Kala Vairavamoorthy

WATER CONSERVATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Water, Engineering and Development Centre

Education, training, research and consultancy for improved planning, provision and management of physical infrastructure and services for development in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on the needs and demands of the poor.

STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION

• Water Crisis that exists in developing countries particularly the urban centres

• How the water crisis is predicted to get worse in the next 20 years.

• How authorities in developing countries have tried to manage the water crisis

• How authorities in developing countries are becoming more proactive in the way they manage the water crisis.

Providing a water supply for a community involves tapping the most suitable source of water,

ensuring that it is safe for domestic consumption and then

supplying it in adequate quantities.

The World Health Organisation defines:

• safe water as “. . water that does not contain harmful chemical substances or micro-organisms in concentrations that cause illness in any form”

• adequate waters supply as “ . . one that provides safe water in quantities sufficient for drinking, and for culinary, domestic, and other household purposes so as to make possible the personal hygiene of members of the household. A sufficient quantity should be available on a reliable, year-round basis near to, or within the household where the water is to be used ”

WATER SCARCITY

• Water scarcity in urban areas is of particular concern because of migration of the rural population to urban centres resulting in towns and cities expanding rapidly

• Water scarcity can result from a variety of causes but principally either source limitation, poor distribution, or inequality between the rich and the poor.

• What happens when there is a lack of water is all to apparent in many developing country cities

– Increase the health burden on the urban poor, who often constitute the very labour source that generates the cities wealth.

DEVELOPMENT GOALS

• Water is acknowledged as a major limiting factor in the socio-economic development of a world with a rapidly expanding population.

• The United Nations Millennium Declaration draws attention to the importance of water and water related activities in supporting development and eradicating poverty.

• Also emphasizes conservation to stop unsustainable exploitation of water resources

– By developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies.

Improved water management promotes sustainable development

WATER MANAGEMENT

• Current approaches towards water supply in cities are usually supply driven – when there’s a “shortage” develop new sources.

• But, the cost of developing new sources or expanding existing sources is getting higher and higher as most accessible water resources have already been tapped (UNCHS 1999a)

• An alternative approach, advocating water demand management (WDM), focuses on conservation measures to make better use of limited supplies.

• It is often not realized that conservation does not necessarily mean a reduction in quality of service but rather a more efficient approach to use.

WDM results in more sustainable water services

WATER STRESS – FACTS

• Africa– 12 African countries considered to be in a “Water Stress”

situation.

– Further 10 African countries will be stressed by 2025 (1.1 billion people or 2/3’s Africa’s population).

• India– At current rate of population growth India will have the largest

number of water-deprived persons in the world in the next 25 years.

– It is estimated that by the year 2050, half of India’s population will be living in urban areas and will face acute water problems.

NON-IRRIGATION CONSUMPTION

Total non irrigation water consumption by region

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Con

sum

ptio

n(cu

bic

km)

1995 2025

Rosegrant et al. (2002)

WATER QUALITY ISSUES

% of disinfected and contaminated water supply

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Africa Asia LA&C

Per

cent

age

Disinfected

Contaminated

WHO et al. (2000)

GOVERNMENTS ADOPT EXTREME MEASURES

• Since the water quantity available for supply generally is not sufficient to meet the demands of the population, water conservation measures are employed.

– In many countries the sector is historically rather inefficient and tends to operate on a crisis management basis.

– Demand management limited and often arise from dire need rather than good planning.

• One of the most common methods of controlling water demand is the use of intermittent supplies, usually by necessity rather than design.

For Example:

• 91% of systems in South East Asia are intermittent (WHO survey)

• Practically all Indian cities are reported to operate intermittent systems

4% of the population receive water > 8 hrs/day

33% receive water > 4 hrs/day

42% receive water for just 3 hrs/day

21% receive water < 3 hrs/day (often only 1 hr)

The water supply in Mumbai is not only intermittent but inequitable

Observations made in Chennai and Kochi where I.S are the norm

• Overall shortage of water

• Insufficient pressures– many areas had zero pressure

• Inequitable distribution of the available water

• Very short duration of supply– West Kochi, supply for 2 hours a day (irregular)

– Outskirts of Madras, supply for 1 hour each day

Serious problem arising from I.S is high levels of contamination.

