1. WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
02 December 2018
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Notes to the trainer:
This presentation has been compiled for your use in training sessions. It is intended to be a source of material, putting Module 3 of the SWITCH Training Kit into slide form for your convenience.
Please extract/adapt/shorten/tailor the presentation according to your needs, while respecting the terms of use detailed on the final slide of this presentation. In particular, the trainer should always make links to the local context, to local issues and realities, to make the presentation most relevant for its audience.
The text in the notes section of each slide is taken directly from the modules and is intended to give you, the trainer, pointers on what to focus on for each slide. The notes are not intended directly for the presentation audience, so please pick out the most relevant points.
Presentation tips for trainers:
An average slide presentation should not be more than 10 to 12 slides: make allowance for people’s limited listening attention span.
However, do not rush your presentation. If a complex image is shown, participants need some time to get their head around it. If you lack the time, make sure not to show any complicated figures or diagrams.
In the case of longer presentations, breaks are needed for allowing questions/comments/discussions. However, a balance should be struck: allowing questions any time is not necessarily the best solution – it can be disturbing and break the flow of information to be provided. A solution is to plan for interruptions by structuring slide presentations into meaningful chunks of content.
Presentations typically make for one way communication, but it is possible and advisable to turn them into a tool for two-way communication (or ‘interactive presentation’), by using the slides to get into a conversation with participants. For example: – The presenter can ask questions from her/his side, such as: “is this also true/relevant here in your city?” – The presenter can ask participants to guess a piece of information that is then revealed on the next slide, e.g. “20 years ago, water consumption in your city was 150 l/day – what do you think it is now?” – The presenter can use images rather than text and ask participants what they see; he/she can then build on their feedback to introduce a certain issue
– Etc.
Module 3 of the SWITCH Training kit

2. Water supply in the city: Linkages within the urban water cycle
02 December 2018
Water supply in the city: Linkages within the urban water cycle
(Module 3, p18)
In the majority of cities throughout the world, the different elements of the water cycle - water supply, wastewater and stormwater - are managed in a fragmented way. This lack of integration leads to the following:
• Missed opportunities – such as the failure to exploit rainwater and recycled wastewater as a source of water supply for non-potable uses.
• Unexpected impacts – such as the over-abstraction of water from a river thereby reducing its ability to dilute downstream wastewater effluent discharges
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

3. Linkages between water supply and other urban management sectors
02 December 2018
Linkages between water supply and other urban management sectors
Housing
Local economic development
Health
Tourism
Waste management
(Module 3, p19)
The management of water supply is also closely related to urban development as a whole. Understanding this relationship prevents the implementation of actions that may lead to unexpected consequences elsewhere and can also reveal opportunities where coordinated
decision-making will lead to mutual benefits.
Local economic development:
Many industries rely on a large supply of fresh water for production, washing and cooling purposes. Industrial productivity and growth therefore depends on a reliable source of supply.
Tourism:
Popular tourist destinations can experience huge peaks in water demand during the high season. Water supplies need to be able to cope during
these peak periods if hotels and other facilities are to remain operational.
Transport:
Most distribution pipelines run underneath roads and pavements. Rehabilitation of the network and the fixing of leaks cause disruption to the flow of traffic.
Energy:
Water availability from reservoirs may be restricted due to conflicting interests from hydro-power generation. Water treatment and pumping costs are dependent on a reliable supply of energy. Power stations also have high demands for water for cooling purposes.
Parks, gardens and recreation:
Land uses such as parks and gardens, golf courses and sports fields rely on large quantities of fresh water for irrigation. Water supply sources such as lakes and reservoirs also provide recreational opportunities such as water sports, fishing and bird watching.
Waste management:
Poorly managed urban waste can cause the pollution of ground and surface water sources that a city’s water supply may be reliant on.
Health:
A reliable water supply of sufficient quality and quantity is essential for the health of a city’s population.
Housing:
The construction of new housing developments creates additional water demand (once inhabited) and the need for new distribution infrastructure.
Transport
Parks, gardens and recreation
Energy
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

4. A more integrated approach…
02 December 2018
(Module 3, p16)
Rather than increasing supplies to meet demand, an integrated – and thus more sustainable – approach to water supply looks to reduce demand, harvest rainwater and reuse wastewater as a means of maintaining the supply-demand balance. In addition, alternative measures and innovative technologies are sought to improve treatment efficiency and reduce losses from the distribution network.
A conventional approach:
Supply-demand balance: Increased demand is met through investments in resources and infrastructure to increase supply
Treatment: Treatment technologies are improved in line with the type of pollutant that needs to be removed
Leakage reduction: Leakage detection and repair is driven by economic factors
Pricing: Users are charged for water based on a fixed cost or, if available, the recorded volume they use
Resource planning: Predicted resource availability is based on past hydrological records
Demand forecasting: Future water demand is forecast using historical trends, demographic estimates and projected economic growth
End use requirements: Water of potable quality is supplied for all uses
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

