A Case Study of Goa

• Goa is gifted with many rivers viz., Terekhol, Chapora, Mandovi, Zuari, Baga, Sal, Saleri, Talpona, and Galgibag with several tributaries most of which are perennial.
• Surface water and reservoirs are the main sources of raw water besides localized spot sources across the State.
• Most of the water treatment facilities available here are more than half a century old.
• The major drinking water supply is through water treatment plants, wherein the process involved is pumping from source, aeration, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, pre and post disinfection, collection into clear water tanks, and pumping to Master Balancing Reservoir or Overhead tanks.
• The water-supply demand is catered by 10 Regional Water Supply Schemes covering Multi Village Schemes and Single Village Schemes with spot sources covering the remainder of the State.
• The water billing has been successfully rolled out to all consumers, with affordable water tariffs to all.
• A host of technology initiatives will help ensure the quality and quantity of the supplied water to develop a “Smart Water Utility” for the State of Goa.

Jal Jeevan Mission in Goa

• In 2019, Jal Jeevan Mission, to provide functional household tap connections – Har Ghar Jal – by 2024 was announced.
• Goa was the first state to provide 100% tap water connections to all homes on October 8, 2020, well ahead of schedule, so it was decided to go a step ahead and build a system that would rival international standards.
• The target of 100% connections was only possible because the State invoked a special provision in the Health Act, whereby the concerned Health Officer can direct the PWD authorities to provide a water connection to households, that don’t have water connections.
• Jal Jeevan Mission recommends the use of sensors that monitor important safety parameters at various points to guarantee the quantity and quality of our water supply while minimizing distribution losses.
• With assistance from the National Jal Jeevan Mission, the State is hoping to adopt the concept of "Drink From Tap" with an assured supply of clean drinkable water, 24 hours a day. A host of technology Initiatives will help ensure the quality and quantity of the supplied Water to develop a "Smart Water Utility" for Goa.

Plans for the future

• Goa has a vision to build a predictable and assured water utility so that consumers can have confidence in the availability and quality of their tap water.
• Consumers would be informed in advance about any service outages, in a targeted manner to minimize the impact and allow them to plan their lives better.

Conclusion

• Going beyond the simple delivery of water, regulatory compliance, customer service parameters, and assured service levels are the new benchmarks.
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices are low-cost gadgets that can help us monitor various parameters linked to the health of a system.
• The strategic use of IoT devices, combined with an analytics platform will allow the State to monitor the real-time status of its infrastructure.

The Government of Goa has an ambitious plan to be more proactive in these maintenance parameters and act as a model for other utilities in India and abroad