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Traditional Source of Water Supply:
In Olden days, communities have traditionally
relied on Surface and Groundwater sources for
their water supply needs.
The Surface water sources include dug-wells,
ponds, dugouts, impoundments from dams,
ephemeral streams and rainwater harvesting from
roofs.
Groundwater supplies to the communities are
obtained from hand-dug wells with or without hand
pumps, boreholes fitted with hand pumps, and
springs.
Classification of water based on its usage:
1. Domestic Purposes: It includes drinking,
cooking, bathing, washing hands/face,
household sanitary purposes, private gardening
& irrigation and domestic animals and private
vehicle.
2. Civic or Public Purposes: Road Washing,
Sanitation Purposes, Ornamental Purposes and
Fire Demand.
3. Industrial Purposes: Factories, Power
Stations, Railways & Airports.
4. Business or Trade Purposes: Dairies, Hotels,
Laundries, Motor Garages, Restaurants,
Stables, Schools, Hospitals, Cinema Halls,
Theatres etc.
5. Loss & Waste: Water required under this
category is sometimes termed as the
unaccounted requirement. It includes careless
use of water, leakage in mains, valves, other
fittings etc.
ELEMENTS OF WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM
The water requirement of a modern city is so great
that a system capable of supplying a sufficient
quantity of potable water is necessary. The first step
in the design of a water supply system is the
determination of the quantity of water that will be
required with provision for the estimated
requirements of the future. The essential elements
of a water supply system are as follows: 1. Source
of supply, 2.Collection system, 3.Treatment or
purification plant, 4.Distribution system.
Water Supply Systems
Source of Supply: The source of supply is of two
types: Surface water supply, Ground water supply.
The water running across the surface of the ground
has been called as surface water. The surface water
which seeps into the ground is designated as
groundwater or sub surface water.
Collection system: The collection system is a sort
of engineering works designed to convey from a
source to a treatment plant. The following are
essential units in a collection system- Intake, Intake
main, Transmission main, Pumping station. An
intake is a device or a structure placed in the source
of water to permit the withdrawal of water from
source to source and discharge it into an intake pipe
(intake main). Intake structure consists of intake
tower, submerged intake, intake pipes or conduits,
movable intake and shore intakes. The following
factors must be considered in designing and
locating intakes- (a) Location of the best quality
of water available, (b) Possibility of wide
fluctuations of water level, (c) Characteristics of
intake surrounding i.e. depth of water, character
of the river bottom, navigation requirements,
the effects of wave, flood, storms upon the intake
structure, (d) Formation of shoals and bars, and
(e) Possible sources of pollution.
A pipe line must be used to deliver water from the
source to the treatment plant. This pipe is called
intake main. A pumping station is essential for
pumping water from source to the treatment plant
through intake main and transmission main.
Treatment Plant: In case of surface water, the
treatment is necessary for removal of bacteria,
turbidity, odor, color and taste. Ground water may
be treated to reduce hardness, iron, corrosive
qualities and arsenic.
Distribution system: The Distribution system is
often a major investment of a municipal water
works. This includes: (a) Various pipes that convey
water to the consumer, (b) Storage reservoirs that
are provided to aid distribution of water, (c)
Pumping station and other equipments, and (d) Fire
hydrants, valves, meters etc.
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DIFFERENT SOURCES OF WATER
SUPPLY:
Surface-water sources:
(a). Lakes and Streams: A natural lake represents a
large body of water within land with impervious
bed.
A stream is defined as a small, narrow river formed
by the surface run-off.
(b). Pond: A Pond is a man-made body of standing
water smaller than a lake.
(c) Rivers: A large natural stream of water flowing
in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another river.
(d). Storage Reservoirs: An artificial lake formed
by the construction of dam across a valley is termed
as a Storage Reservoir.
Underground-water sources:
(a). Infiltration galleries: It is a horizontal or nearly
horizontal tunnel which is constructed through
water bearing strata. It is sometimes referred to as
the Horizontal Well.
(b). Infiltration wells: They are shallow wells which
put (or draw) water into (or from) a natural aquifer
outside of a riverbed, but which have a partial
lining.
(c). Springs: A spring is any natural situation where
water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface.
(d). Wells: A Well is defined as an artificial hole or
pit made in the ground for the purpose of tapping
water.
QUALITY OF WATER:
Water is essential to human life and the health of
the environment. Water has two dimensions that are
closely linked: quantity and quality. Water quality
is commonly defined by its physical, chemical,
biological and aesthetic (appearance and smell)
characteristics.
The presence of contaminants and the
characteristics of water are used to indicate the
quality of water. These water quality indicators can
be categorized as:
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Biological: Bacteria and Algae.
