The reality of water quality monitoring for SDG 6: A report from a small town in India

Swati D. G. Rayasam, Bakul Rao, and Isha Ray

Based on a study of microbial water quality in a small town (Alibag) in India, we show the practical limitations of monitoring for fecal indicator bacteria to meet SDG 6. We find that even when water quality monitoring and testing infrastructure is in place, low institutional capacity and the pressure to
not ‘fail’ the expected water quality standards can result in the failure to accurately report bacterial water quality.