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	Pramod Mitroo, Director, Veolia Water India If there is no shortage of funds and the technical make-up of public utilities is such as that in Singapore – considered to be the best piped network in the world- then there is no role for the private sector.

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	Nikhil Anand, Ph D student, Stanford University, USA Over the last two years in researching Mumbai's water supply, I came across various propositions and oppositions on the subject.   If I understand correctly, those proposing 24/7 water are making the case that 24/7 water is (a) less wasteful, (b) more equitable, (c) safer.   As we know, intermittent water supply is a way of reducing leakage in the system.  Pipes leak less when there is no water in them for 24 hours. While intermittent supply certainly should not be a strategy of dealing with a leaky system, I am a little unclear how it is being argued that intermittent supply leads to more leakage. To reduce 'waste', it would appear that the question is not one of choosing between intermittent and 24/7 supply, but between allowing leaky pipes leak and fixing them. Because of state government directives, and water department rules, large numbers of Mumbai's residents (typically those in slums who do not have documents proving tenancy before 1995) cannot get access to water legally.  This is a major issue, and one which the question of 24/7 supply simply does not address.  To achieve the goal of equitable distribution, it is the Department Water Rules, and not the daily water schedule that has to be changed. Given the state of Mumbai's water system, I suggest that the most pressing requirements should be (a) For the urban bodies to recognize and grant legal connections to all households (b) To simultaneously fix the leakages in the distribution network. These most essential steps neither require a 24/7 supply nor require we be opposed to it.

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	Dinesh Kumar, Executive Director, Institute of Research Analysis and Policy, Hyderabad Flat rate pricing only leads to more water being appropriated to the rich and the powerful.  This leads to greater inequity in access and use. Pricing and metering alone would not solve the problem. The effectiveness of this endeavor depends on monitoring and preventing the tampering of meters.

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	Jasveen Jairath, Water Sector Professional / Independant Consultant, Hyderabad The discourse on waste potential of 24/7 supply of treated water has to conducted in the context of pricing policy. 24/7 water supply can be tried with steep graduated pricing - penalizing those who consume beyond agreed reasonable limits Base per capita quantum of water can be made available at nominal prices. However, this creates the possibility for the rich to purchase the right to indulgent usage of water. Pricing policy can discourage wasteful consumption only to a limit. Therefore, a physical limit on volume of water available becomes necessary, since water cannot be sold to the highest bidder. Decentralised 24/7 water supply mechanisms need to be explored, where local user community can reinforce regulation of water through pricing, local monitoring of local deviations in water wastage / indulgence.

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	Kshitij Urs, Regional Director, Action aid, Bangalore Demo zones in Karnataka have been set up, where there are few poor people. Also, an upscaled model may not function as effectively as the demo zones. The policy is to disband public taps and ensure individual connections for all. The right to life, guaranteed by article 21 of the Indian Constitution is being blatantly disregarded since the poor and the homeless cannot pay for metered water connenctions.

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	Jagadishwara Rao, Professor of Geology (Retired), Tirupati The municipalities must take up source water protection in the entire catchments to prevent deterioration of water quality, leading to the need for costly filtration plants.

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	Vishwanath Srikntaiah, BIOME Environmental Services Private Limited, Bangalore Though I believe that 24/7 is the gold or even the platinum standard for our water supply utilities / service providers, in the absence of a well-defined tariff structure to ensure higher bills of higher consumption, 24/7 will encourage people to consume a lot more water than limited supply. If well-managed means fully metered, leak­-proofed and well-priced water, then 24/7 may not require more water than the typical systems. However, if typical systems supply water for an hour every 3 days, then 24/7 will require more water. I also know town after town, which simply does not have water to supply, more than what it does howsoever inefficiently. In addition, I would contest David Foster’s claim that water has been provided 24/7 in Mysore. A project may be under implementation but definitely, Mysore is not getting water 24/7. Even in Hubli-Dharwad, water is purportedly 24/7 only in a portion of the city.

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	G.V.K.S.V. Prasad, Professor, V. R. Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Without proper means of pricing, 24/7 water supply leads to wastage. There should be metering system and consumer should be charged based on consumption. Another aspect is quantity of water that is unaccounted for. The technology and care taken in joining and refilling the trenches is the main reason for pipe-joint leaks. Time to repair is another factor in quantifying the wastage. Unless we improve on these factors, 24X7 supply works out to be very costly.

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	Himanshu Thakkar, Founder, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, Delhi Most problems of the urban water supply can be generally classified as governance problems. Suggesting that 24/7 pressurized water supply systems will solve the governance problems does not sound very logical. In fact, we need to invest our resources in analysing of the governance problems in the urban water supply systems, then look for solutions to address them. For example, when the 24/7 water supply proposal was made, it turned out that the Delhi Jal Board does not have functioning and monitored bulk water meters at most required locations. The situation remains the same today.  The choice between the 24/7 and the intermittent water supply options seem to be entirely different issue. Both may have their advantages and disadvantages and need to be addressed in an informed, participatory way. Unfortunately we do not have credible picture of costs, benefits, governance structures and sustainability for the "successful" examples of 24/7 water systems in India. Unless we have them, I am not sure if we can arrive at useful answers.