HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF WATER MANAGEMENT

KAUSHIK GHOSH
Architect & Urban Designer, Convenor-Utopia21
Kolkata-700106, West Bengal, India
SANTOSH GHOSH
Architect & City planner, President-Centre for Built Environment
Kolkata-700020, West Bengal, India
About 2 billion people in the world today do not have access to safe drinking water and
sanitation. Though the earth is full of water, only a small amount can be exploited. Water
pollution with diseases like cholera, typhoid etc. is quite widespread. Water supply has
become expensive and water scarcity has become a political issue. Floods and draughts
are often results of mismanagement of water resources. Twenty to thirty percent of water
supplied is wasted due to leakage, bad distribution and misuse. The competing demand
for agriculture and industry is creating problems for domestic demand and supply.
Integrated Water Resource Management is advocated. Traditional practices are being
revived and lessons from history are providing new ideas.
HISTORICAL LESSONS
Water is the elixir of life. Safe drinking water is difficult to get. The great river valley
civilizations in the Nile, the Tigris-Euphates, the Ganges, the Indus and others grew on
the basis of water availability. Both water and navigation were key considerations but the
discharge of drainage water into the river was overlooked.
By 2000 BC filtration through charcoal was known in India and water was stored in
copper vessels. Hippocrates (460 354 BC) recommended boiling of water and straining
before drinking. Painting from an Egyptian tomb built during the reign of Amenoplus II
in the 15th Century BC depicted men using wick siphons to siphon off either water or
settled wine. Another painting in the tomb of Ramses II built in the 13th century BC
showed assorted wick siphoning system [6].
In ancient Egypt for purification of water almond was used and alum was used in
China and India. Water was used for time measurement, water chocks reference was
found in Babylon. It consisted of a fusion with a spout or tap from which water trickled
steadily into a receiving vessel which was marked to indicate time. Later the Greeks
improved it.
In ancient literature of India, there were references to baths where scents were added
to water. This continued in the muslim tradition of hamams.
The Romans were great builders in constructing aqueducts and bringing water from
long distances from rivers and lakes. The architecture was splendid. Romans also

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constructed tunnels. The greatest of all Roman tunnels completed in 52 AD during the
region of Emperor Claudius I was built to get water from Facino lake.
It is of interest to know that the Roman aqueduct built in 260 BC had chambers as
water reservoir and for sedimentation [6]. Much later a great engineering feat was
accomplished in early 20th century by building a water tunnel under the Hudson river in
New York city.
Venice was the first city in Europe to practice some kind of water management. Rain
water harvesting was practiced. Some filters were used to supply filtered water. In the
18th century various experiments were conducted for filtration in France and UK. The
first know, filter to supply water to a whole town was in Paisley, Scotland in 1809
followed by Glasgow. The first waterwork was constructed in USA was in Richmond,
Virginia in 1832. Calcuttas water supply was based on ponds and river water but the first
water-work was built in 1870 to supply filtered water.
Though water supply engineering and management in the distribution gradually
became a standard practice, the management of wastewater and drainage is still poor.
Floods during the rainy season is still an annual event in many cities. With Siltation of
river and lagoon beds cities on the river banks are getting floods.
In Indus valley civilization the city of Mohenjo-daro had terracotta pipes for both
water supply and drainage. The drainage pipes were connected with cesspool and sanitary
system was of high standard. In Mesopotamia (3500 2500 BC) some houses were
connected to storm water drainage system. In larger homes of Babylon latrines were
connected to large diameter vertical shafts which were connected with cesspool. At King
Minoss Royal palace at Knossos, Crete in about 1700 BC rainfed cisterns and stone
aqueducts provided continuous water supply and there was also drainage system [9].
Cities have been built on sea and river banks and the edges of the cities on water
have been traditionally exploited for commercial and recreational development. Highrise
buildings were jammed like Manhattan island with skyscrapers of New York while the
rivers and connecting canals and creeks were silted. In many cities a constant dredging is
required. Protection of cities from flooding has been a problem for centuries. The Dutch
protected by poldering but even in recent floods it is found to have limitations. In old
days the cities vulnerable to flooding were built on high plinth. The central buildings in
Proha, in Europe, were on stilts and were protected during floods. With changing
technology river ports are being abandoned in favour of seaports. Waterfront
development or revitalization and reuse of industrial and river port land is being taken up
throughout the world. There is also a new movement for cleaning the river and river
water management and more ecological approach for new relationship between the city
and water. A new focus on people, water transport, recreation, arts etc. is being given
with comprehensive planning, urban design etc. In London, the movement on river
Thames has yielded results. George Nicholson, President of London Rivers Association
says, Unless we develop better framework for the management of the river, we run the
risk of doing it permanent damage and undermining the true potential. A strategy for
river not just its banks has been advocated [8].

