Community Water Supply System Research Articles

Assessment and enhancement of community water supply system sustainability: A dual framework approach

Population growth, pollution, and urbanization strain water sustainability, leading to the premature failure of community-managed water systems globally. This underscores the formidable task of precisely defining and quantifying sustainability within these community contexts. Based on the “You can't manage what you can't measure” adage, this study developed dual frameworks at community scale to assess and enhance the water supply system's sustainability. The assessment framework includes dimensions, indicators, and variables that convene into a Water Sustainability Index (WSI). WSI ranges from 1 to 4 where a score below 1.5 indicates poor water sustainability, while a score exceeding 3.5 signifies excellent sustainability. Likewise, the enhancement framework consists of dimensions, goals, and strategies. These frameworks relied on three specific dimensions, efficiency, resiliency, and community support. The identification of indicators, variables, and goals was based on SMART criteria. While the dimensions, indicators and goals are to remain consistent regardless of study areas, variables and strategies are site-specific and their selection needs to be based on each community's situations and data availability. The assessment framework suggested that the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) community has achieved fair water sustainability status with a score of 2.25. The strategic framework yielded several recommendations aimed at enhancing the sustainability of the water supply system at the AIT. The study's outcomes offer tools to evaluate the current situation of sustainability and assists local community authorities in devising solutions to enhance sustainability in community supply systems. Looking ahead, these frameworks lay the groundwork for future investigations, to explore localized, community-centric strategies for sustainable water management.

Characterization of naturally occurring radioactive material dynamics in community water systems using groundwater from Ganghwa Island, Republic of Korea

Understanding the temporal behaviors of naturally occurring radioactive materials is important for the maintenance of community water supply systems for drinking groundwater on islands and in mountainous areas. Intensive field sampling in the Republic of Korea to characterize temporal variation in 238U concentration and 222Rn activity was performed for three community water systems on Ganghwa Island for ten years (2012–2022). 222Rn, a dissolved gas in groundwater, tended to decrease in activity as water moved from the source through community water systems, but no such trend was observed in 238U concentration. 238U and 222Rn behaviors in time series data for different CWSs reflected different geochemical processes and were differently classified accordingly. In particular, the 238U and 222Rn at points GJ and YH shows the signature of weathering: accompaniment by variation in pH and dissolved oxygen. In other time series, the 238U and 222Rn behavior shows the signature of cation exchange by seawater intrusion: accompaniment by dramatic variation in electrical conductivity. Random forest regression models developed to estimate the 238U concentration and 222Rn activity in groundwater boreholes exhibited reasonable threshold classification accuracy. The optimized threshold structure for 238U concentration and 222Rn activity variation with respect to the water quality variable of greatest statistical importance in each community water system random forest regression model corresponded to the geochemical process controlling the behavior of 238U and 222Rn in that groundwater borehole. Therefore, more intensive field sampling, covering the full data range that could emerge at each groundwater borehole, can aid in enhancing the accuracy of estimation of 238U concentration and 222Rn activity. Furthermore, the use of an in situ groundwater monitoring system in a random forest regression model facilitates the effective management of community water systems in the face of risk posed by naturally occurring radioactive materials.

Traditional groundwater exploration method for pastoralist community water supply system in semi-arid region of Ethiopia: case of Tula Sallan Borana, Southern Ethiopia

Traditional groundwater exploration method for pastoralist community water supply system in semi-arid region of Ethiopia: case of Tula Sallan Borana, Southern Ethiopia

Functionality of Rural Community Water Supply Systems and Collective Action: a Case of Guras Rural Municipality, Karnali Province

Ensuring the long-term functionality of community-managed rural water supply systems has been a persistent development challenge. It is well established that the technicalities of keeping the systems going are impacted by complex political, social, financial, and institutional challenges. While the shift to federal, three-tiered governance allocates concurrent responsibility for drinking water management to the local government with federal and provincial governments, water and sanitation user groups continue to shoulder the management of local supply systems voluntarily. All three levels have jurisdiction over water-related services resulting in confusion of roles. This study focuses on the local level, where community management of water and sanitation decentralisation is the key approach in this complex tangle of diverse institutions with different actors managing and governing water. User Groups and their Committees in the Guras Rural Municipality of Dailekh district, Karnali province, in West Nepal, provided the case study, which was analysed using Ostrom's well-recognised Eight Principles for Sustainable Governance of Common-Pool Resources. The community-based model, established formally through the Water Resource Act 1992 (2049 BS), is critically analysed in light of the changing socio- economic context through the intervening years. The results highlight the need for stronger collaboration between the rural municipality and users to achieve good water supplies and the risks of losing access and voice in water management for women and marginalised people when inactive user groups are replaced by private or group interests taking control of the water access.

