Abstract
During the twentieth century, the world’s urban population increased more than tenfold, while rural population increased only twofold (United Nations, 2004). Today, nearly half the world’s population lives in urban areas compared to less than 15% in 1900, and the absolute number of people living in urban areas amounted to 3.04 billion in 2003 (United Nations, 2004). Water use in urban areas is directly related to economic development, social prosperity, and environmental conservation. Accompanying urbanisation or urban population growth, the water supply in urban areas has also increased rapidly. According to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN-FAO) statistics, worldwide water usage for domestic and industrial purposes were 380 and 770 km3, respectively, in 2000. Different from UN-FAO statistics, (2006) estimated the global urban domestic water use in the world as 230 km3/year, about 60.5% of the total domestic water use in 2000. If industrial demand is also accounted for, total urban water use would be much higher, amounting to 1000 km3/y globally in 2000. Thus, providing sufficient water has become a big problem for urban water management.
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