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Session 6: Water Demand Management

Water Demand Management

By Senior Consultant Saul Arlosoroff
Office: 1 Korazim st. Givatayim 53583
Mail: P.O. Box 951, Ramat-Gan 52109 Israel
Dir. Tel: (972-3) 571-0659 Office Tel: (972-3) 731-7950 Fax: (972-3) 731-7960
Residence: 2/15 Menorah St. Tel-Aviv 69416, Israel
Tel: (972-3) 648-3279 Fax/Tel: (972-3) 648-3278
E-Mail: Sarlo@inter.net.il   Cellular Tel: (972-50) 507-742

1. Acknowledgments:

Many colleagues from those who believe in water demand management - as a major planning and policy tool - have given me a hand in writing a booklet on the subject for UNCHS (HABITAT) as well as other papers, like the one here, dealing with the issue of water conservation and increasing efficiency of water use. They have gathered documents and data and had brought it to my attention, I am grateful to them all.

However, few of them went out of their way to enable me to use their material and those I have to mention (see also bibliography for special documents):

William Maddaus, a pioneer of water demand management in the USA and AWWA who had published important material on the subject for many years.

Sandra Poatel together with World Watch who has altered the world how critical water resources has become and how important it is to promote conservation strategies. The water and sanitation collaborative council who decided to promote the issue within its members from the developing countries and my colleagues there, Dr. Lester Fordeb of WASA / Trinidad and Tobago and Donald Tate from Environment, Canada. David Brooks of the IDRC in Canada, again a fighting spirit for the cause of conservation, who also reviewed my document, and Ms. Rita Cessti of the World Bank who is promoter of demand management in the World Bank, where supply management orientation is still the dominate sector thinking. Ms. Ami Vickers of Amherst, MASS. (USA), who has and is spending most of her professional capacity on water conservation programs. Clive Harrions, of Conservation Technologies (France and UK) a pioneer in the vision of including the private sector in the difficult task of reducing the unaccounted for water in the cities of the developing countries, and last but not least the Asian Development Bank who did a magnificent work on the Asian Utility Book, part of which I have used in order to influence other agencies to follow them.

I hope this publication will add another brick to a building which could accommodate the future generations the poor and the weak without a thirsty soul in its premises. Urban water conservation enables the reallocation of wasted water to the unserved. It fits the moto “some for all versus all for some”.

Saul Arlosoroff,

Special consultant and adviser to UNCHS (HABITAT / RDD / BTIS, Nairobi, Kenya)

2. Preamble

Asia and Africa are experiencing the most rapid rate of urbanization in the world. The growing number of medium and large cities in the continent face a major challenge of providing their populations with adequate water supply, with large parts of the two continents facing sever water stress. African and Asian cities urgently need to put in place effective water demand management strategies that could promote the use of the limited water resources more efficiently, reducing wastage, and expanding the service coverage, particularly in the burgeoning low-income settlements.

A major environmental crisis is also looming large in the continents of Asia and Africa as cities continue to discharge ever increasing volumes of wastes into freshwater bodies, threatening water availability, quality and aquatic ecosystems. Several cities share one or more international river basins, which present a special challenge of managing water resources in these basins, avoiding future conflicts. A business-as-usual approach to urban water resources management threatens not only the sustainability of its cities precious water resources and supporting ecosystems, which are closely linked to the continents future, and the socio-economic environment of its populations.

3. Executive Summary

Water is more than just a commodity. It is an essential element to all life and is basic to most economic activities. Its role in human survival and health is well known, However, its economic value must be recognized and addressed in all policy and sector activities in order to initiate and promote the wise and efficient use of water resources in all sub-sectors, especially in the large urban centers. Using water in an efficient manner and managing competing demands in any city, country, or region are essential steps to ensure that water is no longer undervalued wasted and misused in our world.

This conference and others to be initiated within the international and the in-country discussions, as well as the support of the media, should be an integrated part of a global campaign to foster water conservation and to demonstrate to all governments of developing countries that substantial economic, social and environmental benefits will be generated by using water more efficiently, by implementing water demand management strategies, supplementing the supply management options.

In order to achieve demand management goals, we all should pursue the establishment of adequate policies, strategies and action planning for a step-by-step program to be adapted to the conditions of each site. Appropriate technological implementations, water metering, and pricing policies are indispensable elements in this global campaign as part of legislative, regulatory, and institutional reforms, to accommodate demand side management, on a wide-scale level in order to reach relatively large water savings and reduce the impact of water shortages, and delay the execution of expensive new water supply projects.

