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INTEGRATED APPROACHES FOR EFFICIENT WATER USE IN FUKUOKA

Teruyoshi Shinoda,
Fukuoka City Waterworks Bureau

ABSTRACT

Within Fukuoka’s watershed area there are only small rivers and small-scale dams. As a result of this the city experienced a major water shortage in 1978 when water supply restrictions were enforced for a total of 287 days, causing considerable disruption to the lives of residents. Since that time Fukuoka has been pushing forward with water-resource development, and working hard to create a “Water Conservation Conscious City” a city where not a drop of water will be wasted.

As part of this effort, resources are being put into leakage prevention through surveys using the correlational leak detection method, the water leakage measuring method and the acoustic leakage sound detection method. At the same time, old distribution pipes and those with a history of leakage are being actively replaced to maintain distribution pipelines. The city has also created a water distribution regulation system, a leading-edge system that regulates pressure and flow in distribution pipes to promote the effective use of water.

This new system makes use of pressure gauges and flow meters that are installed all over the city and monitored centrally from the Water Distribution Control Center via telephone lines. On the basis of information received from these gauges and meters, motorized valves are opened and closed remotely from the Center, again via telephone lines, thereby regulating pressure and flow. Through this system, excess pressure is reduced, helping to prevent leakage.

In addition, efforts are being made to spread the reuse of reclaimed wastewater for flushing toilets, and the use of rainwater, as well as to promote the installation of water-saving plugs in faucets to reduce water wasted during opening and closing.

These various leakage prevention measures combined with other measures to promote the efficient use of water have established Fukuoka as Japan’s leading water conservation conscious city. The main emphasis of this paper is on the regulation of water pressure in distribution pipes carried out from the Water Distribution Control Center, but also considers other measures being undertaken by Fukuoka for efficient water usage.

KEYWORDS

Leakage management, leakage prevention survey, distribution pipe improvement and maintenance, water distribution regulation system, efficient water use programs

INTRODUCTION

Fukuoka City supplies about 400 ML of water per day from 5 purification plants to its population of 1.3 million people, who have no other sources of water to meet their needs. The city has 7 dams and water is drawn from 4 rivers, but these operations are on a small scale. This together with the reality in recent years of reduced precipitation has meant that water shortages have become more common. To tackle this problem, the public and private sectors and residents have come together to work on projects that contribute to the effective use of water. For example, in addition to developing new water resources through seawater desalination and the construction of new dams, the reclamation of wastewater, the rationalization of agricultural irrigation together with the promotion of water-conserving plugs for faucets, and water-conserving toilets are also being undertaken.

WATER LEAKAGE MANAGEMENT

In Fukuoka, with its very limited water resources, the effective use of water is one of its greatest challenges. The following three measures are being taken as the foundation of its approach to counteract water leakage:

1. Leak prevention surveys: use of leak detectors etc. for the early discovery of leaks followed by rapid repair.
2. Distribution pipe maintenance: replacement of deteriorated pipes.
3. Water distribution regulation: managing water leakage through pressure regulation.

Through these measures the ratio of effective supply ((distributed amount – leaked amount)/distributed amount) rose to 96.5% in 1997 (see Graph 1), the highest figure for a major Japanese city.

Graph 1. Change in Fukuoka's Ratio of Effectvie Supply with Time

Looking at the change in the ratio of effective supply in recent years, the very rapid rise after 1965 was due principally to an increase in leakage detection work and a program for the systematic replacement of distribution pipes. The rise from 1972 was due to concentrated leak surveying in districts with high incidences of leakage, and the rises from 1981 have been due to the introduction of water distribution regulation, carried out from the Water Distribution Control Center, covered in more detail in below.

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