Comparative assessment of a stand-alone and a grid-connected hybrid system for a community water supply system: A case study of Nankese community in the eastern region of Ghana

Community water supply systems in Ghana are grid connected which is intermittent leading to breakdown of the systems and causing water shortages. In addition, high electricity tariffs have led these systems into huge debts. This research, therefore, aims to conduct comparative assessment of adopting a hybrid grid-connected and a stand-alone power system for these systems, using HOMER pro software. A daily average of 121.25 kWh was obtained from the chosen site as an input. Two scenarios were considered: a Grid-PV (Scenario 1) and a PV-Genset (Scenario 2) hybrid systems. The grid-connected (Grid-PV) was the best option with a LCOE of $0.0824/kWh while the standalone (PV-Genset) system was $0.309/kWh. Comparing them with $0.233/kWh for the Grid-only system, the Grid-PV system was about 184% cheaper while the PV-Genset system was about 24% more expensive. The PW of the scenarios yielded $58,422 and -$43,371, an IRR of 15.3% and 1.6% and a SPP of 6.21 and 24.13 years respectively. Although Scenario 1 was economically viable for investment, it yielded the highest GHG emission of 12,341.5kg/yr. Scenario 2, on the other hand, was not an economically viable option but yielded the least GHG emission of 4775.57kg/yr. Although this system was relatively expensive from the financial point of view, environmental considerations together with the grid tariff evolution in its life-cycle will make it cheaper.

A Comparative Study between Managed Aquifer Recharge and Other Community Water Supply Options in Coastal Bangladesh

The acute scarcity of safe water exists in disaster-prone coastal Bangladesh due to the occurrences of brackish or saline and arsenic contaminated groundwater, the salinization of freshwater ponds by inundation during storm surges, and brackish water aquaculture. Millions of people living there mainly depend on pond water and rainwater harvesting system and face severe difficulties to collect freshwater, particularly during the dry season. Therefore, various community water supply technologies, e.g., RO, SIDKO, RPWS, SkyHydrants etc. have been established to meet their daily needs, though the majority of these technologies fall short of the value of time and effort of water collection and sometimes fail to supply water of desired quality. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) technique, also a community water supply system, was designed to provide safe water by creating underground storage of freshwater where ambient groundwater salinity is reduced by infiltrating rooftop or pond water through wells. Understanding the need to sort out the best water supply option, a comparative study has been conducted between MAR and other water supply technologies, and among all of them the MAR has been demonstrated as a low cost, reliable, sustainable, and durable option for providing safe drinking water to the community round the year. The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Centennial Special Volume June 2022: 157-166

Comparative Assessment of a Stand-Alone and a Grid-Connected Hybrid System for a Community Water Supply System: A Case Study of Nankese Community in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Comparative Assessment of a Stand-Alone and a Grid-Connected Hybrid System for a Community Water Supply System: A Case Study of Nankese Community in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Service constraints and willingness to pay in community-managed water supply services in Ghana

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to support the development of effective strategies that enhance community water supply systems. The study examined service constraints and willingness to pay for better services in community-managed water supply services using empirical evidence from beneficiaries of a small-town water supply system in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA survey design of both descriptive and exploratory research is adopted, the descriptive survey handles the quantitative aspect, while the exploratory survey handles the qualitative aspect. The authors collected data using a structured survey questionnaire from 387 beneficiaries who were public standpipe and domestic users. Descriptive statistics, Kendall's coefficient of concordance and Cragg's two-step model were the methods of analysis employed.FindingsThe respondents ranked lack of capacity (managerial) as the topmost constraint of the community-managed water system. The findings indicate that 57% of the beneficiaries were not willing to pay, whiles 43% were willing to pay. Also, results from Cragg's two-step regression model indicate that different sets of factors affect willingness-to-pay and amount-to-pay decisions. The study revealed that while a willingness-to-pay decision is influenced by income, education, marital status and customer service, the estimated-amount-to-pay decision is more influenced by income and education.Originality/valueBuilding on the empirical evidence, the findings indicated that the water and sanitation management team can increase the current fee of GH¢ 5.00/1 m3 (≈US$ 0.87) by increasing beneficiaries charge for a bucket of water from GH¢ 0.10p (≈US$ 0.017) to GH¢ 0.21p (≈US$ 0.036) for better services within the community. Importantly, the additional charge should take into consideration income and education which were noted to significantly influence the beneficiary's amount-to-pay decision for better services in the community-managed water supply system.

