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Agon Domestic Water Management Campaign Held

Gurgaon, India, August 30, 2003 - The Sehgal Foundation held a two week long domestic water management campaign in Agon village, in Gurgaon District of Haryana. The theme of the campaign was "Water Conservation and Safe Disposal of Domestic Waste Water". The Foundation focused on the use of taps and soak pits to control water use and waste. Water management was identified by Agon villagers as one of their key needs during a Participatory Rural Appraisal exercise. According to the 2002 Government of India Census Household Survey, only 29% of rural homes have direct access to water. Most other households draw water from community taps, handpumps and wells.

In villages in Gurgaon District, water supply and waste water disposal is limited and erratic. Homes in Agon are not directly connected to the public water supply pipe. Instead, the pipe has been opened at various points along its length, and water is illegally diverted. When the water supply is on, water flows uncontrolled into the street. This leads to water wastage, low water pressure, and a messy and unhygienic environment. Domestic waste water is similarly disposed in the open.

The Foundation conducted a door-to-door campaign covering the entire village. Agon has a total of about 618 households and a population of approximately 4,700. Over a period of two weeks three members of the Foundation's Project Implementation Team (PIT), comprising two men and one woman, completed a survey to determine the status of the village water supply. The survey documented the number of homes with a water connection, the number having home taps, and the number with connections but no effective water supply.

The PIT then focused on approximately 25 households with the intention of creating a model for replication. The PIT met with male and female family members separately. At each family meeting, the PIT members explained the issues of water management, and introduced the use of taps and soak pits. Families were encouraged to install taps on the water supply pipe and to dispose of waste water into soak pits.

Soak pits are simple drainage structures that facilitate the disposal, filtration and percolation of waste water into the ground. A typical soak pit is one meter in diameter, and one meter deep. A de-silting trap can be placed at the point where the water enters the soak pit, which in turn is filled with sand and broken brick. In all, 10 soak pits were constructed in the neighborhood, and all but one family installed a tap. Taps are priced at Rs. 30, while the cost of constructing the soak pits was covered by the Foundation. The use of taps and soak pits in Agon has turned otherwise muddy streets into a dry and clean environment for the neighbourhood.

The trial program has been a successful showpiece, and other neighborhoods are already beginning to install taps. The Foundation is also assisting in the construction of soak pits in those neighborhoods. To date 20 soak pits have been constructed in Agon .