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Public perception about community reverse osmosis-treated water, its acceptability, and barriers in choice of safe drinking water

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Abstract

Consumption of contaminated water may result in adverse health effects to the general public. A major source of drinking water in Punjab is groundwater, but there is increasing concern about the heavy metal contamination. To address the public health concern, government and private organizations installed several community reverse osmosis (RO) treatment plants to provide safe drinking water. The current study aims to assess the community perception before and after the installation of a community water treatment plant at a village in Punjab. Most of the study participants (83%) were found to be aware of the adverse health effects of unsafe drinking water but lack knowledge of metal toxicity leading to non-communicable diseases. Majority of the households (62%) use RO-treated water, whereas 38% of households prefer to use other water sources. Cost of RO water, taste, and increased distance of household from RO plant were identified as major barriers in the choice of safe drinking water. The issues can be addressed through proper information, education, and communication activities. Hence, there is a need to aware communities about water quality and sanitation, including sustainable uses of water. The study also highlights how to increase the sustainability of community RO water filtration plant. This will aid in achieving sustainable development goal six, which focuses on providing safe and affordable drinking water to all.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly acknowledge the support provided by the village head and other community members; KR would like to thank the Department of Health Research (DHR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for providing the Fellowship Training Programme in Environmental Health under Human Resource Development Health Research Scheme.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Khaiwal Ravindra, Ashutosh Sarwa, Nidhi Bhatnagar & Ramandeep Kaur

  2. Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

    Nidhi Bhatnagar

  3. Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, 160014, India

    Suman Mor

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  1. Khaiwal Ravindra
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  2. Ashutosh Sarwa
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  4. Ramandeep Kaur
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  5. Suman Mor
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Contributions

KR designed, conceptualized the study, supervised the field work and wrote the manuscript. Water quality analysis was done by SM, whereas AS, NB and KR conducted the field work. All helped to develop the intellectual content of the manuscript including reviewing/editing.

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Correspondence to Khaiwal Ravindra.

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The study was a part of routine field services provided by the School of Public Health, the Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

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Ravindra, K., Sarwa, A., Bhatnagar, N. et al. Public perception about community reverse osmosis-treated water, its acceptability, and barriers in choice of safe drinking water. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 5819–5831 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00452-y

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