Status of Grey-Water Management in Rural Areas of Rampur District

February 13, 2025

Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, located on the Upper Gangetic Plain, is covered by loamy soil in most areas. Only 5 per cent of the surface water and 95 per cent of groundwater is available in the district for general use.

As per the current data on October 6, 2024, Jal Jeevan Mission has supplied tap connections to 15.19 crore, providing 78.58 per cent of rural homes with potable water. Out of the 1,163 villages, 318 villages - accounting for about 27 per cent of the villages - have 100 per cent of the households with tap connections. Work on providing 100 per cent of the households with water connections is under progress for almost 73 per cent of the villages. According to the Jal Jeevan Mission guidelines, the aim is to distribute water on a regular and long-term basis at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day (IPCD) of prescribed quality (BIS: 10500), i.e. that a family of eight will use almost 400 litres of water per day. Once all the households connected through taps start receiving water, a huge amount of grey water will be generated as according to the thumb rule around 70 per cent of the water is converted to grey water. People with individual borewells and tubewells may use more water than others, generating even more grey water. Ground surveys clearly show that rural areas are unable to manage their grey water. 

The Centre for Science and Environment studied rural areasof Rampur to understand the state of greywater management and waterbodies in this region.