Evaluation of water supply system Case study in Naka ... - ENGEES

Evaluation of water supply system – Case study in Naka, NigeriaHowever, considering the importance of sustainability for the success of water supply,it was not considered appropriate to expand a system which was not actuallyproviding a basic satisfactory level of services: continuous, regular, durable, goodquality and with equity. At that time, the system was not fulfilling any of these criteriaso that any addition of connection would make the service quality worse, especiallyfor the pressure delivered at tap. That was mainly due to the physical incapacity of theassets to deal with 100 taps connections whereas the system was initially designed for15 taps, leading to accrued problems of pressure. Therefore inequity increasedbecause the connections added closer to the over-head tank had greater advantagesthan taps at other location. The fact that the system was even not working at the rate itwas designed for (7m 3 /h instead of 20m 3 /h) weighed in the favour of refusing theexpansion for the moment and rather to look deeply at the current system in order tomake it work in an optimum and sustainable manner. As the generator had just beenrepaired, that would improve the quality of services, on condition that the supply offuel is reliable in terms of frequency, quantity and quality.The requirements from community members also related to an increase of the intakepumping rate and an expansion of the existing dam. Increase of pumping rate morethan 20m 3 /h may first disturb the treatment process; then capacity of recharge of thedam need to be known because there is no point endangering the sustainability of thewater resource. Nevertheless, these were options to study later on, when the systemwould be ready for expansion and after acknowledgment of the present concerns.Cranfield University at Silsoe 30 Florianne Bourrigault (2006)