• Intermittent systems are empty for many hours of the day at which time pollutants can enter through leaks in the supply pipes.

For Example

• Aurangabad, India– High counts of faecal coliform in samples

collected from outlets during the 1st flush

– Water collected 10 mins after the 1st flush were also found to be contaminated (but lower)

• Karachi, Pakistan– In some zones of the Karachi WSS up to 80% of

the samples analysed were found to contain high counts of faecal coliform

GOVERNMENTS RETHINKING THEIR APPROACH - WDM

• Saving water rather than the development of new sources is often the best ‘next’ source of water, both from an economic and from an environmental point of view.– Water demand management (WDM) therefore is seen as the

preferred alternative to meet increasing water demand.

• Main objective of WDM is to contribute to more efficient and equitable provision of water services

• Many instruments have been developed for WDM– Instruments are interdependent and mutually reinforcing and

the most optimal way they are applied will depend on the prevailing local conditions.

BENEFITS OF WDM• Attractive to governments as it can “buy time” by delaying the

need for large capital investment in expansion of the water sector.

– In most cases, the savings achieved by delaying an investment can provide financial resources to more than cover the costs of implementing a comprehensive demand management programme.

• Prospect of conserving water for industrial, agricultural and commercial organisation is always an attractive proposition as it almost always results in a reduction of operation costs.

• In many water short cities there is always a proportion of the population who are without adequate water supplies. By saving water in higher income areas, more resources could be made available to the poor.

In LDC’s WDM must be used to promoted equity in supply

CONSTRAINTS TO WDM

• There are various obstacles and constraints to overcome before the full potential of WDM principles can be achieved.– Lack of awareness of WDM methods

– Lack of political will

– Lack of institutional framework

– Limited technical options

METHODS ADOPTED FOR WDM

• Reducing unaccounted for water

– Leakage detection

– Reducing illegal connections and unmetered connections

• Water Restriction (intermittent Supplies)

• Retro-fitting

• Wastewater reuse

• Water Tariffs

• Public Awareness

• Conservation for Industry

REDUCING UFW

• Unaccounted for water (UFW) may be defined and that percentage of the water produced from the raw water source which is not accounted for.

• UFW is most often due to a combination of :

– Leakage in bulk mains or secondary or tertiary networks;

– Illegal connections; or Un-metered connections

• In many countries the situation is growing rapidly worse

– Although leakage has remained relatively constants, the major cause of UFW is illegal connections.

LEAKAGE DETECTION

• Leakage is often a large source of unaccounted for water and is a result of either lack of maintenance or failure to renew ageing systems.

• In cities information does exist but there is a lack of resources to undertake an efficient leakage repair programme.

• Leakage can also take place after a consumers meter but is frequently neglected as the water has been paid for.

• In many cases leakage detection and repair will require some additional capital investment and human resources.

• In many cities leakage is given a low level of priority and in some cities is only really accepted as a necessary evil, suffering from low staff moral.

ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS AND UNMETERED CONNECTIONS

• In city distribution systems, illegal connections may be the result of contractors connecting illegally to supply new housing developments or unplanned and “illegal” settlements connecting to such supplies.

• Illegal connections are difficult to monitor especially where access to settlement is hindered (public order problems)

• In some cases where previous supply systems were unmetered or where have ceased to function properly, a proportion of the consumers may not be charged or pay a different price.

• Before any WDM programme is implemented, unmetered connections must be reduced to an absolute minimum and metering coverage maximised in all sectors.

