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Indian health authorities have repeatedly emphasized regular hand washing with soap and water as a preventive measure against Covid-19. But here is a problem: only 18% of rural households in the country have water pipes at home, which makes them vulnerable to many diseases. 

The coronavirus pandemic provides a perfect background to examine the plans that India is implementing to improve this dire situation.

In the annual budget submitted in February of this year, Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman (Nirmala Sitharaman) significantly increased the funding for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) launched a year ago, causing a stir.

According to the 3.6 billion rupees (50 billion U.S. dollars) JJM, the government's goal is to provide every household with a "practical household tap connection" by 2024. The central government will bear 58% of these costs.

JJM aims to improve the previous rural water supply plan in two key ways, such as the National Rural Drinking Water Mission and Swajaldhara.

One, the water will be delivered through domestic faucets instead of public standpipes. Second, the amount of water delivered will increase substantially, reaching 55 liters per person per day (lpcd) instead of 40 lpcd, which is the standard for shared standpipes. 

For context, a seven-minute shower uses approximately 55 liters of water, while a flush toilet uses 5-10 liters.  

Therefore, 55 lpcd can meet most of a person's drinking, cooking and hygiene needs, enough to maintain people's health. 

Unfortunately, there are serious flaws in the physics of the plan, which could cause the mission to fail.

There is evidence that once people use tap water, they usually need more than 55 lpcd of water, especially if the tap is at home.  

This is the problem: once the demand for water exceeds the original intention of the system, the pipe network becomes unstable. People's consumption or accidental leakage may cause the system to exceed its expected limits.

Imagine a pipe network with only two people supplying water. JJM proposes to establish a network for these two people, which can provide 110 liters (2×55 lpcd) per day. But what if one person wakes up earlier than the neighbor or uses an electric pump to pump 65 liters of water? 

What followed was instability. Each of these two users will compete to fetch water as quickly as possible, thereby shortening delivery time and making continuous supply impossible.  

If the leak exceeds expectations, so will the situation. People will feel thirsty and compete with each other. 

Water supply through public standpipes avoids this problem because social forces regulate the distribution of water. 

The only way to distribute water fairly in a pipe network is to provide everyone with the water they want. JJM's envisaged supply is much lower than this. 

In fact, if the community wishes to establish a network to provide more than 55 lpcd, the additional cost does not meet the conditions of JJM funding. Therefore, according to the current proposal, JJM will construct a pipe network aimed at unfairly distributing the insufficient amount of water.  

JJM is also very vague about indicators. The plan promises to supply 55 lpcd of high-quality water "regularly", which is defined as "daily or at the decision of Gram Panchayat (Village Committee)" and "long-term continuous supply".  

What does "every day" mean in practice? For example, in Delhi, 1.3% of communities plan to supply water 24×7, while 24% of communities in Delhi plan to supply water every other day or more.

Even for Delhi communities that plan to receive daily supplies, 9% of them plan to receive less than 45 minutes of daily supplies. Unless regularity is defined and measured, the data on JJM will mask the unfairness of the newly built network.

Rather than rushing to build and upgrade infrastructure, the first step is to understand how much water consumers need after getting a fully functional household tap connection. 

Although the primary task of JJM in the first year is to upgrade the existing water pipe network, these networks do not represent communities without pipeline access history. Several new pilot pipe networks should be constructed to carefully measure how the water demand for pipeline access changes. Then, data from these pilot networks should inform the expansion phase. 

Second, accurate and truthful consideration of leaks is critical to JJM's success. JJM’s budgeting process at the community level insisted that the design of the piping system could only be used for 55 lpcd plus 15% of "unaccounted for" water (ie leaks and unpaid use). 

Keeping less than 15% of unaccounted water is not easy, especially when there is an average of 32% of unaccounted water in Indian cities. 

JJM's operating guidelines hope that "artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis, blockchain technology, machine learning, and nanotechnology can ensure the safe water and function of the water supply system and the faucet connection." However, these technologies did not solve the fundamental problem- When there is a shortage of water, the pipe network cannot distribute water evenly. 

In order to succeed, JJM must either allocate more water to ensure that the home faucet connection works properly, or it should stay away from the vision of the home faucet. 

The allocation of funds to improve access to clean water is commendable. A properly functioning household tap connection will help India achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal for the safe management of piped water for all. 

As long as JJM is built around a rushed timeline and provides a minimum amount of tap water, physics will ensure that it fails, and its "Har Ghar Jal" (Water to Home) promise will not be fulfilled. 

The country’s rural poor will have to wait longer to realize their right to clean water. During this period, they are still more susceptible to diseases such as Covid-19.  

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