Water Supply In Rural Communities Research Articles

Investigating Nitrate with Other Constituents in Groundwater in Two Contrasting Tropical Highland Watersheds

Nitrate is globally the most widespread and widely studied groundwater contaminant. However, few studies have been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, where the leaching potential is enhanced during the rainy monsoon phase. The few monitoring studies found concentrations over drinking water standards of 10 mg N-NO3− L−1 in the groundwater, the primary water supply in rural communities. Studies on nitrate movement are limited to the volcanic Ethiopian highlands. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the transport and fate of nitrate in groundwater and identify processes that control the concentrations. Water table height, nitrate, chloride, ammonium, reduced iron, and three other groundwater constituents were determined monthly in the groundwater in over 30 wells in two contrasting volcanic watersheds over two years in the Ethiopian highlands. The first watershed was Dangishta, with lava intrusion dikes that blocked the subsurface flow in the valley bottom. The water table remained within 3 m of the surface. The second watershed without volcanic barriers was Robit Bata. The water table dropped rapidly within three months of the end of the rain phase and disappeared except near faults. The average nitrate concentration in both watersheds was between 4 and 5 mg N-NO3− L−1. Hydrogeology influenced the transport and fate of nitrogen. In Dangishta, water was blocked by volcanic lava intrusion dikes, and residence time in the aquifer was larger than in Robit Bata. Consequently, nitrate remained high (in several wells, 10 mg N-NO3− L−1) and decreased slowly due to denitrification. In Robit Bata, the water residence time was lower, and peak concentrations were only observed in the month after fertilizer application; otherwise, it was near an average of 4 mg N-NO3− L−1. Nitrate concentrations were predicted using a multiple linear regression model. Hydrology explained the nitrate concentrations in Robit Bata. In Dangishta, biogeochemistry was also significant.

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.

Identifying Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge Locations to Benefit Drinking Water Supply in Rural Communities

AbstractThe southern Central Valley of California is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. Yet, decades of groundwater use beyond sustainable yield have left rural communities highly vulnerable to shortages and contamination of their drinking water supply. As state regulation begins to address these issues, a need exists to design adaptive and appropriate management systems to increase resilience of rural communities. Targeted managed aquifer recharge on agricultural land (Ag‐MAR) near rural communities is one such strategy that could potentially stabilize groundwater tables and maintain or improve groundwater quality in domestic supply wells. Here we present a geographic information system‐based multicriteria decision analysis that combines biophysical data (soils, land use, and surface water conveyance) with groundwater modeling and particle tracking to identify suitable agricultural land parcels for multibenefit groundwater recharge within well capture zones of 288 rural communities. Parcels are prioritized using a vulnerability index to change in groundwater supply, derived from well reliance and failures, pesticide applications, land subsidence, and socio‐economic data. Our analysis identifies 2,998 suitable land parcels for Ag‐MAR within the well capture zones of 149 of the 288 communities, of which 144 rely mainly on groundwater for drinking water. The majority of identified Ag‐MAR parcels serve communities ranked as having extreme or very high vulnerability to changes in groundwater supply. Our research produces new understanding of factors contributing to community vulnerability and resilience to changes in drinking water supply and can be used to discuss actions to help achieve a stable and high‐quality water supply.

Paleo-Geohydrology of Lake Chilwa, Malawi is the Source of Localised Groundwater Salinity and Rural Water Supply Challenges

Meeting long-term rural community water supply needs requires diligent geohydrological conceptualisation. Study of Malawi’s Lake Chilwa Basin, including sampling of 330 water points in Phalombe District, enabled assessment of groundwater quality influence upon supply. The control of larger Lake Chilwa paleo-environments on current Basin groundwater quality is demonstrated. Lacustrine sediment deposition forming high-level deposits under open lake conditions and terrace deposits under open and closed lake conditions significantly control the groundwater major-ion quality and salinity now observed. Paleo-lake extent marks the transition between low-TDS (total dissolved solids) groundwater suitable for water supply at higher elevations and high-TDS brackish groundwater in areas overlain by lacustrine deposits closer to the current lake level. Low-TDS groundwater is limited to mid-to-low reach influent leakage of rivers incising terraces. Permeable fluvial deposits within the deeper paleo-river channel may possibly provide low-TDS water. The conceptual model, whereby paleo-lake controls groundwater salinity, provides science-based evidence to address policy to manage the significant water point functionality concerns quantified at the district and river basin scales. Targeting of the low-TDS groundwater alongside improved use of upland low-TDS stream/river sources with fewer, but larger capacity, and better maintained gravity-fed supply schemes are recommended. This study hence shows the value of paleo-geohydrology interpretation of the lake–groundwater system conceptualisation to inform Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6.5.1)—integrated water resources management policy for rural water supply.