5. Benefits of taking a more integrated approach
02 December 2018
Benefits of taking a more integrated approach
Increased flexibility
More efficient treatment
Economic savings
Environmental protection and enhancement
Improved service
Reduced carbon emissions
Flood control
Reduced volumes of wastewater
Greater resilience
(Module 3, p16-17)
Note to trainer: choose one or two of the bullet points and explain them more thoroughly using the notes below – for additional discussions, ask participants to elaborate on some of the other points
• Increased flexibility: One of the main benefits of managing demand, using alternative sources and controlling resource pollution is the added resilience to future uncertainty that this approach offers. Most supply infrastructure is designed to operate under anticipated future conditions. Problems arise if these forecasts turn out to be wrong as the infrastructure is typically inflexible and cannot easily be adapted to operate outside of its design range of variability. Moving towards a demand driven approach increases flexibility and reduces reliance on assumed future conditions.
More efficient treatment: Source control of resource pollutants and the use of natural systems such as riverbanks to pre-treat abstractions reduce the treatment required to produce water of drinking standard.
• Economic savings: Reducing water demand results in less water to abstract, treat and distribute. This saves in chemical and energy costs.
• Environmental protection and enhancement: Reduced demand results in less water to be abstracted from the environment. This helps to maintain and restore ecosystems that rely on a healthy aquatic environment.
• Improved service: Reduced demand and the use of alternative supplies relieve pressure on resources such as reservoirs and aquifers that may be scarce during dry periods. This lessens the risk of water use restrictions and supply interruptions for households, businesses and industry.
• Reduced carbon emissions: Managing demand and source pollution results in less energy consumed for the abstraction, treatment and distribution process. This reduces carbon emissions in cities where non-renewable energy is used for this
purpose.
• Flood control: The collection of rainwater from roof surfaces for non-potable water supply reduces the volume of runoff that has to be managed by a city’s drainage system. This reduces the risk of downstream flooding and erosion.
• Reduced volumes of wastewater: Low-flush toilets and greywater reuse for nonpotable purposes reduces the volume of wastewater to be collected and treated. This improves the performance and economic efficiency of the wastewater treatment
process.
• Greater resilience: Uncertainty surrounding future demand and availability of supplies complicates decision-making for water supply investments. Solutions that target demand reductions and the use of alternative sources rather than resource development and infrastructure expansion make it easier to cope with inaccurate forecasts and predictions.
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

6. Ways to overcome barriers to sustainable water supply management
02 December 2018
Ways to overcome barriers to sustainable water supply management
Awareness raising
Regulation
Pilot projects
Stakeholder involvement
Institutional coordination
Political support
(Module 3. p30-31)
Note to trainer: This slide presents some of the main ways to overcome the barriers to sustainable water supply management. These barriers are:
Public resistance
Perceived risk
Lack of institutional collaboration
Legislative restrictions
Privatisation of water supply services
Disruption
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

7. Options for sustainable water supply (1)
02 December 2018
Options for sustainable water supply (1)
Aquifer Storage and Recovery
Riverbank filtration
Active leakage management
(Module 3, p 34-39)
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) stores high flows underground for re-abstraction when conventional sources are not available.
Riverbank filtration (RBF) works by abstracting surface water through intake wells dug in the river’s banks. Pollutants are removed as the water is drawn downwards through the sediment in the riverbank and bed.
Zero losses from a system is an impossibility and utilities must instead make a judgment on what is an acceptable level of leakage to target. Conventionally this is done using a calculated Economic Level of Leakage (ELL) – an estimate of the point at which it becomes cheaper to produce and distribute more water than it would be to find and fix more leaks.
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

8. Options for sustainable water supply (2)
02 December 2018
Options for sustainable water supply (2)
Domestic water efficiency measures
Promoting behavioural change
Metering and tariffs
(Module 3, p 40-46)
Domestic water efficiency measures target the volume of water used by the main water using devices themselves. The installation of a low-flush toilet (designed to clear the toilet bowl using less than a quarter of the water of a standard toilet) or dual flush toilet (featuring the option to select a full or half flush depending on whether urine or faeces is being removed) is one such measure. Water efficiency products are also available for other domestic water using devices.
Changing consumer water use behavioural patterns can achieve substantial water savings without the need of technical interventions. Education and awareness raising campaigns reduce water consumption by encouraging consumers to change their water use behaviour.
Universal metering allows customers to be charged for what they use providing a financial incentive to save water. Variable tariffs can magnify these financial incentives and can therefore prove to be a powerful water saving measure. In Zaragoza (pictured) the reformed tariff structure has largely achieved its aims, particularly with regard to cost recovery. Whereas in 1997 income from water consumers covered around 70% of the cost of supply and wastewater disposal, the equivalent figure in 2006 was closer to 90% allowing much needed investment to be made in water services infrastructure.
Image: SWITCH Project
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

9. Selecting options Local circumstances dictate the viability of options
02 December 2018
Selecting options
Local circumstances dictate the viability of options
Detailed assessment is therefore needed before selection
Often, the options detailed previously will need to be combined
Full analysis of costs (including external costs) and benefits (including indirect benefits) is essential
Integrated modelling software and decision support tools can help
(Module 3, p 47-48)
A large number of non-conventional solutions exist for source protection, improved water treatment and water demand management - their viability is very much dependent on local circumstances. The option selection process must therefore include a detailed assessment of each potential option, particularly with regard to the different aspects of sustainability. Only then can implementation take place with the confidence that the solution will achieve its intended purpose without causing social, economic or environmental costs that will ultimately outweigh the perceived benefits delivered.
The options described previously will on the whole need to be combined to some extent with conventional technologies and standard water supply solutions.
The most important aspect of the selection process is the identification of the true costs and benefits of potential options in relation to sustainable urban development as a whole. The addition, for example, of environmental and social costs and benefits in the selection process can drastically change the evaluation of certain options.
The inclusion of indirect costs and benefits is not straightforward. The assessment process is further complicated by the need to include associated levels of risk and uncertainties in relation to planned results and indirect impacts. The use of integrated modelling software and decision support tools are, however, available to assist with the management of such vast amounts of data and can be used to analyse a range of scenarios and the likely impacts of different combinations of water supply solutions in relation to existing infrastructure.
WATER SUPPLY – Exploring the options
Project outline, Management and Organisation

10. ICLEI European Secretariat
Slides produced by:
ICLEI European Secretariat
© 2011 ICLEI European Secretariat GmbH, Leopoldring 3, Freiburg, Germany
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