Abstract
Water supply challenges in emergency situations have increased in recent years and there is a need for analyses targeting economic and environmental sustainability. Our study investigated the end-user water demand, the capital and operational costs, the carbon footprint, the freshwater availability and the risks surrounding water quality for several groundwater supply alternatives in Ugandan refugee settlements. We compared hand pumps, motorised pumps (solar, diesel and hybrid) and water trucking. The end-users’ survey highlighted the significant variability of water access. The economic evaluation showed that the breakeven year for solar and diesel pumps was greatly affected by the length of the water distribution systems (e.g., pipes, storage tanks), the chosen timeframe and the daily working hours of the diesel engine. When excluding capital investment, most alternatives were economically viable at the existing water fee (0.8 USD/m3), and solar driven pumps were down to 0.09 USD/m3. Finally, the combustion of diesel caused the highest CO2-eq emissions per m3. Water trucking is the worst option in both the economic and environmental analysis at 7–8 USD/m3 and >1 kg CO2-eq/m3. The methodology and the results of this paper will support decision-makers to build and finance sustainable water provision solutions in refugee settlements.
Highlights
June 2017 ended with 65.6 million forcibly displaced people and 17 million refugees, with 55% of this cohort originating from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan andSouth Sudan [1]
Water supply is essential for the survival of human beings, with between 7.5 and 15 L per person per day required for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene [4]
Two different standards guide the planning of access to water in refugee camps: the SPHERE standards for emergencies [4] and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) standards for post-emergency situations [5]
Summary
June 2017 ended with 65.6 million forcibly displaced people and 17 million refugees (excludingPalestinians), with 55% of this cohort originating from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan andSouth Sudan [1]. Refugee Act and the 2010 Refugee Regulations whereby refugees are not hosted in gated refugee camps but in open settlements They have access to education and basic services, as well as the right to work and move. The Ugandan government seeks to use emergency funds to build long-lasting infrastructure that can be used by locals in years to come. These principles are supported by national guidelines on building water supply systems in the West Nile region (Supplementary Material A.1). The South Sudanese civil war started in December and has resulted in more than 2 million refugees of which over 1 million were hosted by Uganda by the end of 2017 [25]. A list of emergency response stakeholders in Uganda can be found in [26] and in Supplementary Material A.2
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