UNACCOUNTED FOR WATERMean unaccounted-for water in large cities

0

20

40

60

80

100

Africa Asia LA&C N.Amer

Per

cen

tag

e

WHO et al. (2000)

INSTALLATION OF METERS

Regional means for the largest cities:meters and meters replaced annually

010

203040

506070

8090

Africa Asia LA&C

Per

cent

age

Metered annually

Replaced Annually

WHO et al. (2000)

SOURCES OF UFW

Sources of unaccounted for water -Nairobi 1990-1996

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20

30

40

50

60

1990 1995 1997

Year

Perc

enta

ge

UFW

Leakage

Under registration

Illegal/Unmetered

UNCHS (1999)

RETRO-FITTING• Retro-fitting provides one of the most effective short-

term options for reducing water demand.

• Many government buildings or institutions do not pay for their water or the consumers have no interest in conservation.

– Good examples are University campuses, Ministry buildings, government hospitals etc. With very little capital investment, usually only a few dollars per fitting, water consumption may be reduced by as much as 20%

• Incentives are offered to those who retrofit including, payment grants from local authorities

WATER USE RESTRICTIONS (Intermittent Supply)

• Although regulations have a bad name, they are often both appropriate and efficient for managing water demand.

GUIDELINES FOR “DESIGN OF INTERMITTENT WATER SYSTEMS”

• Provides guidance on designing systems that are likely to operate intermittently.

• Is novel in that it recognises the reality of intermittent supply and hence provides new methods of analysis and design, appropriate for such systems.

• Develop new performance objectives specifically tailored to intermittent systems (equity in supply; adequate pressure;supply times that are convenient)

Research project (funded by DFID) to develop guidelines that:

OBJECTIVES OF DESIGN PROCESS

EQUITY IN SUPPLY

Equitable distribution of the limited quantity of water is the keystone of the whole design process outlined in this manual and is a non-negotiable design objective

‘Detailed Design’

Part 4

‘Surveying People’s Needs’

Part 3

L .O.S

‘Preliminary Design’

Part 2

‘General Overview’

Part 1D evel opi n g C oun tr y T im es

GOOD N E W S !! N E W M E T H OD D E V E L OP E D F OR

D E S I G N I N G I N T E R M I T T E N T SY ST E M SC la im s tha t sup p ly cond itions w ill im p rove !C la im s to sha re w a ter m ore fa irly !Im p roved p ressure cond itions for a ll !

‘Example Designs’

SD 3

NETIS‘Users Guide’

SD 2

Version 5.01

‘Field Data Collection & Handling’

SD 1

SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS

GUIDELINES

GUIDELINES - INTERMITTENT SYSTEM

• Pilot Studies– Kochi network designed using

guidelines

– Also guidelines being piloted in India (as part of DFID’s APUSP)

• Workshops – Three workshops completed in

India and East Africa

– Joining forces with UNCHS - ‘Water for African Cities Program’

• ASCE Task Committee

SPREADING THE WORD

MANAGEMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN URBAN NETWORKS

4 MAIN OUTPUTS

– Guidance to assessing hazards, critical control points.

– Manual and flow-charts on water quality management and system monitoring tools for WS managers

– PC compatible water quality modelling tools.

– GIS based risk management tool that combines hazard

assessment procedures with water quality software

Data Input

Display + Reporting

GISGIS

Geographic Database

Extraction Storage

Processing Mapping

Contaminant Ingress Model

Contaminant Propagation

Model

Risk Model

Input

Input

Input

Output

Output

Output

User Interface (GUI)

MODELSMODELS

WASTEWATER REUSE

• Treated wastewater or in some cases urban runoff or stormwater (rain water harvesting) could be reused efficiently.

– Botswana - Vegetable gardening area of 150 m² at a clinic in Lobatse was irrigated with water from sinks and hand basins. All waste water was drained into drums dug into the ground .

– Bulawayo - Final effluent from sewage treatment works is treated for reuse on suburban parks, golf courses, nurseries, schools…

• May require dedicated distribution system (may be open to abuse and those urban poor without adequate supply).

• In many culture there is also a cultural taboo about reusing wastes of all types.

– This may have to be addressed in public awareness campaigns.

TARIFF STRUCTURES• Tariff structures designed to conserve water must penalize over

use but not minimize access to the urban poor.

