EN 8491

WATER SUPPLY
ENGINEERING
Sources of water
Our main sources of water for drinking, washing, agriculture and
industry are surface water, groundwater and collected rainwater,
all of which are dependent on rain and snow falling on the
Earth’s surface.
• Surface water
Rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds are widely used as water sources
 The amount of available surface water depends largely on rainfall.
 When rainfall is limited, the supply of surface water will vary considerably
between wet and dry seasons and also between years.
 One way to overcome this problem is to construct a dam across a river to
create a reservoir that provides water storage.
 Large surface water reservoirs may be used for hydroelectric power
generation, regulating water releases to control river flows, for
recreational purposes and to provide water for agricultural, municipal and
industrial uses. Smaller dams are also used to enable irrigation
 The water collects behind the dam and flows under gravity into irrigation
channels leading to the fields.
Groundwater
• An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock. Water-bearing
rocks are permeable, meaning that liquids and gases can pass through
them.
• Groundwater is the water contained in aquifers . This is replenished
or recharged by precipitation that percolates through the soil to the water
table, and by water seeping from streams, as well as other bodies of surface
water, such as lakes and wetlands.
• The water table is the top of the groundwater below the land surface. Its
level fluctuates seasonally and from year to year as the inputs from
precipitation and the outputs vary. The depth of the water table also varies
with location, from being near to the land surface in areas close to surface
water bodies and in humid climates, to being hundreds of metres below the
land surface in drier regions.
• Groundwater reaches the surface naturally through springs or artificially
through wells. Springs typically rise up where the water table meets the
land surface.
• Springs are important sources of water to feed streams and are attractive
cultural and landscape features in themselves. Wells and boreholes are dug
by hand or drilled by machine. These have to be deep enough to extend
below the water table so that water can be drawn up by bucket or by
pumping.
Rainwater
• Rainwater is also an important source of water, although
on a relatively small scale. Collecting rain from roofs or
other hard-surfaced areas and storing it until it is needed
can provide a valuable source of water for many purposes.
Water source selection
• The quantity, quality, and reliability of available water are
three main factors that need to be considered when
evaluating water sources. Socio-cultural and technical
issues may also be important. This section provides an
overview of some of these different factors.
Water quantity
• If you were selecting a new source of water for a
community you would need to be sure that the volume of
water that could be supplied would be sufficient to meet
the community’s needs, both now and in the future. It
would also be important to consider the reliability of the
source over time.
•
Water quality
• The quality of water required depends on what it will be used for.
Drinking water must be clean and safe to drink and protected from
any contamination by pathogens or other pollutants. The primary
concern must be to prevent the transmission of waterborne diseases.
For other water uses such as for domestic washing or for agricultural
or industrial uses, the quality is less critical.
• In general, surface water sources are likely to contain many different
materials and potential pollutants. These include micro-organisms,
some of which may be pathogens, and small solid particles referred to
as suspended particulates or suspended solids. These make the
water turbid .
• Turbidity (the cloudiness of water) is a measure of water clarity.
Turbidity is considered a useful approximate measure of water quality
because pollutants and micro-organisms can be carried on the surface
of suspended solids.
• The more turbid or cloudy the water is, the more suspended particles
there are in it, and the more polluted the water is likely to be. It is
important to realise, however, that clear water is not necessarily
clean, because some contaminants may not be visible.
Fluoride

• Fluoride in drinking water is a well-known health concern. In some parts of

Ethiopia concentrations in groundwater exceed the World Health
Organization guideline of 1.5 mg/l (milligrams per litre). The highest
concentrations, which can be greater than 10 mg/l, are found in waters from
the Rift Valley zone. For people living in this area, dental and skeletal fluorosis
are significant public health problems causing brown patches on the teeth,
joint pain, limited movement of joints and, ultimately, crippling.

• The National Fluorosis Mitigation Project has responsibility for planning a

national strategy to deal with this problem. Several methods of
defluoridation (removing fluoride from water) using chemicals or bone char
have been successfully trialled at community and household levels .
• However, selecting an affordable and sustainable standard technology for
widespread use is challenging.
Technical requirements
• The development of the source must be technically feasible and the
operation and maintenance requirements for the source abstraction and
supply system must be appropriate to the resources available. Supply systems
are likely to be misused if they cannot be operated and maintained either by
community members or by organisations and institutions within the area.
People who have responsibility for the maintenance of water sources or
distribution points should be properly trained and rewarded for their
contribution, to ensure sustainability.