Drinking water treatment by multistage filtration on a household scale: Efficiency and challenges

Universalising actions aimed at water supply in rural communities and indigenous populations must focus on simple and low-cost technologies adapted to the local context. In this setting, this research studied the dynamic gravel filter (DGF) as a pre-treatment to household slow-sand filters (HSSFs), which is the first description of a household multistage filtration scale to treat drinking water. DGFs (with and without a non-woven blanket on top of the gravel layer) followed by HSSFs were tested. DGFs operated with a filtration rate of 3.21m3m-2.d-1 and HSSFs with 1.52m3m-2.d-1. Influent water contained kaolinite, humic acid and suspension of coliforms and protozoa. Physical-chemical parameters were evaluated, as well as Escherichia coli, Giardia spp. cysts and Cryptosporidium spp. oocyst reductions. Removal was low (up to 6.6%) concerning true colour, total organic carbon and absorbance (λ=254nm). Nevertheless, HMSFs showed turbidity decrease above 60%, E.coli reduction up to 1.78 log, Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts reductions up to 3.15 log and 2.24 log, respectively. The non-woven blanket was shown as an important physical barrier to remove solids, E.coli and protozoa.

Barriers to handpump serviceability in Malawi: life-cycle costing for sustainable service delivery

Life-cycle assessment model and regression analysis identifies drivers that negatively impact the lifecycle of community Afridev handpumps under various tariff scenarios for rural community water supply.

Management of water resources in semi-arid: assessment of the drinking water supply in rural communities of Chapada do Apodi-RN

Water is a natural resource, present in metabolic processes of living beings, which has been used for various purposes, especially human consumption. This study aimed to evaluate the system of supply and the quality of water for human consumption in rural communities of Chapada do Apodi, RN. The methodology consisted of identifying and evaluating the supply system as well as the quality of the water from the environmental perception and physical-chemical and biological analyses in water. Electrical conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and Total Residue showed standards required for human consumption according to values ​​presented by current legislation. On the other hand, the results for pH parameters, total coliforms, and coliforms Escherichia coli type termotolerantes showed disagreement in accordance with the laws concerning the limits established for water bodies of water intended for human consumption. The infrastructural conditions of water supply systems, as well as the physical and chemical parameters of untreated water, were considered unsatisfactory.

Contributions of Organizational Levels in Community Management Models of Water Supply in Rural Communities: Cases from Brazil and Ecuador

The community management model of water supply systems has reached a great number of rural settlements worldwide, especially in developing countries. Its functionality, however, has proven to be a major challenge once the stakeholders responsible for maintaining the service fail to provide the technical, financial, and social resources necessary to secure its sustainability. A number of fragilities are associated with a lack of political recognition of community organizations. In some cases, community organizations have been able to maintain strong recognition in decision-making processes through the establishment of associations involving several community organizations, representing a second organizational level. A third organizational level is achieved once these associations reach an extensive area of a territory. This article conducted four case-studies in Latin America. The study revealed that the emblematic examples according to scientific literature presented the second and, in one case, the third organizational level, while the others, where several weaknesses are noticed, only presented the first level. Although difficulties still exist in every scenario analyzed, our study supports that the presence of the second and third organizational levels are factors that positively contribute to better outcomes from the community management model.