– Punitive tariff structure should consider setting the ‘basic needs tariff at a level affordable by very poor households with significantly higher tariffs imposed for consumption above the basic needs level.

– Bulaywao - rising block tariff - Cheap consumption is limited to 600 litres per household per day or 18 Kilo litres per month.

– Block tariffs may penalize low-income users who live in multi-family units in building with only one meter (Whittington and Boland)

– Other methods proposed include single volumetric charge coupled with fixed monthly rebate (2 part tariff).

• Tariffs for industry and agricultural purposes should not encourage wasteful use but should make formal supply sources more attractive than alternatives, which may have a detrimental effect on the environment.

CONSERVATION FOR INDUSTRY

• Targeting WDM strategies at industry may have a much greater impact than focusing on the domestic sector alone

• Many industries use outdated processes and pay little regard for water recycling within the organization.

• Industries may have developed private supplies and enjoy unlimited abstraction but it may be from the same source as the public supply, contributing to resource depletion.

• In most cases, water conservation within industry will result in savings in operation cost which may be the best encouragement for conservation.

LOW –INCOME COMMUNITIES

• Number of WDM instruments may not be applicable for LIC such as retrofitting or out-of-house water saving measures

• Some may have unintended side effects such as the increasing block tariff systems and metering

– Prevent conservation-oriented measures from reducing consumption in households that do not consume sufficient water to meet their basic needs for health

• But some important instruments that apply to these areas, such as leakage detection, reduction of illegal connections and awareness, require an attitude within these communities that can only be expected if they feel co-ownership over that water.

• Demand responsive approaches and community management of water supply systems can bring about this attitude.

LOW –INCOME COMMUNITIES

• Demand-side management in low income cities should not only focus on water conservation but should also give attention to two issues: securing better access to water for the urban poor and promoting hygiene.

– Demand-side management recognizes that improved health is one of the major benefits water can provide, but that the health outcome depends upon how the water is used.

DAILY PER CAPITA WATER USE (EAST AFRICA)

Mean daily percapita water use by type of use

0

10

20

Wat

er u

se(l

itre

s)

Piped

Unpiped

Thompson et al. (2001)

PUBLIC AWARENESS• Awareness campaigns to reduce water use amongst all

consumers can play an important role in demand management.

• Such campaigns need to focus on the urgency of conserving water now to hopefully avert a crisis sometime in the future.

• Improved awareness should be tackled at all levels incl. a role for communities and grassroots organizations.

• The use of mass media is cost effective in most cities as even the urban poor have access to such communication tools

• Religious and cultural preferences must also be followed particularly where local community actions related to integrated management of services. i.e. use of sanitation facilities for washing/personal hygiene.

PARTICPATORY APPROACHES

• It has for long been assumed that communities do not know their infrastructure needs - especially low-income communities.

• Thus decisions have been made on assumptions by engineers and planners and not on actual information and understanding of household water demand.

• Recognized that this top-down approach has been the reason for the failure of many initiatives.

• Technologies can never change people's attitude and will only be applied effectively if people are motivated to do so.

• Communities have to be involved in the decision making process on the water supply system based on their demands.

• The participatory methodologies must be applied to motivate people to adopt Water Demand Management instruments.

MANAGING WATER FOR AFRICAN CITIES (1999)

• The Programme works with city and local authorities, national governments, the private sector, civil society …..

• To benefit of all African cities -demonstrated in 7 cities: Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dakar (Senegal), Johannesburg (South Africa), Lusaka (Zambia) and Nairobi (Kenya).

• Objectives: To tackle the urban water crisis in African cities through efficient and effective WDM …. and boost awareness and information exchange on water management and conservation.

• Targeted beneficiaries: policy makers on water and the environment, city managers of water utilities, water consumers, children for water education ….

– All projects include public awareness and information campaigns

– Experiences made available to the other participating cities.

ADDIS ABABA

ADDIS ABABA• One of the fastest growing cities in Africa, with an estimated

population of 2.7 million inhabitants (4th largest city in Africa by 2015).

