Drinking Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
This domain tests drinking-water supply, sanitation and hygiene as a service chain, not just infrastructure counts. Expect questions on service levels, Jal Jeevan Mission norms, Swachh Bharat Mission outcomes, faecal sludge and hygiene behaviour.
Core rules
- A safe supply needs a source, treatment, storage, distribution, household connection and reliable operation and maintenance.
- Rural norms under Jal Jeevan Mission aim at household tap connections with prescribed per-capita supply; urban supply requires metering, leakage control and quality monitoring.
- Sanitation is not only toilet construction. It includes containment, emptying, transport, treatment and safe disposal-the faecal sludge chain. Hygiene promotion must accompany both.
Worked example
A village of 1,200 people is designed at 40 litres per capita per day: 1,200 × 40 = 48,000 L/day, or 48 m3/day. The source yields 35 m3/day. The gap is 13 m3/day. A tap connection for every house would not fix the deficit; the plan needs source augmentation, storage and demand management. If only 30 m3/day reaches households, actual service is 25 Lpcd.
Traps
- Treating a tap connection as proof of safe water.
- Counting toilets as sustainable sanitation.
- Ignoring operation, maintenance and source yield.
- Promoting hygiene messages without enabling water and soap.