Uttar Pradesh is the highest populated state of India having approximately 1,20,000 odd villages belonging to 75 districts with about 829 blocks. The Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, a corporation owned and controlled by the U.P. state, has the mandate to fulfil the drinking water requirements of the population inhabiting the state. While a sizeable population living in the rural areas has been covered to provide water through India MarkII hand pumps and overhead  ferrocement tanks, the quality of water available to the rural population has lately been questioned in some quarters. To cope up with this situation, the state authorities have focussed their attention to this pressing problem and the national government in tune with the state government has decided to step-up its efforts to galvanise the system to meet the technological challenges posed by the contamination present in the drinking water. As such, a massive programme has been launched in the state through the U.P.Development System Corporation - another undertaking of the state government to identify the problem villages in various districts on war footing. This corporation has tied-up with SAES to provide the necessary infrastructure  and scientific support to carry out the study involving several thousand villages. The study, aimed at determining thirteen  water quality parameters viz. chloride, fluoride, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite, iron, alkalinity, hardness, pH, TDS, colour, odour and residual chlorine in the sampled water. The programme is a massive scientific challenge and the results obtained so far revealed that during the last one year the number of villages covered stand at 13,000. The study is continued but remains suspended for three months (owing to the rainy season) to allow meaningful inferences from the rural areas. More fascinating and authentic results are underway to be encountered which may constitute the edifice of a real water remedial  technology stored for the rural population of the state numbering somewhere around 100 million .
The implementation of this massive project is itself a big task assigned to this NGO. However, we have been organising this project, as revealed below:
The whole project is segmented into three wings viz. Core Unit, Field Unit and the Laboratory Unit. Each unit has its well-defined function which are detailed in the following paragraphs:-

Core Unit : Core unit functions under the direct control of the organizational management unit of SAES which comprises a software programmer, a movement controller, and a co-ordinator along with a host of logistic support manpower. The core unit collates all the feedback received from the other two wings and passes vital messages/ instructions to the different wings as well as undertakes the responsibility to monitor the progress of assigned task to the respective subgroups within the groups/wings. The tabulation of the data with respect to the location, collection of the sample and analysis of the various parameters to account for a progress report aggregating about 200 to 250 are routinely being submitted to the sponsors.

Field Unit: Field units include a technical supervisor supported by field attendants who are provided with pre-washed polycarbonate plastic containers ranging from 200 to 300 along with a diesel van to collect the drinking water samples from the earmarked locations. The team is also provided with the requisition slips containing information to be obtained from the village/site of sample collection. The team supervisor is required to obtain information with respect to the following :

1. Source of drinking water: India Mark II/Hand pump
2. depth of water (Where available)
3. Available HP in order/out of order
4. exact location
5. embossed number on the HP
6. Verification by Gram Pradhan/ Member of Panchayat/ Reputed person:
7. Serial Number
8. Sample code
9. Village code
10. No. of samples collected
11. Name of District
12. Name of Tehsil
13. Name of Block
14. Name of Village
15. No. of  hamlets
16. Name of hamlets
17. Verification by U.P. Jal Nigam Official
18. Date of collection & time of collection
19. Signature of sample collector

Laboratory Unit: Laboratory unit comprises of  a separate water division within the Environmental Research Laboratory situated at its extension centre at Shiv Vihar Colony, Vikas Nagar, Lucknow. The division has all the facility of analysing water samples for the desired parameters. Equipped with AAS, HPLC, GLC, UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, and an Ion Meter with ISE for nitrite, nitrate, cyanide, fluoride, pH etc. Immediately after descending the samples from the field vans are stored at room temperature in batches earmarked for each district and placed in order for analysis. The samples are then subjected to a thorough and detailed analysis by a host of well-trained technicians under the supervision of a senior chemist who helps  to analyse them properly with precision  and accuracy. The test samples are also introduced intermittently to crosscheck the outcome of the results. Adequate care is taken to ensure that the reference standards are drawn up daily to ensure the correct values which are normally prepared by a senior chemist who has the responsibility to conduct the analysis as per protocols of intra-laboratory quality assurances. The glassware washing is also attended  very carefully  because of the voluminous nature of the work and pre-washed with doubly distilled water followed with overnight storage in the electric oven, are always used in the analysis.

status:

                      As of now, the water quality monitoring studies in respect of 13,000 villages/hemlets from the seventeen districts of U.P. have been completed and the reports in respect of the various parameters as outlined herein above have been submitted to the state authorities for necessary action. the project stands completed.