As sweltering heat grips large swathes of India, including the national capital, concerns have surged over not only the quantity of potable water available but also its quality, revealed a survey that said almost 60 per cent of its respondents are using some kind of water filtration system.

Data from the Union Health Ministry shows alarming figures: 56 fatalities from 24,849 suspected cases of heatstroke between March and May, with 19,189 suspected cases reported in May alone.

In light of these alarming figures, apprehensions arise over ensuring both access to and the quality of water, particularly during such extreme weather conditions.

Conducted by LocalCircles, a prominent community social media platform, the survey garnered responses from over 22,000 households across 322 districts of the country.

"Only 4 per cent Indian households surveyed say they get drinkable quality water from their local body; 41 per cent say quality of water they receive is good but not drinkable," the findings revealed.

"Moreover, a whopping 60 per cent of the households surveyed said they are using some kind of modern water filtration mechanism," it said.

While there has been a modest uptick in households receiving drinkable quality water from their local bodies — rising from 2 per cent in 2022 to 4 per cent in 2024 — the percentage of citizens rating piped water quality as good has slightly dwindled from 44 per cent in 2023 to 41 per cent.

Data from the flagship Jal Jeevan Mission under the Jal Shakti Ministry offers a glimpse of progress, with over 75 per cent of households now boasting tap water connections as of May end.

Compared to 3,23,62,838 (3.23 crore) households that had tap water connections in 2019 out of 19,30,89,649 (19.30 crore), more than 75 per cent households (14,82,96,789) have tap water connections as of May 31, 2024.

Although many states have achieved full or over 80 per cent coverage, the ministry has said it it is working towards 100 per cent saturation nationwide.

However, challenges persist amidst these strides. For instance, as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the main opposition BJP spar over the issue of water supply in the national capital, the survey underscored water quality issue in Delhi.

To a question, 'How do you purify water at home for drinking, cooking etc.?', an overwhelming number (41 per cent) said they used an RO (reverse osmosis) system, followed by use of a water purifier (28 per cent), use of chlorination, alum, other minerals (6 per cent) and a similar percentage consume water after boiling (8 per cent).

There were 8 per cent respondents who said they do not purify water and instead get bottled water supply for drinking or cooking purposes.

Only 1 per cent respondents said they do not need to purify as the water supplied is pure, while 4 per cent said they do not purify water and consume as it reaches to them.

Almost 50 per cent of the responders said they were unhappy with the quality of piped water that was supplied to their homes from the local municipal body, water department or panchayat.

The quality of piped water was marked 'average' by 24 per cent of the survey takers, while 26 per cent said it was 'poor'. There were only 6 per cent who said the quality was ‘very good’ and 19 per cent said it was 'good'.

However, 9 per cent of the respondents also said they did not get piped water at their homes.

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