scholarly journals Influence of Service Levels and COVID-19 on Water Supply Inequalities of Community-Managed Service Providers in Nepal

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1349
Author(s):  
Arati Shrestha ◽  
Shinobu Kazama ◽  
Satoshi Takizawa
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Basic Medium ◽  
Service Levels ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Lorenz Curves ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Managed Service Providers

In Nepal, there are three types of water service providers; two types of government-managed service providers covering urban and municipal areas, and community-managed service providers called Water Users and Sanitation Associations (WUSAs). This study aims to assess the current water supply service levels and water supply inequalities of WUSAs in terms of water consumption, supply hours, and customer satisfaction. Among the three types of water service providers, WUSAs offered the best performance in terms of their low non-revenue water (NRW) rates and production costs, high bill collection rates, and long supply hours. During the COVID-19 lockdown, water consumption increased, but bill payment notably decreased, possibly due to restricted movement and hesitation by customers to make payments. The multiple-year water consumption variations illustrated the uneven water consumption behavior of customers. Despite the variation in water supply hours, Lorenz curves, Gini coefficients (G), and water consumption analysis depicted low inequalities (G ≈ 0.20–0.28) and adequate water consumption among WUSAs even in 2019–2020. In the three WUSAs, more than 90%, 74%, and 38% of customers consumed water above the basic, medium, and high levels, respectively. Thus, maintaining high service levels of WUSAs is instrumental in achieving Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nepal.

scholarly journals Assessing Future Water Demand and Associated Energy Input with Plausible Scenarios for Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2169
Author(s):  
Pauline Macharia ◽  
Nzula Kitaka ◽  
Paul Yillia ◽  
Norbert Kreuzinger
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Energy Input ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Current State ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan

This study examined the current state of water demand and associated energy input for water supply against a projected increase in water demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Three plausible scenarios, namely, Current State Extends (CSE), Current State Improves (CSI) and Current State Deteriorates (CSD) were developed and applied using nine quantifiable indicators for water demand projections and the associated impact on energy input for water supply for five Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Kenya to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach based on real data in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the daily per capita water-use in the service area of four of the five WSPs was below minimum daily requirement of 50 L/p/d. Further, non-revenue water losses were up to three times higher than the regulated benchmark (range 26–63%). Calculations showed a leakage reduction potential of up to 70% and energy savings of up to 12 MWh/a. The projected water demand is expected to increase by at least twelve times the current demand to achieve universal coverage and an average daily per capita consumption of 120 L/p/d for the urban population by 2030. Consequently, the energy input could increase almost twelve-folds with the CSI scenario or up to fifty-folds with the CSE scenario for WSPs where desalination or additional groundwater abstraction is proposed. The approach used can be applied for other WSPs which are experiencing a similar evolution of their water supply and demand drivers in sub-Saharan Africa. WSPs in the sub-region should explore aggressive strategies to jointly address persistent water losses and associated energy input. This would reduce the current water supply-demand gap and minimize the energy input that will be associated with exploring additional water sources that are typically energy intensive.

Taking the road less taken: reorienting the state for periurban water security

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishal Narain ◽  
Pranay Ranjan ◽  
Sumit Vij ◽  
Aman Dewan
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The State ◽  
The Road ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Building Community

This paper describes the intervention strategy to improve water security in Sultanpur, a village in periurban Gurgaon, India. Most approaches to improving natural resource management in periurban contexts focus on mobilising the community; little attention is paid to reorienting the state or strengthening the user-bureaucracy interface. This paper describes the action research process that was followed to reorient civic agencies engaged in the provisioning of water and to break from a situation of distrust and prisoners' dilemma between water users and service providers. The paper argues that the creation and provision of a platform for direct engagement between water users and service providers can be a key tool for improving periurban water security. These platforms can provide support in building community resilience to face challenges such as climate variability and urbanisation, both of which threaten periurban water security. The action research emphasises on building the community's capacity to ask for improved water supply and to negotiate with state service providers, rather than augmenting water supply physically.

scholarly journals A uniform spatial allocation strategy in solving water resources optimization dispatch problem

2018 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 01057
Author(s):  
Jiahui Sun ◽  
Xiaohui Lei ◽  
Ji Liang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Liang Men
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Allocation Strategy ◽  
Spatial Allocation ◽  
Original Algorithm ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Water Resources Optimization

Along with social economy development, the total water consumption increased year by year. The conflicts between water supply and water consumption is growing. Water resources optimization dispatch, which is used to allocate water resources to meet the demand of water user on both time scale and spatial scale, plays an important role in water resources management. Aiming at improving the spatial allocation ability of traditional optimization algorithms, a uniform spatial allocation strategy is proposed accordingly. The proposed method is used to improve the performance of optimization algorithm to obtain solutions which can uniform the water supply in spatial scale. Simulation results show that the maximum ratio of water deficiency gained by the proposed method is smaller than that obtained by the original algorithm. The proposed method is effective to balance the demand of water users in spatial scale. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE2018).

scholarly journals Portrait of a successful small-town water service provider in Nepal's changing landscape

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (S1) ◽  
pp. 84-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna-Leena Rautanen ◽  
Pamela White
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Water Service