Appropriate water management should be seen as an integrated element in the developing countries’ strategy toward sustainable development. It is directly linked to natural resource and environmental management – A major challenge confronting the developing countries. Let’s examine a few of the major components of this global challenge:

In this decade alone, the world population will increase to 6 billion, with the growth mainly occurring in the developing countries. By the middle of the next century, only 50 years from now, there will be more than 10 billions – the increase will be mainly in the urban centers of the developing countries, while the growth of African and Asian urban centers may overshadow the ones in other continents.

Water use in developing countries is increasing at an accelerated pace, due not only to growing populations, but also as a result of the higher standards of living, increased per capita use, rapid industrialization, and the expansion of irrigation to supply the agricultural needs of the population growth. This forecasted growth has serious implications for environmental sustainability locally and globally. Neither economic development nor environmental management are expendable – both are essential. They must be integrated in a wise strategy that reconciles economic implications and environmental health.

Governments will have to follow innovative and clear strategies to accommodate this huge economic development without the further destruction of the environmental infrastructure. Water resources management and water conservation are essential components of a strategy aimed at achieving these goals of sustainable development.

National goals can only be achieved by the collective efforts of all water using sectors, the different levels of governments, and the public. Water conservation provides a unique opportunity for a collaborative national campaign:

• National and local governments should initiate creative approaches, courageous policies, regulations and their enforcement. They should test the use of incentives and sanctions, tax measures, support to Retrofitting (installation of water conservation technologies) and new technological modifications, initiate water abstraction charges, local ‘water-markets’ and tradable permits. The introduction of realistic full-cost pricing of water in a step-by-step action plan is essential for strategic implementation of Water Demand Management (WDM) in the urban and industrial sub-sectors, as well as in the agricultural sector.
  
• The industrial and institutional reform, in many developing countries, must include water conservation and pollution abatement components as an integrated activity. Re-use of waste-water within industries or within an industrial zone, re-use of treated municipal wastes for irrigation of fields and parks, and industrial cooling are just examples of key elements that reconcile pollution abatement with water demand management. Water efficient processes match energy conservation and reduction of total pollution in many of the rehabilitated industries in the western countries. They contribute to improved industrial management and its profitability and need not obstruct industrial economic viability. It is a common myth in many developing countries that industrial environmental management undermines the economic basis of the industry. USA, Japan, Germany, and Singapore, as an example, have the toughest environmental and water management standards, while these countries are of the top economic performers.
  
• The governments, the public, the multilateral and bilateral funding and donor agencies all have a role in the water conservation activity. We all have been wasteful users of water – pumping more than we need, polluting water and returning it to nature after inadequate treatment or no treatment at all. The time has come to move from constantly augmenting supply to managing demand. Reduction of water use delays new projects, sometimes indefinitely. It reduces pumping and treatment costs, decreases sewage flows and their disposal costs, increases utility’s income through a reduction of leakages and improved water metering and thus provides the financial resources for well managed operations, terminating the vicious cycle of utilities mismanagement and inefficient distribution and wasteful water use.
  
• Many cities in the developing countries have often conflicting policies and rules – some of which actually foster increased water consumption. Low water prices are a known culprit within this contest. If municipal and industrial water users will pay realistic water prices, utilities will be able to maintain their systems, minimize losses, and maximize the quality and the level of service. When national and city governments stop subsidizing the expansion of water supply systems and have to take out loans and pay considerable interest for new projects, there may be a turning point in their attitude toward the implementation of demand management versus a supply augmentation strategy. The savings on delaying investments and savings on capital costs alone in one year could possibly finance a city wide Retro-fitting program leading to a 15 to 25% reduction in water use.
  
• High rates of unaccounted for water (UAF) are common in the cities of Asia. No utility can adequately function under such conditions for a long time. Cities in the developing countries are reaching extreme levels of unaccounted for water up to 40-60% of the water supplied. A universal and appropriate water metering system is a must whether for production, for block-metering (essential for leakage detection and flow management), or for billing for micro-metering at the household, office, park, restaurant or industrial site. Without metering system many of the proposed actions will not achieve their goals.
  
• Rate structures have been changed in many utilities from regressive to progressive block-rate-paying more per unit for the higher water consumption. Progressive block-rates encourage conservation and reduce waste. A proper well maintained water-metering system is a pre-requisite condition for that. The introduction of private sector assistance to local governments can prove to be a very important and effective tool, to reduce losses, install and read meters, retrofitting at the user end etc.
  
• Contractors dealing with the reduction of UAF and water wastage can be paid on the basis of the real water savings achieved. Contractors can also undertake the whole demand reduction program. They will move from house to house and execute a citywide Retro-fitting program, while the customers will pay for the installation through the water bills.

Table of Contents

• Brochure
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• International Year of Forests
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• World Environment Day
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• UNEP Campaign
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