Potable Groundwater Supplies and Low-cost Sanitary Engineering — How Compatible?

Many developing countries are counting on groundwater to supply an increasing proportion of their demand for drinking. There is currently a drive, in many of these same countries, for major improvements in excreta disposal, involving the intensive use of unsewered sanitation or sewage treatment in stabilization ponds with effluent reuse. Under certain hydrogeological conditions these low-cost technologies may be in conflict with the use of groundwater for potable supplies. The principal potential hazards are identified, discussed and illustrated. A more detailed understanding of these problems, coupled with improved design, careful siting and integrated planning of the installations involved, is required to reduce the groundwater pollution hazard.