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In Calcutta, along the river bank the commercial development was proposed but
rejected by public protest and a millennium park has been established. Many other cities
are following. Historically, in water management the rivers were important and a new
role of revitalized river will be come. Purification of river water and abatement of
pollution are high on the agenda.
WATER ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA
Indias urbanization level is still low and the villages are scattered and there is no
organized water supply system. For hundreds of years village women walked long
distance to bring water or gather around well. In ancient India, digging a pond or
constructing a well was considered a pious religious act. In this process, a culture
developed with songs and ballads and many river are considered sacred and bathing in
such rivers is a religious act. For these structures have been built with architectural
conceptions for stepwells, for bathing pavilions etc. because of hot dry climate, water
level is low in many parts of western India and here stepwells and stepped ponds have
been built with buildings. These underground buildings, usually from three to nine storey
deep became community centres. An estimated 3000 of them were built between the 7th
and the mid 19th centuries AD. Because of steps constructed upto the bottom, water could
be reached during the dry season when water level is low or during monsoon when water
level is high compared to this modern hand pump or tubewell which during summer do
not give water and with construction of highrise buildings and sinking of deep tubewell,
the water level has receded.
From AD. 900 to the late 1300s, the Hindu tradition represents spectacular period of
stepwell architecture. The Muslims constructed the stepwells based on the concept of
hamams, or bathhouses. Ornamentation was changed and some beautiful examples are
seen in western India. The Mughals were great architects, built forts, tombs and pleasure
gardens and water was used as functional, bioclimatic and aesthetic reasons. Morna
Livingstone writes, Indias use of passive water-collecting systems, which was born in
ancient times and continued unbroken through the Middle ages, changed under British
rule in the 19th century. They had both a distaste for water buildings as water sources and
a love of them as architecture [7]. Cities were built on the riverbanks and there are many
river structures for boats, ships and navigation. But the river is also for bathing and many
bathing pavilions with steps along the Ganges, in Varanasi in north India and in Calcutta
in East India are worth.
SOME TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS
Recycling of wastewater
Reuse of waste water in agri-aquaculture is practiced in many countries for a long time.
Now this has been revived as disposal of wastewater has become a problem and demand
for freshwater is increasing. Now more wastewater is being supplied to sewage-fed fish

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farms in Indian cities. In China, Vietnam and some other countries this is the trend. The
sludge is also used as a manure in producing vegetables. In Korea, artificial wetlands
have been created to utilize recycled water. In Vietnam and Cambodia, wastewater is
being utilized in irrigating agricultural fields and producing fishes.
Calcutta, in India has the largest recycling district in the world, where natural
compost out of solid waste decomposition is used for producing vegetables and
wastewater including sewage effluent produces fish in wetlands. The method is
indigenous. The process is to give sunlight for algal growth and photosynthetic oxygen
through phytoplankton. Water hyacinth is used to clean water. Fishes are grown and
water becomes cleaner. Several new wetland areas have been taking up this system and
fishermens cooperative societies have been formed.
Restoration of stepwells
Conservation of one or two village wells and stepwells, with architectural merit, has been
taken. Under the Ganga Action Plan (abatement of pollution in the river Ganges) of Govt.
of India, the bathing pavilions and steps have been restored and outfall drainage channels
have been closed. With improvement, people are using the river more and more.
Revitalisation of canals
In many cities, revitalization of canal network has been taken up for flow of water,
navigation, recreation etc. Most of the canals have become drainage channels and
removal of silt, control of pollution and soil erosion etc. have been taken up.
Rainwater harvesting
The age old practice of catching rain has been revived. In Delhi, Chennai in India and
some cities in Indonesia, legislation has been passed to make it compulsory to install
rainwater harvesting measures. A rainwater museum has been established in Sumida city,
Japan [2].
Combing, traditional and modern methods on integrated water harvesting
programme is advocated. It has several components:
Constructing recharge wells at low lying areas.
Diverting the spillover water from ponds and water drains to recharge wells.
Renovating the ponds and waterbodies which can act as reservoirs.
Rainwater harvesting at building level for collection, filtration and storage.
Education, training and awareness.
Plantation as part of various forestry projects in catchment areas.
Urban construction- porous concrete on pavement, recharge structure under
manholes of storm water drains etc.
Preservation of Waterbodies
Large waterbodies including urban lakes are being listed under Ramsar Convention for
preservation of wetlands. Town planning zoning laws and building rules have been