Abstract This study was made in Nepal's Tarai plains, where rapid population growth over the past decade has transformed a large number of rural bazaars and roadside hubs into vibrant small towns. This study draws a portrait of a distinctly successful small-town water supply scheme and its service provider, the Murgia Water Users and Sanitation Association. Exploring this particular case with regards to social, technological, financial and organisational systems, and by comparing the performance of this case against 63 other water service providers in Nepal, the study asks: how could there be more of this type of successful water service provider? This scheme was constructed during the bilateral Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Support Programme Phase III, Nepal-Finland cooperation (1999–2005), using the typical rural approach, namely community management, with strong capacity building. Since then the service modality in this study case has evolved towards a professional community-managed service delivery. The success is rooted in good water governance principles: participation, responsiveness, financial transparency, accountability and overall strong commitment and vision, as well as strong technical assistance. They have resulted in re-investment in both the capital maintenance expenditure and into new infrastructure, even into an entirely new water supply scheme.

scholarly journals Financial Capacity and Willingness of Farmers to Pay for Irrigation Services in the Post-reform Scenario in Pakistan: Two Case Studies

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmood Ul Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Net Income ◽  
Water Delivery ◽  
Irrigation Network ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Water Users ◽  
The Cost

To eliminate the subsidy on the canal irrigation system, the Government of Pakistan has decided to reform the management, intending to make it more efficient, equitable, transparent, and able to take care of the sustainability of the world’s largest contiguous irrigation network. The water users are being entrusted with greater role in the management through the formation of Farmers’ Organisations (FOs) to operate and maintain secondary canals and pay for full cost of water delivery. Ultimate payer will be the farmer. The economic viability of the reforms, therefore, much depends on farmers’ ability and willingness to pay for the cost of irrigation water delivery, which is expected to rise. This paper estimates financial liabilities of the farmers in the post-reform scenario, and assesses their capacity and willingness to pay for liabilities in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. One distributary in each of the two provinces is studied as the reference distributary, where FOs have already been formed. The cost of desired level of operation and maintenance levels are worked out using secondary data for 1997-98. With these costs, the water users in the Punjab and Sindh provinces need to pay Rs 333 and Rs 373 per ha for their water service, respectively. The estimated O&M costs form about 5.4 and 3 percent of production costs and 3.8 and 3.5 percent of the net income in the Punjab and Sindh provinces respectively. The farmers’ net income from crop enterprise is higher than the cost of water. Thus, an average farmer has the potential to pay for water. Recent experience of Hakra 4-R Distributary FO suggests that the farmers are also willing to pay for water service, if they are organised properly.

scholarly journals Tracking user satisfaction of rural water services in northern Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Kumasi ◽  
Benjamin Dawurah Agbemor
Keyword(s):  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Service Levels ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
And Performance ◽  
District Assemblies

Abstract The article discusses the level of user satisfaction with actual handpump service levels and performance of service providers. In this paper, we outline some contradiction between actual service levels, performance of service providers and perception of water users. The findings suggest that users appeared satisfied with quantity and reliability of water facilities. In contrast, they were not satisfied with the time it takes them to access water, especially when the quantity of water diminishes. The sad irony is that tariffs are perceived affordable yet users are unwilling to pay for water. Their responses paint a picture of a payment system that is geared at reactive maintenance over preventative maintenance regime. It is worth noting here that this phenomenon raises questions on the sustainability of water systems when sound financial management is key to sustaining services. Service providers were perceived to perform better than they actually did. Perhaps this was due to lack of information and ignorance on the roles of service providers. In this regard it is imperative that the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), implementing partners, the district assemblies and Water and Sanitation Management Teams (WSMTs) take steps to address the technical, social, financial and institutional factors during the planning, implementation and post-construction support which invariably affect sustainability.

Energy recovery potential using micro hydropower in water supply networks in the UK and Ireland

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 552-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Corcoran ◽  
Paul Coughlan ◽  
Aonghus McNabola
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Water Supply Networks ◽  
The Uk

The supply and treatment of water is a highly energy intensive process, resulting in large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions as well as incurring large economic costs. Both governments and water service providers worldwide recognise the need for more sustainable water supply systems. In recent years, the use of hydropower turbines within water supply networks has been shown as a viable option for electricity generation. Energy can be recovered in water supply networks at locations of excessively high flow or pressure without loss in the level of service to consumers. The control of pressure to prevent burst pipes and to maintain a reliable water supply service is a top priority for water service providers. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the potential of hydropower energy recovery within water distribution systems in the UK and Ireland. Pressure and flow data were analysed to determine the extent of the potential for energy recovery. The effect of flow rate variation on turbine selection and efficiency was investigated, as well as investment payback period. It was concluded that the sustainability of water supply can be improved through the implementation of small-scale hydropower turbines within water supply networks.

USE AND PROTECTION OF WATER RESOURCES OF AZERBAIJAN

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiz Tagirov ◽  
◽  
Maya Zeynalova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Active Temperature

The article examines the problem of fresh water, since in terms of water supply from its own resources per capita and per 1 km2, the republic is 8 times behind Georgia, 2 times behind Armenia. Significant water consumption in Azerbaijan is caused by its arid territory with a predominance of active temperature and a lack of precipitation, which leads to intensive irrigation of crops. At the same time, artificial irrigation is used on 70% of the cultivated land.

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