Water Supply Management Research Articles

Persistent Challenges of Potable Water Supply, Implications and Mitigation Strategies in Limbe, Cameroon

Persistent challenges of potable water supply and its implications hinder man’s progress in Limbe municipality. The growing population of Limbe Municipality faces increasing challenges of potable water supply with lots of implications. And the Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (CAMWATER) with the local communities involved in potable water management is unable to meet up with this increasing demand. This has led to the challenges of potable water supply in Limbe municipality which is very frustrating to water consumers. This present study sought to examine the challenges of potable water supply and its implications in Limbe. A combination of research methods (desk review, interviews and reconnaissance field appraisal) have been used in this study. Our findings revealed that increasing population and poor management of potable water supply were the major problems. In the methods utilized, a community based cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to December 2020 using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Wealth Health Organization checklist was used for observation around catchments, then the assessment of water supply challenges was done with a semi quantitative approach. And 200 questionnaires were administered where qualitative data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and in-depth interviews. The results obtained from the 7 water catchments assessed indicated that 50% of the water supply challenges were as a result of the increasing population in Limbe municipality. Meanwhile 30% stated that poor management of potable water supply by the authorities concern is another reason of persistent challenges of potable water supply in Limbe. While 20% were of the opinion that the challenges of potable water supply is as a result of anthropogenic activities near water catchments leading to a progressive reduction in water volume. An integrated potable water management team is needed and a periodic monitoring of these catchment in order to reduce this persistent challenges.

Application of Deep Learning Method for Daily Streamflow Time-Series Prediction: A Case Study of the Kowmung River at Cedar Ford, Australia

Sustainable management of water supplies faces a comprehensive challenge due to global climate change. Improving forecasts of streamflow based on erratic precipitation is a significant activity nowadays. In recent years, the techniques of data-driven have been widely used in the hydrological parameter’s prediction especially streamflow. In the current research, a deep learning model namely Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and two conventional machine learning models namely, Random Forest (RF), and Tree Boost (TB) were used to predict the streamflow of the Kowmung river at Cedar Ford in Australia. Different scenarios proposed to determine the optimal combination of input predictor variables, and the input predictor variables were selected based on the auto-correlation function (ACF). Model output was evaluated using indices of the root mean square error (RMSE), and the Nash and Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE). The findings showed that the LSTM model outperformed RF and TB in predicting the streamflow with RMSE and NSE equal to 102.411, and 0.911 respectively. for the LSTM model. The proposed model could adopt by hydrologists to solve the problems associated with forecasting daily streamflow with high precision. This study may not be generalized because of the geographical condition and the nature of the data for each location.

Usage of IoT Framework in Water Supply Management for Smart City in Nepal

An efficient water supply management system can be one of the applications of the Internet of Things (IoT). Water is a basic physiological need, and smart management of water plays a significant role in a smart city. This paper focuses on a mathematical model and IoT framework that aid in developing a smart city. A framework is developed for water supply management. The efficiency of the water supply can be measured by monitoring leakage conditions, overflow of water, automatic meter reading and online bill payments, and water consumption status of households, community, state, and eventually the whole country as well as the automatic water supply line cut-off. The system where the IoT is being deployed consists of embedded hardware in which sensors and microcontrollers provide messages and gain feedback from each other with the help of the internet, and this process can not only be monitored but also can be controlled from a remote location. The developed framework addresses all these aspects and mathematical equations are used and formulated while developing the IoT application. The mathematical equations are concentrated on consumption level (CL), leakage reporting (LR), and bill amount (BA) based on consumption. These become the point of contact for deploying IoT and eventually a framework is developed. This framework can be useful not only in water supply management but also in the management of road traffic, pollution, garbage, home automation and so on. In a nutshell, this paper illustrates the usage of the IoT framework in water supply management which contributes to developing the smart city.