Physical: Temperature, Turbidity and Clarity,
color, Salinity, Suspended solids, Dissolved solids
Chemical: pH, Dissolved oxygen, Biological
oxygen demand, Nutrients (including nitrogen and
phosphorus), Organic and Inorganic compounds
(including toxicants)
Aesthetic: Odours, Taints, Color, and Floating
matter
Radioactive: Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation
emitters.
PREVIOUS EXAM QUESTIONS:
Q. What are the criteria one needs to adopt for
the source of water for the purpose of drinking
water supply scheme? Also write about yield of a
Well.
Ans.: i) 1. Location: The source of water should be
as near to the town as possible.
If there are both surface and ground sources
available to the town, the selection will be decided
by considering other factors also.
If there is no river, stream or reservoirs, the city
will have to depend on the underground source of
water when there is no alternative.
2. Quantity of water: The source of water should
have sufficient quantity of water to meet all the
demands of city such as domestic, industrial, fire
fighting, public etc. throughout the year.
There should be sufficient extra quantity of water to
be required in future while expansion of city is
done. Source of water should be able to meet the
maximum demand in dry weather also.
3. Quality of water: The quality of water should be
good which can be easily and cheaply treated. It
should not contain disease germs or other
pathogenic bacteria which can endanger the health
of the public.
Therefore as far as possible the water of the source
should be wholesome (healthy), safe and free from
pollution.
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4. Cost: The cost of water supply scheme depends
on many factors such as system of supply, ground
levels of city, distance between source and
distribution system etc.
If the water flows under gravitational force it will
be cheap, but if it to be pumped it will be costly.
Similarly the cost will directly depend on the
distance between the source of water and city, if the
distance is more it will be costly.
The selection of the source of water-supply is
done on the above points and the source which
will give good quality and the quantity at low
cost will be selected. This economical policy may
lead the adoption of both surface and ground
water source of the supply of water to very big
cities.
ii). Yield of well is the rate at which water
percolates into the well under the safe maximum
working head or critical depression head. It is
expressed in m3/hr or lt/min. The yield of open well
can be determined by any one of the two methods,
namely, pumping test and recuperation test. (The
difference of level of waters table and the water
level in the well now is called a head of
depression.) The yield of open well can be
determined by any one of the two methods, namely,
pumping test and recuperation test.
Pumping Test: In this method water is withdrawn
from the well freely till a critical depression head or
a safe maximum head is created. Once this stage is
reached the rate of pumping is so adjusted as to
maintain the constant water level in the well. Thus
the depression head remains constant. Naturally at
his stage the rate at which water is pumped out of
the well will be equal to the rate at which water
percolates into the well. This rate is expressed in
m3/hr or lt/min and will be obviously the yield of
the well.
Recuperation Test: In this method water level in
the well is depressed by pumping to any level
below the normal level. Then the pumping is
stopped and time taken by the percolating water to
fill the well to any particular level is noted. Total
quantity of water percolated into the well is
calculated by knowing cross-sectional area and rise
in the water level after stoppage of pumping.
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The rate of percolation or the yield of wells can be
arrived at by dividing the quantity of water by the
time. This test is carried out generally in a driest
period to take worst condition into account.
Now it can be inferred that the actual pumping test
of determining available yield is most reliable but it
is difficult to conduct the test accurately. Whereas
recuperation test is very simple to perform but it
does not give the maximum safe yield. The reason
is, as the water level in the well rise, the safe
maximum working head is not maintained
throughout the period of observation.
Specific Yield of Wells: Rate of water percolation
in the well or yield of a well in m3/hr under a head
of one meter is called the specific yield of the well.
From the above definition it is clear that the
specific yield depends on: (i) position of the water-
table, (ii) permeability and porosity of the soil
formation, (iii) the rate of water withdrawal from
the well, and (iv) quantity of water storage in the
well. Specific yield of the well is also called
specific capacity of the well. It can be calculated
from the following formula:
K = 2.303 [A/T log H1/H2], where K is specific
yield of a well in m3/hr under depression head of
one meter.
A is area of well in plan in m2.
T is total time of recuperation to bring water level
from depth H1 to H2.
H1 is difference of water level in the well just after
stoppage of pumping and the normal water level of
the well.
H2 is difference of water level in the well after time
T and normal water level of the well.
The yield of the well depends on the following
factors:
a). H, the static head or the height of the top water
table from the impervious stratum. b). h, the depth
of water in the well just after pumping. c). R, the
radius of circle of influence. d). r, the radius of the
well. e). p, porosity and fineness of the soil. f).
Inclination of the aquifer.
Athouba Sagolsem