Water Demand Management and Household Level Metering in Low-Income Areas of Urban Africa

2022 ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Marta Marson
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Water Point ◽  
Urban Africa ◽  
Water Metering

Increasing the level of water metering is an objective of most initiatives for the operational restructuring of African water utilities promoted by donors and development agencies from the 1990s. Water metering penetration is a common benchmarking indicator to measure the performances of water utilities. In contrast with other benchmarks and targets set for the African water sector, which remain largely unmet, water metering at household and at water point levels are quite successful. The study discusses the arguments behind the widespread acceptance of the target of 100% metering, focusing on the suitability of household level metering for low-income settlements of urban Africa. An empirical analysis shows that metering is not an effective water demand management tool for domestic consumption, probably due to the fact that average consumption is already low, and it can hardly be reduced further. The case study shows that universal metering ambitions might discourage household level connections.

scholarly journals Water Metering Pilot Project: A Case Study of Water Demand Management in the Sultanate of Oman

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Zaher Khalid Al Suleimani ◽  
Bushra Khalfan Al Wohaibi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Water Metering

The Sultanate of Oman is experiencing increased pressure on its groundwater resources. This is mainly due to agricultural enterprises, which consume about 92 % of national water resources, as well as an upsurge in industrial, commercial and domestic water use. The ever-growing population, diversification of economic activities and the ensuing rise in national prosperity have meant an increasing demand for water. This has resulted in a marked depletion of groundwater supplies, intrusion of seawater, and deterioration of ground water quality in the case of the Al Batinah region. A scientific and effective water demand management strategy for the Sultanate is therefore needed. Accordingly, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources (MRMEWR) have conducted several studies related to water demand management in the agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors. One of these studies was the Water Metering Pilot Project (WMPP), initiated in 1994 with the objective of evaluating patterns of water use on a number of randomly selected farms in the southern Al-Batinah. The results obtained over a period of seven years confirm that water metering alone does not help reduce the quantity pumped. These findings have encouraged other advanced studies on water demand management in industrial, commercial, domestic and agriculture sectors in different areas of the Sultanate. 

scholarly journals A Framework for Archive Demand Management Strategies: A Pilot Study on Water Use in a Low-Income Brazilian Area

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Gabriella Botelho ◽  
Mariza Mello ◽  
Asher Kiperstok ◽  
Karla Oliveira-Esquerre
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Physical Property ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Starting Point

This study presents a pilot study in suburban households in Salvador, Brazil, inserted in the context of a framework developed to aid water demand management strategies. The framework aims to understand the barrier of subjectivity while identifying consumption habit patterns in households. Six key sets of components create the framework architecture: (1) characterization of the area based on: context, climate, population/area, population growth rate, and water management challenges; (2) a survey to obtain socio-demographic and physical property data of the sample; (3) smart metering and data processing systems to monitor sample water end use; (4) determining daily consumption patterns; (5) analyzing qualitative data through theoretical consumption models to identify relevant variables for the next step; and (6) construction of representative mathematical models of consumption for each daily practice (this item was not included on pilot). It provides a starting point to understand how water demand management strategies can be supported at the user and decision-making level. As a result, improvements to the interview guides used in the pilot were suggested. Furthermore, customized measures to promote rational water consumption were identified in the study area, and policies could be proposed.

Water demand management - philosophy or implementation?

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
J.S. Buckle
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Water Industry ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Management Philosophy ◽  
Leakage Reduction ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
African Context

This paper describes the introduction of water demand management in the southern African context. Originally a response to drought conditions, water demand management is now a key element in Rand Water's strategy of water cycle management - a mix of interventions that (holistically and continuously) keep the water industry viable and sustainable. This experience points to awareness and community education programmes being an essential companion to the technical interventions such as leakage reduction measures.

Social interaction in water demand management implementation

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 295-301
Author(s):  
J.S. Buckle
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Education Project ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Efficient Water Use

This article describes a successful awareness and education project undertaken in an East Rand township by the Water Cycle Management Section of Rand Water. The Project's focus was to create awareness in the community of the broad concept of water cycle management within an environment and to transfer skills to community members (facilitators) who could then assist in ensuring effective and efficient water use.

Elicitation of expert knowledge to develop decision support tools for use in water demand management planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
D. Inman ◽  
D. Simidchiev ◽  
P. Jeffrey
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Influence Diagrams ◽  
Decision Support Tools ◽  
Water Demand Management ◽  
Support Tools

This paper examines the use of influence diagrams (IDs) in water demand management (WDM) strategy planning with the specific objective of exploring how IDs can be used in developing computer-based decision support tools (DSTs) to complement and support existing WDM decision processes. We report the results of an expert consultation carried out in collaboration with water industry specialists in Sofia, Bulgaria. The elicited information is presented as influence diagrams and the discussion looks at their usefulness in WDM strategy design and the specification of suitable modelling techniques. The paper concludes that IDs themselves are useful in developing model structures for use in evidence-based reasoning models such as Bayesian Networks, and this is in keeping with the objectives set out in the introduction of integrating DSTs into existing decision processes. The paper will be of interest to modellers, decision-makers and scientists involved in designing tools to support resource conservation strategy implementation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document