Advancements in and Integration of Water, Sanitation, and Solid Waste for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

The water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors are closely related and have many interactions between their respective service chains in low- and middle-income countries. Currently, these interactions mostly lead to cross-contamination, and opportunities for co-benefits are seldom realized. This review presents the key advancements within each of these three development sectors in the past two decades. We identify numerous similarities such as decentralization, resource recovery, community involved planning, and digitalization. Despite the potential for synergies and the opportunities to maximize positive interactions, there have been few attempts to break the existing sectoral silos in order to integrate these three service chains. We argue that, with the right enabling environment, an integrated approachto holistically planning and implementing water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management can create positive interactions resulting in co-benefits among complementary development goals.

A multi-century July-August streamflow reconstruction of Metro Vancouver's water supply contribution from the Capilano and Seymour watersheds in southwestern British Columbia, Canada

Recent summer water shortages in Metro Vancouver are the result of unanticipated changes in the timing of regional snowmelt and rising summer temperatures. Continuing shortfalls over the next century would pose a significant challenge for water supply management decisions. To understand the magnitude of recent drought events in the context of those that happened in the past, we developed a tree-ring reconstruction of regionalised July–August streamflow to 1711 for Metro Vancouver’s Capilano and Seymour watersheds. We used the annual tree-ring widths of mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr.) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis Douglas ex J. Forbes) trees exhibiting a relationship to the seasonal snowpack as proxies for the nival component of streamflow in a regression model. The model indicates that more multi-year, below-average, streamflow departures occurred during the instrumental record than over the 1711–1992 reconstruction period. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with both reconstructed and measured streamflow for the study region. Similarly, seasonal Pacific Decadal Oscillation demonstrated strong statistical relationships (p < 0.05) with measured streamflow. Over the duration of the reconstruction, significant decadal and multi-decadal periodicities were also observed. The research places the Metro Vancouver water supply in a longer-term context than was previously possible and offers a basis for advancing water supply planning decisions in the context of a rapidly changing climate.

Existing Problems and Countermeasures of Municipal Water Supply and Drainage Construction Management

Existing Problems and Countermeasures of Municipal Water Supply and Drainage Construction Management

Scale cortisol is positively correlated to fin injuries in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) reared in commercial flow through systems

Suboptimal farm management can lead to (chronic) stress and can result in external morphological damage, which both can have deleterious effects on fish performance and welfare. This study is the first to investigate a potential correlation between chronic stress and the occurrence of external morphological damage in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) reared commercial flow through systems. To quantify chronic stress in eight different farms, scales of 10 fish per farm were sampled for scale cortisol analysis using UPLC-MS/MS. Measured external morphological damage of fish included damage to the eyes, skin and fins, as well as deformities and emaciation. Further, the influence of management (water supply, water supply per kg fish, total water exchange duration, average stocking density, feeding frequency) and water quality (oxygen, temperature, pH, ammonium, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, turbidity) on chronic stress level and external morphological damage was assessed. Measured eye- and skin damage, deformities and emaciation occurred less frequently, while fin injuries were common and differed significantly in severity between farms. Results on all fish across farms showed a highly positive correlation between scale cortisol and total fin injury. A limited water supply, −supply per kg fish and −exchange as well as higher stocking densities and feeding frequencies resulted in a comparably reduced water quality, indicated by correlations with lower oxygen levels, higher levels of nitrogen compounds, higher temperature and turbidity. After conducting a principal component analysis, multiple linear regression models showed that scale cortisol was mainly predicted by total fin injury, temperature and the pH, ammonia and nitrite component. Total fin injury was majorly predicted by the management component concerning water supply, −supply per kg fish and −exchange duration as well as by stocking density, scale cortisol, the pH, ammonia and nitrite component and feeding frequency. Findings on scale cortisol support fin injuries to be an important welfare issue and suitable on-farm welfare indicator. Higher scale cortisol levels and higher fin injuries, directly and indirectly influenced by farm management, are indicative for impaired welfare and support the necessity of reducing chronic stress and the occurrence of fin injuries in aquaculture settings.

