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5Access to water
resources
5.1 Status of rural water
supplies
Assessments were made of the status
of all 225 and 438 domestic water points
in Dhone and Kalyandurg respectively.
The methodology used is described in
brief in Section 2.5. A more detailed
description of the methodology and the
findings can be found in James (2002a)
and James and Snehalatha (2002).
The following criteria and acceptable
limits were considered when classifying
each water point as being satisfactory
(i.e. `OK’) or as having a problem:
· Functionality: No major technical
problems with pumps, standpipes
or reticulation system.
· Distance to water points:
The water point is not more than
1.6 km away.
· Accessibility: Access to water
points is not denied as a result of
social exclusion. Subtle waterrelated
discrimination between
Scheduled Caste (SC) users and
non-SC users was found to be
widespread; however, this did not
necessarily result in SC users
being denied access to water points.
· Water Quality: Acceptable from the
users’ view in terms of taste or a
belief (based on experience)
that the point supplied water with
an acceptable level of fluoride
contamination.
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