Water demand and supply

• You will recall from Study Session 1 that many countries in the world,
including Ethiopia, are suffering from water stress or water scarcity.
The world is heading towards a fresh water crisis, partly due to
mismanagement and partly due to the unequal distribution and small
amount of fresh water available in the first place. This crisis is already
evident in many parts of the world, varying in scale and intensity
depending on the time of the year, climate and location.
• The imbalance between the demand for and the supply
of water is increasing globally.
• On the one hand, the volume available for supply
remains much the same but has additional problems of
contamination of surface and groundwater sources,
inefficient utilisation of available supplies and the
uncertainties of climate change.
• On the other hand, the demand for fresh water per
capita is rising as countries develop economically.
Industrial development leads to additional demands for
water and, at the same time, agriculture is becoming
increasingly dependent on irrigation to produce food for
the growing population.
• The global challenge is to find ways to manage the
increasing demand for water but this is not to say that
everyone should use less water. Developing countries
still use far less water per capita than developed regions
• Household use in developing countries is especially
low, reflecting the difficulty many people have in
obtaining clean water for personal use. Improving
access to water is important so that people can use
more water for household and personal hygiene, which
will improve living standards and bring significant
benefits to health and well-being.
• Population growth, urbanisation and migration all
affect the availability and quality of water resources.
With the rapid increase in urbanisation, meeting the
demand for fresh water will be difficult for cities. Rapid
urban growth in developing countries puts tremendous
pressure on inadequate water supply systems and can
lead to water shortages. The next two study sessions
look more closely at urbanisation and its causes and
effects.
 UNIT – 1
SOURCES OF WATER
Overview

Community water systems obtain water from two sources:

1. Surface water
2. Ground water

People use surface and ground water every day for a variety of purposes,
including drinking, cooking, and basic hygiene, in addition to recreational,
agricultural, and industrial activities.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the

majority of public water systems (91%) are supplied by ground water;
however, more persons (68%) are supplied year-round by community water
systems that use surface water . This is because large, well-populated
metropolitan areas tend to rely on surface water supplies, whereas small,
rural areas tend to rely on ground water.
1.1 PUPLIC WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM
 1. SURFACE WATER
Surface water is water located on top
of the Earth's surface such as rivers,
stream, river, lake, reservoir, or
ocean. (or)
Surface water is water that collects
on the ground or in a stream, river,
lake, reservoir, or ocean.
The vast majority is produced by
precipitation and water runoff from
nearby areas.
According to the EPA, 68% of
community water system users
received their water from a surface
water source, such as a lake
GROUND WATER

Definition :
• The simplest definition of groundwater is that it is
water that is underground. Of all the fresh water on
Earth, about 20% is groundwater.
• Groundwater is used for drinking water by more
than 50 percent of the people in the United States,
including almost everyone who lives in rural areas.
• As water seeps into the ground, it continues
downward due to gravity until the surrounding
ground is saturated with water.
• Water that collects or flows beneath the Earth
surface, filling the porous spaces in soil Sediment
and rocks. Ground originates from rain and from
melting snow ice.
• Water which is below the earth’s crust and not
more than 2500 feet below earth crust are called as
groundwater. Water below the earth crust and
above 2500 feet of earth crust is considered as
fresh water. Few examples of groundwater are
mentioned below:
1. Springs
2. Wells
3. Aquifers
 Advantages and disadvantages of using groundwater as a water source.
Advantages:
• Likely to be free of pathogenic
bacteria
• Usually free of turbidity and
colour
• Can usually be used without
further treatment
• Can often be found in close
vicinity to consumers
• Economical to obtain and
distribute
• The water-bearing soil or rock
provides a natural storage point
Disadvantages:
• Often has a high mineral content
(i.e. has naturally occurring
substances that are not from
living organisms) such as calcium,
magnesium, iron and manganese
• Usually requires pumping for
extraction
• May have a high level of
bicarbonate, carbonate and
chloride
• Poor in oxygen content
• Can contain chemical
contaminants such as arsenic,
fluorides and nitrates
• If it gets polluted, treatment can
be difficult to achieve
CHARACTERIZATION AND SIGNIFICANCE
Odour
 Water source development

One of the main duties of a water supply provider is to ensure that a safe and
plentiful water supply is available to all segments of a community at a reasonable
cost. This may mean seeking new water sources to satisfy demand. Identifying
potential new sources and assessing their viability prior to development is a skilled
technical task that requires several different factors to be assessed. These factors
include:

Volume of water required: This will depend on demand, which relates to the
number and type of potential users. Will the new source be able to meet the
demand of all users? Have future increases in demand and population growth
been taken into consideration?
Quality: Is the water from a safe and protected source? If not, what will be the
level of treatment needed and how will this be achieved? What is the risk of
pollution of the source?
Seasonal variations: Is the new water source reliable, or is it vulnerable to seasonal
variations in the availability of water? How will this be accommodated?
Distance between source and users: How far must the water be
transported? What is the sort of distribution system that will be
needed? What are the engineering requirements for the system?
Cost: Following on from all the above, what is the cost of
developing the new source (both capital and continuing operating
and maintenance costs) into the future?
Environmental impact: What are the predicted environmental
consequences of developing the water source? Will the benefits of
the new supply outweigh any disadvantages?
Sustainability: Can the water source be developed and used in such
a way that it does not compromise the future ability to supply
water? For example, the rate of abstraction from a spring should
not exceed the rate of natural replenishment.