COMMUNITY WATER MANAGEMENT –

DRINKING WATER HANDLING AND SAFE

DRINKING WATER

COMMUNITY WATER MANAGEMENT:

Community-based water management as it is
one of key strategies for analyzing, planning, and managing water
resources in an equitable and sustainable way. Community based
water management has been understood as management of water
resources by, of and for the people.

OBJECTIVES:
• supply and securing of clean and sufficient drinking water for
the population;
• provision and securing of access to sanitation;
• improvement and restoration of soil quality and thus,
raising productivity rates;
• reducing the impact of natural hazards (especially in the context of
climate change);
• improvement of physical health (supported by clean drinking water,
access to sanitation, improved nourishment);
DRINKING WATER HANDLNG

Drinking water systems use different water treatment

methods to provide safe drinking water for their communities. Public
water systems often use a series of water treatment steps that include
coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection.

Water treatment steps at community level

Coagulation
Coagulation is often the first step in water treatment. During
coagulation, chemicals with a positive charge are added to the water.
The positive charge neutralizes the negative charge of dirt and other
dissolved particles in the water. When this occurs, the particles bind
with the chemicals to form slightly larger particles. Common chemicals
used in this step include specific types of salts, aluminum, or iron.

Flocculation
Flocculation follows the coagulation step. Flocculation is the gentle
mixing of the water to form larger, heavier particles called flocs. Often,
water treatment plants will add additional chemicals during this step
to help the flocs form.

Sedimentation
Sedimentation is one of the steps water treatment plants use to
separate out solids from the water. During sedimentation, flocs settle
to the bottom of the water because they are heavier than water.

Filtration
Once the flocs have settled to the bottom of the water, the clear water
on top is filtered to separate additional solids from the water. During
filtration, the clear water passes through filters that have different
pore sizes and are made of different materials (such as sand, gravel,
and charcoal). These filters remove dissolved particles and germs, such
as dust, chemicals, parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Activated carbon
filters also remove any bad odors.

Water treatment plants can use a process called ultrafiltration in

addition to or instead of traditional filtration. During ultrafiltration, the
water goes through a filter membrane with very small pores. This filter
only lets through water and other small molecules (such as salts and
tiny, charged molecules).

Disinfection
After the water has been filtered, water treatment plants may add one
or more chemical disinfectants (such as chlorine, chloramine, or
chlorine dioxide) to kill any remaining parasites, bacteria, or viruses. To
help keep water safe as it travels to homes and businesses, water
treatment plants will make sure the water has low levels of the
chemical disinfectant when it leaves the treatment plant. This
remaining disinfectant kills germs living in the pipes between the
water treatment plant and your tap.

Water treatment plants also commonly adjust water pH and add

fluoride after the disinfection step. Adjusting the pH improves taste,
reduces corrosion (breakdown) of pipes, and ensures chemical
disinfectants continue killing germs as the water travels through pipes.
Drinking water with the right amount of fluoride keeps teeth strong
and reduces cavities.
 Water treatment steps at household level

To treat the water at hous

household
ehold level in order to assure the
microbial (and chemical) quality together with safe water storage and
proper hygiene practices could considerably contribute to reach the
millennium development goals. Household-level level Water Treatment and
Safe Storage (HWTS) can reduce episodes of diarrhoeal diseases
disease

Steps of HWTS
HWTS is a multi-barrier
barrier approach and there are several steps in HWTS which all
contribute

• Source protection
Risks, which may threaten drinking water quality at the
source or point of collection include: poor site selection or
protection; poor construction and deterioration or damage to
structures; and lack of hygiene and sanitation knowledge in the
community. Actions that can be taken at the community level to
eliminate these risks can include: regularly cleaning the area
around the water source; moving latrines away from and
downstream of water sources; bui building
lding fences to prevent
animals from getting into open water sources; lining wells to
prevent surface water from contaminating the ground water;
building proper drainage for wastewater around taps and wells.
• Sedimentation
Sedimentation is a physical treatment process used to reduce
the turbidity of the water. Suspended materials in water, such
as particles of sand, clay, and other materials can be
substantially removed simply by settling the water. This can be
done by using a natural reservoir, a settling pond, or a large
tank. The sedimentation process can be accelerated through
the use of coagulants and flocculants. These are natural (e.g.
Moringa) and synthetic (e.g. purifier of water) chemicals that
change the electrical charges of the suspended material.

• Filtration
Filtration is commonly used after sedimentation to further
reduce turbidity and remove pathogens. Filtration is a physical
process which involves passing water through filter media.
Filters remove pathogens in several ways. These include
straining, where the particles or larger pathogens such as
worms become trapped in the small spaces between the grains
of filter media; adsorption, where pathogens become attached
to the filter media; or biological processes, where pathogens
die naturally or the microorganisms living in the filter consume
the pathogens.

There are various types of filters that are used by households

around the world including ceramic candle filters, colloidal
silver filters, biosand filters, cloth straining, biosand filters
adapted for arsenic removal, membrane filters
• Disinfection
The destruction of the organisms’ cell walls by oxidation is
known as disinfection. Typically, disinfection involves the
addition of chemicals such as chlorine. It can also be induced
by ultraviolet radiation, such as natural sunlight or artificial UV
rays. The most common methods used by households around
the world to disinfect their drinking water is chlorination.

chemical disinfection is another common method for making

water safe to use. Chlorination is a common chemical
disinfection technique that involves adding a chlorine-based
product (such as sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, or
household bleach) to water to kill bacteria and viruses. Other
chemical disinfectants, such as iodine and chlorine dioxide, can
also be effective for disinfecting water. Using or drinking water
with small amounts of chlorine, iodine, or chlorine dioxide does
not cause harmful health effects and provides protection
against waterborne disease outbreaks.

• Safe storage
Households do a lot of work to collect, transport and
treat their drinking water. Now that the water is safe to
drink, it should be handled and stored properly to keep it
safe. If it is not stored safely, the treated water quality
could become worse than the source water and may
cause people to get sick. Safe storage means keeping
treated water away from sources of contamination, and
using a clean and covered container. It also means
drinking water from the container in a way so that people
do not make each other sick. The container should
prevent hands, cups and dippers from touching the
water, so that the water does not get re-contaminated.

Boiling
Boiling or heating water is the most widely used and effective method
to kill disease-causing germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

Steps for boiling water:

1. Bring clear water to a rolling boil for 1 minute

2. After boiling, allow the water to cool before use.
3. Store the boiled water in clean, sanitized containers with tight
covers.

There are many factors to consider when choosing water

treatment methods for a household or community setting: existing
water and sanitation conditions; water quality; ability to install water,
sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities; cultural acceptability;
accessibility; availability of technology; consistent and long-term use;
and other local conditions.