A new soft computing model for daily streamflow forecasting

Accurate stream flow quantification and prediction are essential for the local and global planning and management of basins to cope with climate change. The ability to forecast streamflow is crucial, as it can help mitigate flood risks. Long-term stream flow data records are needed for hydropower plant construction, flood prediction, watershed management, and long-term water supply use. An accurate assessment of streamflow is considered as very challenging and critical tasks. A new predicting model is developed in this research, combining the technique of sunflower optimization (SFA) as an evolutionary algorithm with the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) algorithm to predict streamflow in Malaysia's Jam Seyed Omar (JSO) and Muda Di Jeniang (MDJ) stations. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on Q (t) (t: the number of the current day) before model creation to pick essential inputs for a maximum of 6 lags. With the classical MLP and two other hybrid MLP models (MLP-particle swarm optimization (MLP-PSO) and MLP-genetic algorithm (MLP-GA)), the results of the MLP-sunflower algorithm (SFA) were benchmarked. As compared to other models, the MLP-SFA could be able to reduce the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) by a value of between 12 and 21% at the JSO station and between 8 and 24% at the MDJ station. In conclusion, this research found that combining MLP with optimization algorithms improved the precision of the stand-alone MLP model, with SFA integration being the most efficient.

Nigeria’s development process, methodology and milestones planned for VISION 20:2020 - 13 years after

Infrastructure development&#x0D; Infrastructural development is a key requirement for the development of any nation as it is an indispensable tool in facilitating growth and development. The usefulness of infrastructure cuts across many varying sectors relevant to development including health, education, agriculture, telecommunication, power, etc. as well as the sustenance of economic growth and preservation of the environment for sustainable economic development. This article takes a look at the critical areas/aspects of infrastructure for the purpose of judging the level of accomplishment of the Vision 2020. The sectors examined are: power supply, transportation, information communication and technology (ICT), education, health, agriculture, land use management, rural and urban development, water supply and waste management. By and large, Nigeria can not be said to have met her tall, yet laudable goals of the vision 2020, largely as a result of inadequacies in governance, policies and other factors. There is a great need for significant improvement in the political will of the government of the day to commit to the goals and aspirations of the nation for rapid development.

California's food-energy-water system: An open source simulation model of adaptive surface and groundwater management in the Central Valley

This study introduces the California Food-Energy-Water System (CALFEWS) simulation model to describe the integrated, multi-sector dynamics that emerge from the coordinated management of surface and groundwater supplies throughout California's Central Valley. The CALFEWS simulation framework links the operation of state-wide, interbasin transfer projects (i.e., State Water Project, Central Valley Project) with coordinated water management strategies abstracted to the scale of irrigation/water districts. This study contributes a historic baseline (October 1996–September 2016) evaluation of the model's performance against observations, including reservoir storage, inter-basin transfers, environmental endpoints, and groundwater banking accounts. State-aware, rules-based representations of critical component systems enable CALFEWS to simulate adaptive management responses to alternative climate, infrastructure, and regulatory scenarios. Moreover, CALFEWS has been designed to maintain interoperability with electric power dispatch and agricultural production models. As such, CALFEWS provides a platform to evaluate internally consistent scenarios for the integrated management of water supply, energy generation, and food production.

Assessment and simulation of water transfer for the megacity Istanbul

ABSTRACT The population of Istanbul increased from three to fifteen million from 1970 to 2018. The city, which has no perennial fresh water resources within its metropolitan boundaries, has long imported water from other basins. In this study, the performance of a reservoir system fed by surface runoff and inter-basin water transfer is investigated and applied. Simulations are run for water demand estimates and with Gamma-distributed realizations of monthly precipitation, based on 105-year temperature and precipitation data. The research shows that after 2060, existing and transferred water alone will not be sufficient to meet demand and it is expected that the megacity Istanbul will be on a path towards water crisis after this date, if not before. It is concluded that it is vital to adopt a more diversified water supply and demand management portfolio with extensive Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) measures for “Water Sensitive Cities”. Strategies for reliable system operation that take foreseeable environmental problems into account are proposed.

