India has expanded water infrastructure at an unprecedented scale, but delivering reliable, continuous service will depend on smarter operations, real-time data and a workforce equipped to turn information into action, writes Dr Sanjay Dahasahasra.
India has dramatically expanded access to drinking water through flagship programmes such as the Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT 2.0, adding millions of household tap connections and laying the foundation for universal coverage. Yet the country’s water story remains incomplete. In urban India, continuous service remains the exception. The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) notes that in almost all towns, water supply is intermittent, typically for only two to six hours a day. A connection is not the same as a reliable service. India’s water challenge now lies in the gap between the pipe in the ground and the water in the glass.
This challenge persists despite substantial investment in monitoring infrastructure, including groundwater monitoring stations, Jal Shakti Kendras and water-quality monitoring centres. But monitoring assets do not automatically create operational intelligence at the utility level. Cities will continue to struggle to address water stress unless they improve how they operate the systems they have already built. The challenge is increasingly less about adding assets and more about managing them intelligently.
In an average year, India receives more than 4,000 billion cubic metres of precipitation. The real challenge is ensuring the right quantity of safe water reaches the right place, at the right pressure, at the right time, consistently, every day. That is fundamentally an operational challenge, and operational challenges are solved through data, visibility, engineering discipline and technology, not infrastructure alone.
Identifying the Gap
Most Indian water utilities have detailed records of what is built, but far fewer have real-time visibility into how those assets are actually performing. Pressure is often estimated rather than measured. Leaks may be discovered only after they become visible. Without operational intelligence, engineers must rely more on experience than evidence.
The solution is not a mystery. District metered areas (DMAs) divide a distribution network into manageable zones with metered inflows, each typically serving 500 to 3,000 connections. Water entering each zone is measured and compared with recorded consumption, making non-revenue water (NRW) visible, measurable and easier to reduce. Malkapur, Maharashtra, has demonstrated town-wide 24×7 water supply with 100 per cent consumer-level metering; recent sector documentation reports NRW in the range of 9-12 per cent. It is a strong example of how metering, hydraulic modelling and disciplined network management can improve service performance in India.
Calibrated, geographic information system (GIS)-based hydraulic models add another layer of operational intelligence. Using platforms such as Autodesk InfoWorks WS Pro, WaterGEMS or EPANET, utilities can simulate pressure zones, test pipe redesigns and assess expansion options digitally before committing money to construction. The Lormi scheme in Chhattisgarh illustrates the approach: pipe sizing and zone design for a greenfield 24×7 system were guided by a GIS-based hydraulic model, providing a replicable pathway for municipalities that choose to begin with data rather than speculation.
The Technology Asset
The next phase of India’s water journey will be driven by smart water management: the integration of digital technologies that enable utilities to monitor, analyse and optimise water systems in real time. Rather than relying solely on physical infrastructure, smart water management combines engineering and operational intelligence to improve water availability, quality and system efficiency.
A modern digital water ecosystem can bring together GIS-based asset mapping, hydraulic modelling, IoT sensors, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), cloud analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in a common operational environment. When these systems are integrated, utilities can build a continuously updated view of the distribution network, from treatment plants and reservoirs to the consumer’s tap. Instead of depending primarily on periodic inspections or citizen complaints, operators gain timely visibility into flow, pressure, water quality, asset performance and overall system health.
The value extends well beyond monitoring. Hydraulic models allow engineers to test network changes before construction. SCADA provides live operational intelligence. AI can analyse historical and real-time data to identify leak patterns, forecast demand, optimise pumping schedules and prioritise maintenance before failures occur. Together, these technologies can help utilities move from reactive operation towards predictive, data-driven management while improving service reliability and controlling operating costs.
Managing with Digital Twin
A digital twin represents the next evolution of smart water management by bringing the elements of the digital water ecosystem into a single operational model. It is not merely another dashboard. A true digital twin is a living, continuously updated representation of the water network, integrating GIS data, hydraulic models, SCADA telemetry and field-sensor information.
With adequate instrumentation and reliable data feeds, each DMA can be monitored in near real time. Utilities can simulate operational decisions before implementation, detect pressure anomalies that may contribute to bursts, and identify emerging failures before customers experience service disruption. The objective is to shift from reacting to problems to anticipating and preventing them.
This capability is no longer confined to pilot projects. Utilities in Europe and Singapore, and a growing number in India, are deploying these technologies to improve operational performance. The opportunity now is to embed them in mainstream utility planning, procurement and operations. Procurement models, in turn, should move beyond rewarding construction milestones alone and increasingly incentivise measurable service outcomes: lower NRW, assured pressure, verified water quality and continuous supply.
People, Not Just Platforms
Technology without capable people becomes shelfware. Data-driven operations require engineers who can build and calibrate hydraulic models, operators who understand what a SCADA trend means, and managers who can interpret an NRW report and translate it into corrective action. No software platform creates this capability automatically, and it does not yet exist at the scale India requires.
India has a deep pool of engineering talent. With systematic training in DMA design, model calibration, pressure management and SCADA operations, that talent can be channelled into specialised water-sector capabilities. Technology should augment, not replace, operators’ judgement by improving what they can see, understand and act upon. In utilities that sustain round-the-clock service, people and platforms reinforce one another.
We often say that water is India’s most precious resource. Yet one of the resources we waste most is information. Every leak left undetected, every pressure imbalance left unmeasured, and every operational decision made without data carries a cost that another kilometre of pipeline cannot solve.
India has built one of the world’s largest drinking-water networks. The next chapter is not simply about building more; it is about operating smarter. The future of water service will belong not to the cities with the most infrastructure, but to those that can see their systems clearly, act on evidence and manage them intelligently.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr Sanjay Dahasahasra is a former member of the National Task Force on 24×7 Water Supply.