1 Cite As : Gaayam T, Vinnakota S S and Annamdas V G M (2011) “Water Supply and Sanitation: An Overview” IPWE 2011, Proceedings of 4th International Perspective on Water Resources & the Environment, January 4-6, 2011, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore. Poster on: Water Supply and Sanitation, No: 1c WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION: AN OVERVIEW Tejaswini Gaayam 1 Smarita Vinnakota 1 and Venu Gopal Madhav Annamdas 2* 1 Civil Engineering Department, JB Institute of Engineering & Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, 500075, Hyderabad, India 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science [BITS], Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Jawaharnagar, Shamirpet, Hyderabad, 500078, India * Email: annamdas@ntu.edu.sg , FAX (091) 040-66303998 ABSTRACT Water is an indispensable part of human existence. Despite the continuous efforts by various governments more than 12 billion people do not have proper access to pure drinking water and hygienic sanitation is unavailable for more than 3.1billion people across the globe .especially the developing nations such as India, China, South Africa, Venezuela, Cuba, Tunisia, Zimbabwe etc are being effected at an alarming rate. The rural water supply systems play a vital role in the evaluation of the prevailing systems as the major share of the population in the developing countries dwell in rural areas. Life expectancy and mortality rate of a country are majorly dependent on its water supply and sanitation system. This paper gives an over view of the existing water supply and sanitary systems in India highlighting the burning issues and major challenges faced by the country today. Key words: Water supply, hygienic sanitation, unsafe drinking water. INTRODUCTION Approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. The oceans constitute 98% of this water, thus implying, only 2 % of the water is fresh. Of this fresh water 1.6% becomes inaccessible due to its existence in the form of polar ice caps and glaciers. The groundwater, further, constitutes of only 0.36%. Hence only 0.036% of water is available in the lakes and rivers, for direct consumption. This meager amount of water is put to use by the human kind for various purposes, such as, domestic, industrial and trade, agricultural, public, etc. [Wikipedia 2010] The transportation of water from source to the point of consumption with minimum losses is known as water supply. An effective water supply system is one which maintains a continuous, coherent, safe and regular supply of water. The