A Review on People’s Participation for Sustainable Rural Water Supply Systems with Special Reference to Nepal

This study was carried out during the period from March to August 2018. Published literatures and some unpublished data were collected from different sources and analyzed. It was found that the community people do not have good understanding and adequate participation on the sustainability of water supply systems. They only have interests in the regular flow in taps. They are also less aware in the regular repair and maintenance of water supply systems. Furthermore, the expectation of community is always financial support from local body and donor agency. The governance part of water user’s committee was also found unsatisfactory. Thus, the people should be provided with capacity development trainings for the sustainable development of community water supply system. similarly, implementation of water safety plan, and regular monitoring from local body are crucial activities that should be given high emphasis for the sustainability of rural water supply system.

Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the groundwater of two islands with various geologic settings in South Korea

Since 2007, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) such as uranium-238 and radon-222 etc. in groundwater from the Community Water-supply Systems (CWS) in two islands have been studied in South Korea. In 71 samples from Ganghwa (G) Island, the maximum value of uranium-238 concentration is 72.21 μg/L. 3 CWSs (4.2%) exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 30 μg/L for uranium-238. The maximum value of radon-222 activity is 614 Bq/L. 28 CWSs (39.4 %) did not meet the United States Environment Protection Agency (US EPA) proposed Alternative Maximum Contaminant Level (AMCL) of 148 Bq/L for radon-222. At all CWS that did not meet the US EPA’s MCL or AMCL, some appropriate actions were taken such as water treatment, alternative well development, mixing water of different origins, and so forth. In the 52 CWSs of Jeju (J) Island, the maximum value of uranium-238 and radon-222 concentrations are 1.37 μg/L and 94.83 Bq/L, respectively. All values for uranium-238, gross alpha, and radon-222 meet MCL and proposed AMCL of US EPA drinking water standard. The two islands have different geological settings that are believed to be the causes of the big differences in the NORM levels. Geologically an old island has much higher NORM values than a young island formed in the Quaternary Period due to hydrogeological factors such as recharge and infiltration rates of precipitation. The residence times in the aquifers for water-rock (mineral) interactions are very different from each other.

Assessing climate change adaptations for community-scale water resources using a low-frequency weather generator

Water adaptation strategies are necessary for decreasing climate change impacts on local societies. This study models a community water supply system as a distributed adaptation measure for decreasing the loading of the centralized water supply system. The modeled community water supply system addresses both supply and demand at the community scale using constructed wetlands, rainwater harvesting systems, household storage, and paddy fields. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a community water supply system in various climate change scenarios using three performance indicators: water saving efficiency (WSE), tolerance duration (TD), and water use efficiency (WUE). A low-frequency weather generator (LF-WGEN) was proposed and used to produce future weather data for evaluating the impacts of climate change. LF-WGEN generates future weather data based on climate scenarios derived from the outputs of general circulation models (GCMs, such as HadGEM2-AO and CSIRO-Mk3-6-0) which project current and future climate based on different representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The results indicate that low impact development (LID) modules have better performance in the first growth period and may maintain domestic functionality under climate change. All indicators show positive correlations with rainfall in most of the climate scenarios. However, with slight decreases in predicted rainfall, the WUE and WSEagri showed negative correlations to rainfall in the RCP 2.6 HadGEM2-AO and RCP 4.5 CSIRO-Mk3-6-0 climate scenarios. This could be due the lower number of consecutive dry days predicted by the LF-WGEN causing a slightly increased wetland inflow that would then decrease the irrigation water supply. Overall, the community water supply system showed strong performance in the various climate scenarios. Further study of the community water supply system needs to include an optimization of adaptation measures for practical applications.