Assessing Factors Contributing to Erratic Water Supply in Peri Urban Areas. A Case Study of Chazanga Compound in Lusaka

According to World Health Organisation, one person needs 20 litres of water per day for physiological and domestic purposes. However, in some places people received little or no water at all. This was the case of Chazanga compound where some households experienced erratic water supply daily. Erratic water supply resulted in people drawing water from shallow wells which were usually contaminated. Consumption of contaminated water led to diarrhoeal diseases. This prompted for research to be conducted in Chazanga compound. The main objective was to establish the factors contributing to erratic water supply in Chazanga compound. A questionnaire was administered to 397 households. The generated data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The results revealed that the problem of erratic water supply was real in Chazanga Compound. The other factors were poor management by the water supplier, high demand due to population growth and high cost of water. Erratic water supply in Chazanga made residents resort to drawing water from shallow wells, resulting in the increase in diarrhoea cases. The study further revealed that to avert the erratic water supply, the supplier needed to repair all leaking water distribution pipes, sink more boreholes and erect a bigger water reservoir. The other recommendations were to fit bigger distribution pipes, construct more communal taps, and improve the management of water supply by the water suppliers. The purpose of this research was to have an improved supply of safe and adequate water in Chazanga compound.

Dynamics of Water Allocation: Tradeoffs between Allocator’s and Farmers’ Benefits of Irrigation Practices

AbstractWater dependencies and agricultural expansion have led to a remarkable increase in water demand. Proper management of water supply and demand is a crucial challenge in planning for sustaina...

Quantification of ecohydrological sensitivities and their influencing factors at the seasonal scale

Abstract. Ecohydrological sensitivity, defined as the response intensity of streamflow to per unit vegetation change is an integrated indicator for assessing hydrological sensitivity to vegetation change. Understanding ecohydrological sensitivity and its influencing factors is crucial for managing water supply, reducing water-related hazards and ensuring aquatic functions by vegetation management. Yet, there is still a systematic assessment on ecohydrological sensitivity and associated driving factors especially at a seasonal scale lacking. In this study, 14 large watersheds across various environmental gradients in China were selected to quantify their ecohydrological sensitivities at a seasonal scale and to examine the role of associated influencing factors such as climate, vegetation, topography, soil and landscape. Based on the variables identified by correlation analysis and factor analysis, prediction models of seasonal ecohydrological sensitivity were constructed to test their utilities for the design of watershed management and protection strategies. Our key findings were the following: (1) ecohydrological sensitivities were more sensitive under dry conditions than wet conditions – for example, 1 % LAI (leaf area index) change, on average, induced 5.05 % and 1.96 % change in the dry and wet season streamflow, respectively; (2) seasonal ecohydrological sensitivities were highly variable across the study watersheds with different climate conditions, dominant soil types and hydrological regimes; and (3) the dry season ecohydrological sensitivity was mostly determined by topography (slope, slope length, valley depth and downslope distance gradient), soil (topsoil organic carbon and topsoil bulk density) and vegetation (LAI), while the wet season ecohydrological sensitivity was mainly controlled by soil (topsoil-available water-holding capacity), landscape (edge density) and vegetation (leaf area index). Our study provided a useful and practical framework to assess and predict ecohydrological sensitivities at the seasonal scale. The established ecohydrological sensitivity prediction models can be applied to ungauged watersheds or watersheds with limited hydrological data to help decision makers and watershed managers effectively manage hydrological impacts through vegetation restoration programs. We conclude that ecohydrological sensitivities at the seasonal scale are varied by climate, vegetation and watershed property, and their understanding can greatly support the management of hydrological risks and protection of aquatic functions.

