Principal Secretary

Position Title:

Piped Water Supply Expert

Reports to:

Principal Secretary Public Health Engineering Department

Department:

Bihar Vikas Mission

Job Code:

Strategizing and Expert Advisory

• Provide expert technical inputs on the projects and programs anchored by Public Health Engineering Department to meet the objective of improving the quality of water supply system in the state and making available clean and portable drinking water

• Plan and support the implementation of strategic initiatives to develop integrated projects to focus on improving the water quality degradation due to transformation caused within the distribution system (pipes, tanks, plumbing etc.)

• Provide technical inputs to reduce the water changes caused due to loss in physical integrity (such as contaminant intrusion due to breaks or faulty repairs) and hydraulic integrity of pipes (such as contaminant intrusion due to low or negative pressures)

• Plan and establish effective on time and real time monitoring systems to check piped water contamination and enactment of swift measures to react to adverse conditions that may impact public health

• Anchor research and development initiatives to help adopt new materials that are less prone to corrosion and leaching to reduce contamination of water

• Support the Department to utilize practices to maintain water quality integrity within the distribution system and in premise plumbing, such as booster disinfection, flushing, corrosion control etc.

• Analyze similar examples of community based water management and best practices such as in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Niger etc. at global level and / or Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra at national level for consideration in Bihar

• Partner with relevant agencies and Department officials to undertake community mobilization and awareness activities to encourage collective efforts towards quality management of portable and drinking water, especially in the rural areas through initiatives such as village water management committees

• Design capacity building programmes for the village water management committees for their development of relevant skills, management practices and awareness levels

• Enhance Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance activities by facilitating the process of setting

up and operating water quality testing laboratories at the state, district and sub district levels

• Establish collaborations and partnerships with international and multilateral organizations such as World Bank, ADB, DFID etc. to garner operational and financial support for the water quality maintenance and contaminant mitigation initiatives in Bihar anchored by the Department

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement of systems, processes and practices taking into account international and national best practices, in order to facilitate cost optimization and productivity improvement

Policies, Systems, Processes & Procedures

• Recommend improvements to functional procedures and follow all relevant departmental policies, processes, standard operating procedures and instructions so that work is carried out in a controlled and consistent manner

Related Assignments

• Perform other related duties or assignments as and when required

Essential

• Masters degree or higher in Water Engineering and Management / Water Resource Engineering / Hydrology and Water Engineering / Civil Engineering

• Minimum 15 years of post-qualification experience in water quality management and surveillance including improving the water distribution system, establishing systems to prevent piped water contamination and developing innovative solutions to ensure quality piped water supply, especially in rural and other difficult terrain areas

• Minimum 3 years of experience in managing / contributing to management of large scale water distribution and quality monitoring projects / programs in state / central government / bilateral / multilateral / private departments and / or organizations (such as Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), Water and Sanitation Support Organization of states, PHE Departments of states, World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, KFW etc.)

Preferred

• Less than 70 years of age as on 1st January 2017

• Experience of working on state and national level large scale projects (budget value of more than Rs. 500 crores) with proven records of execution of the project

• Certificates / Diploma / Courses in relevant areas will add weight to the candidature

• Honors / Awards / discourses / recognized publications in relevant area will be an added advantage

• Experience and knowledge of national programs such as National Rural Drinking Water Program

• Thorough knowledge of IEC Guidelines for Rural Drinking Water Supply

• Experience in evaluation of distributed treatment technologies

• Good technical knowledge of aspects related to water and sanitation sector e.g. environmental engineering / science, water supply and sanitation engineering, repair and installation of water treatment plants, water auditing, social auditing, ISO- 14001 lead auditor etc.

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Hindi