Stormwater Management toward Water Supply at the Community Scale—A Case Study in Northern Taiwan

Adaptation measures are necessary for reducing the impacts of extreme climatic events, especially at the community scale. Constructed wetlands and rainwater harvesting systems are commonly used as on-site water supply systems for distributed adaptation. The purpose of this study is to build a community water supply model and to evaluate the performance of low impact development (LID) modules as water supply facilities. The community water supply model simulates four water balances, namely, household storage, the constructed wetland, the rainwater harvesting system, and paddy fields. Three performance indicators are utilized, namely, the water saving efficiency, tolerance duration, and water use efficiency. The results show that the rainwater harvesting system saves up to 25.8% of the total domestic water demand, and the constructed wetland saves up to 40% of the irrigation water demand in Xingshi Village, located in northern Taiwan. In conclusion, the constructed wetland and rainwater harvesting system are good candidates for on-site water supply systems at the community scale. However, constructing a community water supply system requires more study, including a climate change risk assessment and the optimization of adaptation measures.

Combined aluminium sulfate/hydroxide process for fluoride removal from drinking water

In this study, aluminium hydro(oxide), AO was prepared from locally available aluminium sulfate, and used for fluoride removal from water by combining with Nalgonda Technique. The fluoride removal performance of the combined process was investigated as a function of contact time, proportion of alum-lime/AO dose, initial fluoride concentration and solution pH in series of batch experiments. The rate of fluoride removal was investigated using conventional kinetic models. The fluoride removal efficiency of the combined process was also tested for real water sample from selected community water supply system in the Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. The removal of fluoride was rapid in the first 15 min. The combined process efficiency was about 93% with an optimum combined alum/AO dose (80 mg alum/mg F, 5 mg AO/mg F and lime = 35% of alum) using initial fluoride concentration of 15 mg/L. The optimum solution pH for fluoride removal was in the range of 5-9, which is suitable for practical application in the Ethiopia Rift Valley Region. Kinetic studies showed that the rate of fluoride removal by alum/AO can be well described by a pseudo-second-order rate equation with an average rate constant of 0.096 g/min . mg. The optimum dose required to attain 85-93% fluoride removal efficiency from real water sample was 90 mg alum/mg F, 5 mg AO/mg F, and 15% lime. Hence, the combined defluoridation process has higher fluoride removal efficiency than the Nalgonda Technique with an additional advantage of minimizing chemical dose. The reported removal efficiency of Nalgonda Technique is 70% at alum dose of 150-170 mg alum/mg F. Besides, sludge production is also minimized. Therefore, this process is highly efficient and could be applied in areas where the fluoride concentration is higher than 10 mg/L, both at household and community level. KEY WORDS : Nalgonda Technique, Aluminium sulfate, Aluminium hydroxide, Fluoride, Drinking water Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2016 , 30(3), 391-401 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v30i3.7

Urban Water Resource Use and Management: An Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities of Community Water Supply Systems in Wote Town, Makueni County, Kenya

Urban Water Resource Use and Management: An Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities of Community Water Supply Systems in Wote Town, Makueni County, Kenya

Deeds not words: Performance and management analysis of community water supply system at Pasthali, Kavre, Nepal

The study was carried out to assess the performance and management analysis of Pasthali Water Supply System. Various data collection tools such as questionnaire survey, field observation and key informant interviews were used along with water quality analysis at the source, treatment plants, point of delivery and use. The filter bed media analysis was also carried out to assess the uniformity in the bed media. Mcrobial contamination in treated water was found due to improper sand granular used in filtration unit that hinder efficient removal of the microbes, lack of chlorination in the unit caused increase in microbial contamination at the point of delivery along with the unhygienic environment at the distribution tanks. Manual chlorine addition for three days was found to be effective in reducing microbial contamination drastically, but the water is recontaminated once delivered and stored at the household level. Improper handling and unhygienic storage location were found to be the major causes of increased contamination at households. The status of the water source is not safe either and seeks intermediate attention. The operation and management of Pasthali Water Supply System solely depends on water tariff and bears financial loss annually. The study also concludes that there is surplus of treated water termed as non-revenue water in the system. Proper granulation of the sand in the filtration unit and chlorination are must to ensure the safe water along with the awareness on the water management at the household levels. Supplying of non-revenue water to the nearby villages could be a potential to generate resources that ultimately strengthen financial aspects of the system and build resilience to financially break-down in the future.

Rural water supply system debugging, servicing and refurbishing

Many community water supply systems in Nepal are suffering from non-functionality. For various reasons, the communities responsible are unable to manage their water assets. External support is needed to improve water asset management. The required external supports were analyzed based on the life cycle curve. Subsequently a new management concept of debugging, servicing and refurbishing of the rural water supply system has been proposed. Debugging decreases the duration of the burn in period, servicing increases the useful life period and refurbishment revitalizes the system at the end of its design life.

