China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Urban water infrastructure
Published in Jiri Marsalek, Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros, Mohammad Karamouz, Per-Arne Malmquist, Joel Goldenfum, Bernard Chocat, Urban Water Cycle Processes and Interactions, 2014
Jiri Marsalek, Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros, Mohammad Karamouz, Per-Arne Malmquist, Joel Goldenfum, Bernard Chocat
It is estimated that over a third of the urban water supply systems in Africa, Latin America and Asia operate only intermittently. An intermittent water supply is a significant constraint on the availability of water for hygiene, and encourages the low-income urban population to turn to alternatives such as water vendors.
Saving water by returning to a constant water supply in Chihuahua
Published in Water International, 2023
D. H. Sánchez, C. J. Navarro-Gómez, M. Rentería, J. R. Sánchez-Navarro
In developing countries, the reduction of available water resources, climate change, urban population growth and management deficiencies (Ilaya-Ayza et al., 2017) generate the conception that a constant supply becomes unsustainable and the preferred alternative is to opt for an intermittent water supply. However, operating a system designed for constant as an intermittent supply can cause complex problems because the system does not foresee an eviction or emptying of the pipes after the filling for supply. The possible drawbacks associated with the operation of the system as an intermittent water supply include: the unreliable provision of water; the inability to practice effective supply and demand management; operational inadequacies; customer inconvenience and coping costs; water quality problems; inequitable water distribution; network deficiencies provoked by the transient phenomena causing suction; and possible failures in the pipes (Ameyaw et al., 2013). Consequently, returning to a constant water supply should be the optimal operational option of the system. Most water companies are not able to make large investments to achieve a 24-h supply. Thus, a gradual transition based on improvement stages is an efficient strategy (Ilaya-Ayza et al., 2018).
Intermittent water supply systems: causal factors, problems and solution options
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2018
Kondwani Simukonda, Raziyeh Farmani, David Butler
Water consumers are negatively affected by intermittent water supply through coping costs in terms of storage facilities, pumps and pumping costs. Questionable water quality adds to coping costs through household water treatment facilities. Alternative water sources are either more expensive (Totsuka, Trifunovi, and Vairavamoorthy 2004; Rosenberg, Talozi, and Lund 2008) or are far away (Klingel 2012). Moreover, a lot of time is wasted on water collection (Totsuka, Trifunovi, and Vairavamoorthy 2004; Klingel 2012). In general, poor people are the most affected by water supply intermittency as they tend to pay more (Whittington, Lauria, and Mu 1991; Bakker et al. 2008) even through bribes to induce those operating the valves or pumps to supply water to a given location (McIntosh 2003).
Short-term impacts of the filling transition across elevations in intermittent water supply systems
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2022
S.L. Weston, C. Loubser, H.E. Jacobs, V. Speight
Intermittent Water Supply (IWS) is the practice of supplying water in piped networks for limited periods, less than 24 hours per day on average. IWS is adopted by drinking water management authorities worldwide in an effort to control consumption, reduce leakage and/or cope with scarcity of supply. However, research suggests IWS leads to increased water wastage (Klingel 2012), negatively impacts the water infrastructure (Christodoulou and Agathokleous 2012), and deteriorates water quality (Kumpel and Nelson 2016). In IWS systems, the available water volume is rationed through a multitude of different supply protocols that could be scheduled or unscheduled, systematic, or variable (Galaitsi et al. 2016).