Estimating wasteful water use from car washing points on the water supply system of Yaounde, Cameroon

Abstract

Regular access to pipe-borne water remains a challenge to urban dwellers in Cameroon in general and those in Yaounde in particular. From that backdrop, this paper estimates the quantity of water used in car washing in the city of Yaounde as a representation of some of the numerous irrational water uses in the city in spite of its scarcity. It argues that the amount of water lost in car washing in the absence of water conservation and recycling techniques can offset the domestic water shortages experienced in many neighbourhoods of Yaounde significantly. To achieve this, both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. An exhaustive enumeration of car washing points was undertaken in the Yaounde VI subdivision of the city of Yaounde. Water sources were determined and the water quantities used on a daily basis estimated from water bills paid and volumetric capacities of water reservoirs in the washing stations. Car washing was observed to be a streetside activity in dominantly outlying residential areas where some vacant undeveloped land still existed with the CDE being the major water supplier notwithstanding the emergence of alternative sources. Over 198.122 m3 of water (0.2 % of daily water use in the city of Yaounde) was estimated to be consumed by car washing in Yaounde VI. With a huge water supply deficit, of 200,000 m3 on its estimated daily water needs of 311,000 m3, water losses via spillouts from car washing points represents a significant withdrawal from the system that could reduce the daily shortages experienced by numerous households in Yaounde. There is the strong need for a water use policy that internalizes micro water recycling schemes in public water use as a means of reducing water demand, harvesting and wastage.