates the status of water resources, as well as whether the area may be susceptible to drought or flooding in the near future. Sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting then enables assessments of whether current conditions are likely to get better or worse over the coming weeks and months. In this chapter, hydrological status and outlooks systems are presented as a critical tool for the long-term management of water resources, as well as risk planning, in India

A novel approach to baseline water quality assessment at local and catchment scale: a case study from Berambadi, India

Optimal design and maintenance are necessary for the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems. In this study, we present the outcome of a novel approach to baseline assessment conducted prior to the design and deployment of a decentralized wastewater treatment system at a school in rural India. The baseline water quality monitoring protocol was deployed to assess (a) the quality and quantity of wastewater (greywater and blackwater) flows from the school and (b) the status of surface water and groundwater quality in the catchment. Hourly greywater flows and water quality trends were monitored across four seasons at the school. Average freshwater consumption at the school was 518 ± 322 L/day for hand washing and 287 ± 97 L/day for cooking meals. Greywater generation showed high hourly variations in COD levels. Greywater generated from hand wash and kitchen sources contributed to 110 g/day and 96 g/day of BOD5 respectively and 214 g/day and 141 g/day of COD respectively. Based on additional data from a self-reporting sanitation survey, the organic contaminant load generated from the toilet was estimated to be 1.5 ± 0.1 kg COD/day. At the catchment scale, both groundwater and surface water quality were monitored seasonally to assess the impact of raw sewage and stormwater inputs. Compared with borewells, high nitrate–N levels (> 10 mg/L) were observed in the village hand pump samples throughout the year. Maximum nitrate–N (16 mg/L) and fecal coliforms (3.9 log MPN/100 mL) levels were observed in surface waters during monsoons, indicating the impact of sewage and surface runoff on water quality. The proposed approach is useful to estimate data on freshwater use and wastewater generation at the school and hence to make the case for, and design of, a sustainable water management intervention