RANCANG BANGUN POMPA HIDRAM UNTUK MASYARAKAT PEDESAAN

Environmental contamination and global climate change cause degradation of fresh water in the whole world. Increasing of oil price also insist the water treatment operational cost rise, especially for pumping and water lifting from the low land areas to up land. One of alternatif solution to reduce operational cost is using Hydraulic ram pumps (hydram pump). Hydram pump are water-lifting devices that are powered by filling water. Such pumps work by using the energy of water falling a small height to lift a small part of that amount of water to a much greater height. In this way, water from a spring or stream in a valley can be pumped to a village or irrigation scheme on the hillside. The main and unique advantage of hydram pumps is that with a continuous flow of water, a hydram pump operates automatically and continuously with no other external energy source - be it electricity or hydrocarbon fuel. It uses a renewable energy source (stream of water) mid hence ensures low running cost. Minimum up lifting vertical power of pump is twice than vertical distance of water down and maximum up lifting vertical power is twenty times than vertical distance of water down. If there are air captured in distribution pipe, it will need release valve. In this paper, different aspect of designing a hydraulic-rain pump system is discussed. Application and limitation of hydram pump is presented. It imparts absolutely no harm to the environment Hydraulic ram pumps are simple, reliable and require minimal maintenance. All these advantages make hydram pumps suitable to rural community water supply and mud backyard irrigation in developing countries. Kata Kunci : Air bersih pedesaan, pompa hidram, pengelolaan air bersih.

A Model for Sustainable Water Supply in Rural Communities: The Case of Ekondo-Titi, Cameroon

<p><em>One would have expected that Ekondo-Titi which has the rare luxury of benefiting from the radial drainage pattern of the Rumpi Hills (which serves as the main catchment in Ndian Division) would be self-sufficient in terms of water quality and quantity. This community is rather greeted with water scarcity which is partly blamed on the failure to initiate and sustain water supply schemes. Forest destruction in favor of oil palm plantations by Pamol and small holder schemes have contributed to degrade the major water catchments thereby increasing stream erosion and siltation. This has altered the flow characteristics of streams. This paper proposes a model for sustainable water supply by indicating the opportunities that exist for internal and external actors to galvanise their resources to ensure adequate water supply in this fast developing rural community. It was observed that a major setback in the attainment of this goal remains the insufficient resources (material and financial) and the absence of a synergy among the key actors of Ekondo-Titi. The model recommends the strengthening of stakeholder synergy and where necessary, further support from external actors in the process of initiating and sustaining water development projects.</em></p>

Domestic Water Consumption under Intermittent and Continuous Modes of Water Supply

Although an extensive literature emphasizes the disadvantages of intermittent water supply, it remains prevalent in rural areas of developing countries. Understanding the effects of water supply time restrictions on domestic water use activities and patterns, especially for hygienic purposes, is important for the elaboration of the water supply. We studied the influence of intermittent and continuous water supply on water consumption and related activities in villages in the central region of the Wei River basin, China. Data were collected from a survey of 225 households in the sampled villages. Compared with a continuous water supply of 24 h d−1 (hours per day), adopting an intermittent water supply can reduce domestic water consumption. However, it presents risks in terms of hygiene behavior, particularly the frequency of face, hands, and feet washing, as well as water sharing among family members. Outdoor water consumption is more affected than indoor water consumption under slight supply restriction (≥6 and 1.5 and < 6 h d−1). Villages with high supply restriction (≤1.5 h d−1) meet only the minimum basic requirements for domestic use, 33.6–34.7 L c−1 d−1 (liters per capita per day). We conclude that the determination of the daily water delivery duration for intermittent water supply in rural communities of developing countries should give greater consideration to differences in water use activities and patterns under the water supply time restrictions.

Evaluation of simple methods of arsenic removal from domestic water supplies in rural communities

This study looked at two arsenic removal technologies, method Bucket Treatment Unit and removal using citrus lime, lemon and filter. The method Bucket Treatment Unit used zero-valent iron and removal using citrus lime, lemon and filter used photochemical oxidation of arsenic. The citrus lime, lemon and filter setup was found to be ineffective with its current design. The results reviewed that the method Bucket Treatment Unit was more effective and appropriate, but with clogging problems. The method Bucket Treatment Unit had between 68% and 100% arsenic removal efficiency with a 36 L/day flow rate of filtrate. The removal using photochemical oxidation of arsenic only had 8% removal efficiency. The study also reviewed that groundwater resources in the Ashanti Region of Ghana were contaminated with arsenic above the World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