Water scarcity &amp; procedural justice in Honduras: Community-based management meets market-based policy

Ensuring adequate access to clean water remains a major challenge throughout the world, particularly in rural areas of the Global South. Community-based management (CBM) has been a common policy response to this challenge, whereby communities gain decision-making power over their own natural resources, and are also responsible for financial and technical issues. Household water metering is increasingly proposed as a complement to CBM because it facilitates transparency of use and provides the option of pay-per-use pricing, both of which are thought to help support the sustainable management of water supplies. However, metering and use-based fees are controversial and their implementation across various contexts has led to strong backlash that can undermine the management of community water systems. Drawing on ideas of procedural justice, we conducted a survey experiment with 689 residents across 12 communities in Honduras’ “dry corridor” to examine individual perceptions of the decision process for choosing to implement metering, or not, within the context of CBM. Our results show that more inclusive decision-making leads to higher perceived fairness of the process and appropriateness of the metering decision, irrespective of whether the individual personally agrees with the final decision. While inclusion matters in general, whether that takes the form of voting or deliberation did not make a large difference. The effect of inclusion was stronger among those who already agreed with the decision outcome. Finally, inclusion also had positive spillover effects on more technocratic outcomes, namely ratings of how effective and sustainable the resulting management of the water system was expected to be. This research suggests that the backlash observed against water metering projects around the world may have more to do with procedural injustice in decision-making than with resistance to metering itself.

Simulating the impact of water demand management options on water consumption and wastewater generation profiles

ABSTRACT This paper describes the development and application of a simulation tool to assess the impact of water-efficient appliances and greywater recycling strategies on the domestic water consumption and wastewater generation profiles. Two time-series datasets of domestic water consumption in UK households – each consisting of more than 20,000 observations – were used to deduce water use appliance usage patterns as a function of water consumption per use for each water-use appliance and household characteristic (e.g. occupancy). The deduced trends were then used to develop a simulation tool that can generate water consumption and wastewater generation profiles reflecting user input for water use appliances and household characteristics. The inbuilt flexibility in the tool allows investigation of each water use appliance both individually and collectively, and facilitates informed decision-making for devising targeted retrofitting programmes. This research has application for water service provision and policy making globally, with potential impact on both water supply and wastewater management.

Groundwater pumping modeling for the sustainable management of urban water supply in Faisalabad city, Pakistan

Groundwater is considered as the primary source of urban water supply in major cities of the world. Rapid industrial development and increase in population have deteriorated the quality of groundwater of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The overexploitation of groundwater caused depletion of groundwater level, and evaluation of groundwater status has become critical for the sustainability of urban water supply. This paper’s main objective is to present the overexploitation effect on aquifer based on historical and existing groundwater situations, and future groundwater conditions are projected based on six different scenarios. The transient groundwater model was developed coupling Groundwater Vista with MODFLOW to simulate the impact of groundwater pumping on the Chenab River’s bed well field. Water table was calibrated and validated for 13 years (1992 to 2005) and 5 years (2006 to 2010), respectively, and model performance evaluation indicators, represented the model’s reliability for further application. Moreover, the steep gradient of the groundwater head contour was observed in the well-field’s southern area, and resultantly steady-state condition has been established. Future urban water supply conditions were projected by implementing six scenarios based on the groundwater pumping system’s existing capacity for 2030. With 90% pumping capacity, the system forecasted a decline in the water table from 0.6 to 1.3 m year−1, respectively. Groundwater recharge conditions evaluated and forecast results represented a drop of 0.45 m year−1 till 2030 during optimization. Factual and detailed information is projected for future scenarios based on existing developed models that explain groundwater pumping strategies for sustainable urban water supply management.