Land use and water quality in a rural cloud forest region (Intag, Ecuador)

The Intag cloud forest region of northwestern Ecuador is characterized by exceptional biodiversity, large known and unknown deposits of copper and other valuable minerals, and a high level of environmental awareness and concern among the human population. Its 1000 km of rivers and streams are essential for household use, crop irrigation, livestock production and sustaining unique ecosystems. However, no published data exist on water quality in the region. This study characterizes water quality in five river systems in Intag and relates it to land use (protected forest, agriculture/pasture, urban development or mining) upstream of the sampling point. Additionally, we sampled 15 community water supply systems. Parameters measured included turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, faecal indicator bacteria (FIB), nitrate, phosphate, ammonium, Ni, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, As, Cr, discharge and aquatic invertebrate diversity. Significant differences in pH, aquatic invertebrate diversity, and the concentrations of FIB, nutrients and dissolved metals were observed between land use groups. Forested streams consistently had the lowest pollutant concentrations, whereas those flowing past population centres or mining areas showed the greatest impairment. Elevated As concentrations were observed in association with abandoned mining boreholes, hot springs and wastewater discharges. FIB, nutrient and metal concentrations in water systems were similar to those in forested streams, indicating that these systems maintain water in an unpolluted condition. To preserve and enhance Intag's generally good water quality, we recommend installing wastewater treatment systems in larger towns and approaching all mining activity, including exploration, with extreme caution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Improving Water Supply Systems for Domestic Uses in Urban Togo: The Case of a Suburb in Lomé

The rapid urbanization facing developing countries is increasing pressure on public institutions to provide adequate supplies of clean water to populations. In most developing countries, the general public is not involved in strategies and policies regarding enhancement, conservation, and management of water supply systems. To assist governments and decision makers in providing potable water to meet the increasing demand due to the rapid urbanization, this study sought to characterize existing water supply systems and obtain public opinion for identifying a community water supply system model for households in a residential neighborhood in Lomé, Togo. Existing water supply systems in the study area consist of bucket-drawn water wells, mini water tower systems, rainwater harvesting, and public piped water. Daily domestic water consumption in the study area compared well with findings on water uses per capita from Sub-Saharan Africa, but was well below daily water usage in developed nations. Based on the surveys, participants thought highly of a large scale community water tower and expressed interest in maintaining it. Even though people rely on water sources deemed convenient for drinking, they also reported limited confidence in the quality of these sources.

Arsenic removal by iron oxide coated sponge: treatment and waste management

One of the problems in drinking water that raises concern over the world is that millions of people still have to use arsenic-contaminated water. There is a worldwide need to develop appropriate technologies to remove arsenic from water for household and community water supply systems. In this study, a new material namely iron oxide coated sponge (IOCSp) was developed and used to remove arsenic (As) from contaminated groundwater in Vietnam. The results indicated that IOCSp has a high capacity in removing both As (V) and As (III). The adsorption capacity of IOCSp was up to 4.6 mg As/g IOCSp, showing better than many other materials. It was observed from a pilot study that a small quantity of IOCSp (180 g) could reduce As concentration of 480 microg/L in 1.5 m3 of contaminated natural water to below 40 microg/L. In addition, an exhausted IOCSp, containing a large amount of arsenic (up to 0.42 wt %) could safely be disposed through the solidification/stabilization with cement. Addition of fly ash also reduced the amount of arsenic in the leachate.

Sand-Filtration System For Improving Water Quality For Rural Community Water Supply

The performance of a pilot sand filtration plant for a small town water supply was monitored over a seven month period to evaluate the physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of the filtered water from a system installed at Assin Praso in the Central Region of Ghana. The sand filter was effective in reducing turbidity by 44 - 83 %; colour by 33 - 75 %; iron by 39 - 84 % and organic matter by 66 - 80 %. The reductions in the faecal and total coliforms of the filtered water were 34 - 95 % and 50 - 92 %, respectively. However, mean levels of the quality parameters of the filtered water exceeded the WHO guidelines for drinking waters. The filtration system worked efficiently during the dry season (March - April), but the efficiency declined during the rainy season (May – August). Post filtration disinfection is therefore recommended to ensure the potability of the sand-filtered water. For small or rural community water supply system without addition of chemicals, the perfo-rmance of the sand filtration system could be improved by close supervision of the operations, especially protection of the water-body around the intake point. Journal of Applied Science and Technology Vol. 12 (1&2) 2007: pp. 98-104