The Public Health Engineering Department is the nodal department for drinking water supply in the rural areas of the state. Continuous availability and sufficient provision of pure drinking water for the general public is extremely important. Along with ensuring continuous and adequate availability of pure drinking water, the work of groundwater augmentation has also become very significant, for which appropriate efforts are being made. The department provides pure drinking water in rural areas through hand pumps and piped water supply schemes, while also designing, planning, and implementing water supply schemes in urban areas according to their demand.

1. Rural Drinking Water Supply

In addition to state-funded schemes, the department is committed to ensuring a continuous, quality, and sufficient drinking water supply in rural areas in accordance with the guidelines of the National Rural Drinking Water Program. The department is implementing piped water supply schemes to provide safe and adequate drinking water directly to the homes of rural residents. In small rural settlements, solar pump-based water supply schemes are also being implemented, which provide water through domestic tap connections. To reduce dependence on groundwater sources, surface source-based group piped water supply schemes are being implemented in rural areas. In settlements affected by drinking water quality issues, efforts are being made to establish purification plants based on various technologies and to create alternative arrangements for providing pure drinking water. The department is also working to ensure community participation in maintaining the continuity of available drinking water sources and schemes, operating and maintaining them, implementing new schemes, and monitoring drinking water quality. To monitor drinking water quality, laboratory facilities have been established at the sub-district level for continuous testing of drinking water sources, along with mobile laboratories.

2. Urban Drinking Water Supply

In the state, the Public Health Engineering Department has been recognized as an expert agency in the field of drinking water supply. The department conceptualizes, plans, and implements water supply schemes for urban bodies according to their demand. After the formation of Chhattisgarh state, there has been a progressive increase in the number of urban bodies. Alongside enhancing existing water supply schemes in former urban areas to meet current needs, new urban bodies are being approved and implemented based on urban standards instead of rural standards.

3. Miscellaneous

The primary responsibility of the department is the provision of drinking water in rural areas, which is mainly based on groundwater sources. With the excessive use of groundwater sources, the availability of groundwater has decreased, and the quality of the available groundwater has also been affected. In view of the current needs, in addition to groundwater augmentation works, group water supply schemes based on surface sources are being implemented in rural areas. In urban areas, plans based on groundwater sources are also being augmented based on demand. To address the drinking water quality issue, the establishment of iron and fluoride removal plants is being carried out experimentally, and the department is continuously striving to keep itself updated with modern technology. In this direction, computerization has been implemented at the sub-district level, and online monitoring software is being used, proposed GIS mapping at the village level, satellite imagery for groundwater augmentation plans, state-of-the-art rig machines for borewell drilling with real-time online monitoring, SCADA technology in water treatment plants, e-procurement, e-work processes, and a toll-free service for prompt grievance redressal are notable steps taken.