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enacted for ponds, canals, lakes etc. though realestate promoters are filling many water
bodies due to pressure of urbanization. Various environmental groups are active. In many
of these wetlands, there is biodiversity, and its protection is necessary.
Revival of private water seller
Private watersellers are still active in poor areas of cities in many countries. Leather bags,
earthen jars, tins etc. Asian Development Bank is providing fund as part of Community
Health Improvement in provincial towns in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Womens Union
has taken active part [1]. ADB has also helped building gender responsive Water User
Association in Nepal.
All of these should be part of an integrated water resource management plan.
FUSION OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN SYSTEMS
There are some recent water projects which incorporate both traditional and modern
ideas. One such project-an urban water project in Jaipur, India [4]. The urban water
project a spa in Jaipur , in hot and arid region of India uses both traditional and modern
concepts of water management enhancing period style, ethnicity and green tourism.
Multiple water resources ground water, rain water and recycled wastewater with aquifer
recharging are used inn closed, open ended and recycling loops in innovative ways.
Two other projects show modern use of rainwater [3]. Rainwater of the bears in
Zurich zoo- the first zoo was established 4000 years ago at the imperial court in China
followed by 2300 years ago by Alexandria and 420 years ago by Augsburg. In Zurich
zoo, animals basic water need is provided by rainwater. This need is met by collecting
rainwater from the surrounding paths and green areas and storing it in underground tanks.
These feed circulating system in the bear enclosure. The water is pumped up to a rocky
plateau, then runs down as impressive waterfall. Then flow in a stream to two little lakes.
Another project is Rainwater management in Coffee Creek, Indiana, USA. A master
plan fixed the main rainwater management requirements- precipitation water flows via
trenches with stilts to infiltration areas that are topographically staggered one behind the
other. These are completely planted with prairie vegetation with root systems that are
highly water absorbent.
Herbert Dreiseit, artist and water technologist who designed these 2 projects with
others say to do justice to water we have to go into the waterworld ourselves,
experiment with it and learn to think in an integrated and interdisciplinary way about its
flow and flexibility.
INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
An Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is being advocated for the last
quarter of a century but little has so far been done. The concept is being revived now.
Major cities have water plan for water supply, sewerage and drainage with large number

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of engineering projects often coordinated with different gestation period. But there is no
water plan for rivers, canals, groundwater, wetlands etc. The sectoral approach is not
multidisciplinary.
The Stockholm based Global Water Partnerships definition of Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM) is a process which promotes the coordinated
development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize
the resulting economic and social welfare in a equitable manner without compromising
the sustainability of vital ecosystem [5]. Water management is a holistic process. Both
traditional and modern methods become part of it.
REFERENCES
[1] ADB Asian Development Bank, Development communication improves Water
Project in Vietnamese towns in Water for the Poor, ADB, Manila, (2003)
[2] BE- Built Environment Newsletter, No. 16, January June, 2003. Centre for Built
Environment, Calcutta, (2003)
[3] Dreseit, Herbert et al,. Waterscapes: Planning building and design with water.
Birkhausers, Basel, Switzerland, (2001)
[4] Gupta, Ranajit., An urban water project, Jaipur. Interdesign. Calcutta,( 2001).
[5] GWP Global Water Partnership,. Tool box policy guidance and operational tools.
Global water partnership, Stockholm, (2000).
[6] Laughlin, James,. History of water, World of water 2000: the Past, Present and
Future, Pennwell Magazine Supplement, Tulsa, Oklahoma, (1999).
[7] Livingstone, Morna., Steps to water: The Ancient Stepwells of India, Princeton
Architectural Press, New York. Introduction, (2002).
[8] Nicholson, George. Foreword, River of Meaning London Cadna River Association,
London, (1996).
[9] Wolfe, Pamila,..,History of Wastewater, World of water 2000. The Past, Present
and Future, Pennwell magazine supplement. Tulsa, Oklahoma, (1999).