• Tackling leak detection as a priority: Unaccounted for water (UFW) in the network amounts to approximately 40%. This leads to a loss of approximately US$ 10 million per year.

• Developing a detailed water demand management (WDM) strategy for Addis Ababa resulting in a dedicated WDM unit.

• Demonstration projects to build capacity on how to manage and run a dedicated WDM unit, GIS for distribution system management and enhancing effectiveness of leak detection programmes.

• In addition the project provides a framework for coordinating and harmonising large scale supply projects, by promoting the incorporation of WDM components.

DAKAR

DAKAR

• Urgent need to increase medium term storage production and distribution of Dakar, which required large-scale investment.

• Need to increase the bulk supply to the city but by implementing WDM it could delay the need for this project (reducing debt payments).

• Retrofitting of faucets, showerheads and toilet flushing will be implemented in public buildings and/or the university using modern imported fittings with a view of manufacturing locally.

• Apartment blocks will be included where one bulk meters are installed where residents usually pay for water at a flat rate.

• The project will evaluate the use of treated wastewater for aquifer recharge and irrigation of public parks and other facilities.

ABIDJAN

ABIDJAN• Water resources are not currently limited in the city, demands will

gradually reach levels where groundwater may be insufficient.

• There is a need to develop a demand management strategy now to ensure that all actors use water efficiently.

• The amount of water currently used by industry is excessive and there is currently no incentive to reduce usage.

• Also vast amounts of water are lost through poor management, particularly in public buildings, schools universities.

• Large proportion of Abidjan's urban poor is without efficient services. There is however an ability to pay and many of the poor already pay high prices to unsolicited water vendors etc.

• Demonstration project in selected areas where consumption can be reduced with relatively little capital investment in retro-fitting technologies or the use of appropriate economic instruments.

MANAGING WATER IN ASIAN CITIES (March 2003)

• Draws upon lessons learned in our successful Water for African Cities program and help ensure that pro-poor, sustainable water policies are implemented,“

• Aims to build the capacity of Asian cities to help the region meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of "halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation.“

SUMMARY

• Water crisis is a reality in most cities in LDC’s

• Proactive WDM enables the effective, efficient and equitable use of limited water

• A combination of WDM instruments must be used to maximise the potential benefits

• An objective of WDM must be to improve the equity of the distribution of limited water

• A participatory approach is essential for affective WDM as successful implementation requires attitude changes

THANK YOU

SELECTED REFRENCES– Deverill, P, Bibby, S, Wedgwood, A and Smout, I. (2002) “Designing water supply and sanitation

projects to meet demand in rural and peri-urban communities”, Book 1 Concept, Principles and Practice, WEDC 2002.

– Frederick, K.D (1993) “Balancing Water Demands with Supplies- The role of management in a world of increasing scarcity”, World Bank Technical Paper No: 189,1993

– Fredricksen, H.D (1992) “Drought Planning and Water efficiency Implications in Water resources Management”, World Bank Technical Paper No: 185,1992

– GWP (2003) “Toolbox, Version 2 - Integrating water resources management” Global Water Partnership 2003

– Rosegrant, M.W, Cai, X and Cline, S.A (2002) “Averting an Impending Crisis” Food policy report-Global water outlook to 2025 IWMI 2002.

– UNCHS (1999) “Managing Water for African Cities Developing a Strategy for Urban Water Demand Management”, Expert Group Meeting Cape Town, South Africa 26-18 April 1999, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)UNCHS (2003) “Managing Water for African Cities” www.un-urbanwater.net

– UNESCO (2003) “Water for people water for life United Nations” World Water Development Report, UNESCO-WWAP 2003

– WHO, UNICEF and WSSCC (2000) “Global water supply and sanitation assessment - 2000 Report” , WHO 2000 Xie, M, Kufferner, U and Le Moigne, G. (1993) “Using Water efficiently - Technological Option”, World Bank Technical Paper No: 205,1993