The creation of management systems for funding priorities in wastewater project in rural communities in the Islamic Republic of Iran

For sustainable development an integrated cost-effective approach focused on the goal of health and environmental protection is necessary. In Iran more than 22 million people live in rural communities. A little more than 92% of the rural population in Iran have access to safe drinking water supply, but only less than 0.2% have sanitary wastewater disposal system. Groundwater is the main resource of water supply in rural communities in Iran and contaminated or untreated groundwater can be the major reason for waterborne diseases outbreak and wastewater discharge is the main cause of groundwater contamination. In new strategy in Iran's wastewater company, the importance of wastewater treatment is equal to water treatment in rural communities and the main goal in this section is providing sanitary wastewater disposal system for 8% of rural areas until 2010 and 30% until 2020. One of the most important limitations for establishment of wastewater disposal system is the limitation of governmental funds. For this reason, a national program was performed for ranking of rural communities with the goal of improving the funding effectiveness in wastewater management in rural communities. Many important criteria were considered for determination of priorities, these criteria include: population, population density, water consumption and wastewater generation, wastes disposal systems at present, environmental and health risks, agricultural and industrial wastewater, social conditions specially public participation, investment simplicity and type of living (seasonal or permanent). For collection of information about rural community, according to the criteria, a questionnaire was designed with 40 quantified questions. Questionnaires completed for all rural areas with more than 400 people population (more than 77% of rural population of the country). Completed questionnaires were analyzed with specific software for ranking of villages according to above mentioned criteria. Right now the classification of villages is available in provinces of the country from environmental and health crisis and funding points of view and we know whereabouts have priority for establishment of wastewater installations.

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

Planning for source water protection in Ontario

Ontario began developing a drinking water source protection planning process in 2000, after a rural community's water supply was contaminated by pathogens from agricultural runoff. An expert committee report has recommended legislating a new source protection “sphere of jurisdiction” for municipalities; however, no specific new municipal tools or authorities have been proposed as yet. This paper reports findings from an evaluation of the extent to which existing institutional arrangements for land use planning and water management facilitate or constrain source protection by municipalities. A case study of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo suggests there is the potential to link land use planning more strongly to water management through creative use of existing tools, forgoing the need for major institutional changes.

Failure of rural schemes in South Africa to provide potable water

The impact of water-borne disease in South Africa is significant. An estimated 43,000 deaths per annum, including 20% of deaths in the 1–5 years age group, are directly attributable to diarrhoeal diseases. Drinking water quality provision in many rural areas is substandard. This paper describes the results of sampling drinking water supplies in rural communities in the Western and Eastern Cape, South Africa. The majority of samples collected failed microbial drinking water quality standards. Overall, schemes dependent on groundwater provided a worse quality water at point of use than surface-water-dependant schemes. This is thought to be the result of pump breakdown, deterioration of the storage and reticulation system, and insufficient monitoring and management of the schemes. Importantly, it is shown that the implementation of well-considered, community accepted drinking-water quality management procedures can effectively change an unacceptable water quality to one that satisfies drinking-water specifications.

Control of endemic dracontiasis by provision of water supply in rural communities of Imo state, Nigeria

A field study was carried out in Ohaozara, Imo State, Nigeria to determine the effectiveness of a rural water supply project in the control of endemic dracontiasis in the area. In pilot studies prior to the water installation project, 5,058 individuals were examined. A total of 2,422 (47.9%) individuals had either Dracunculus blisters or ulcers. Sex-specific prevalence rates were 50.5% for males and 45.4% for females. Age-related prevalence rates ranged between 20.9% to 27.8% among individuals below 20 years and between 64.5% and 70.0% among older individuals above 20 years. Eighteen months after the installation of the water supply, male prevalence rate fell to 14.9% with a reduction rate of 70.5%, while female prevalence fell to 11.9% with a reduction rate of 73.8%. A higher reduction rate of between 77.3% and 83.7% occurred in individuals less than 20 years old, while a lower reduction rate 40.5%–56.3% occurred in older elements above 20 years. An overall reduction of 71.8% was achieved in 18 months following water supply provision. Seasonal copepod population dynamics and their infection rates may be related to the seasonal transmission of Dracunculus both before and after the water supply installation.