Evaluation of Irrigation Safety by Operation Management of Water Supply from Large Scale Agricultural Reservoirs

Due to recent climate change, droughts occur frequently, thereby causing a shortage of agricultural water. However, supplies to most agricultural reservoirs have been designed assuming that droughts occur at a frequency of 10 years. Therefore, continuous drought has led to low storage rates. Thus, in this study, a water balance analysis was performed on the Naju reservoir, and the changes in the water shortage according to the minimum storage rate restriction management to cope with drought were evaluated. As a result, a higher management storage rate level results in a higher initial storage rate in the next year, thereby decreasing the annual average shortage. In addition, it shows that a decrease in the frequency of drought and its intensity can be reduced according to the minimum storage management during wet years.

Modeling regional impacts and resilience to water service disruptions in urban economies

Water is a critical natural resource that sustains the productivity of many economic sectors, whether directly or indirectly. Climate change alongside rapid growth and development are a threat to water sustainability and regional productivity. In this paper, we develop an extension to the economic input-output model to assess the impact of water supply disruptions to regional economies. The model utilizes the inoperability variable, which measures the extent to which an infrastructure system or economic sector is unable to deliver its intended output. While the inoperability concept has been utilized in previous applications, this paper offers extensions that capture the time-varying nature of inoperability as the sectors recover from a disruptive event, such as drought. The model extension is capable of inserting inoperability adjustments within the drought timeline to capture time-varying likelihoods and severities, as well as the dependencies of various economic sectors on water. The model was applied to case studies of severe drought in two regions: (1) the state of Massachusetts (MA) and (2) the US National Capital Region (NCR). These regions were selected to contrast drought resilience between a mixed urban–rural region (MA) and a highly urban region (NCR). These regions also have comparable overall gross domestic products despite significant differences in the distribution and share of the economic sectors comprising each region. The results of the case studies indicate that in both regions, the utility and real estate sectors suffer the largest economic loss; nonetheless, results also identify region-specific sectors that incur significant losses. For the NCR, three sectors in the top 10 ranking of highest economic losses are government-related, whereas in the MA, four sectors in the top 10 are manufacturing sectors. Furthermore, the accommodation sector has also been included in the NCR case intuitively because of the high concentration of museums and famous landmarks. In contrast, the Wholesale Trade sector was among the sectors with the highest economic losses in the MA case study because of its large geographic size conducive for warehouses used as nodes for large-scale supply chain networks. Future modeling extensions could potentially include analysis of water demand and supply management strategies that can enhance regional resilience against droughts. Other regional case studies can also be pursued in future efforts to analyze various categories of drought severity beyond the case studies featured in this paper.

Analysis of behaviour and relationship of four daily precipitation concentration indices according to Mexico's precipitation

AbstractIn recent years, the field of precipitation concentration has garnered significant research interest owing to the importance of precipitation for economic activities related to agriculture, energy production, and drinking water supply management. For the study and characterization of precipitation concentration, different approaches have been defined, such as consideration of the concentration index (CI), Theil index (TI), Q index (QI), and precipitation concentration degree (PCD) index. However, in the literature, there is only one study that evaluates the performance of the CI and TI in conjunction on a spatial basis. Another study evaluates the behaviour of the QI and PCD indices on a temporal basis. Thus, the objective of this work was to analyse the behaviour of the four indices both on temporal and spatial scales according to Mexico's precipitation. Results show that the four indices can detect, in a similar manner, the concentration degree of regions with different rainfall regimes, each within its own variability. A lower range of variability was found for the TI, while the highest was found for the CI and the PCD index. In addition, the PCD index showed high sensitivity within its concentration degree when calculated for different time intervals. The results of the temporal and spatial correlation analysis show a very high correlation between the CI and TI, and moderate and low correlations among the other indices. Low correlations can be attributed to the differences in the theoretical bases of each index. Although low correlations were shown for some indices, the results indicate that these can be used in a complementary manner to improve the precipitation concentration analysis on temporal and spatial scales.