Piped water consumption in Ghana: A case study of temporal and spatial patterns of clean water demand relative to alternative water sources in rural small towns.
Piped water consumption in Ghana: A case study of temporal and spatial patterns of clean water demand relative to alternative water sources in rural small towns.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.148
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发表时间：
2016-07-15
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Naumova EN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kulinkina AV;Kosinski KC;Liss A;Adjei MN;Ayamgah GA;Webb P;Gute DM;Plummer JD;Naumova EN
持续获得足够数量的安全用水对人类健康和社会经济发展至关重要。管道供水系统（PWSs）是非洲农村小城镇日益普遍的供水方式。尽管这些系统为用户提供了最高和最灵活的服务水平以及更好的微生物水质，但它们仍然容易受到农村水可持续性挑战的影响。我们评估的时间和空间模式，从公共立管的四个PWSs在加纳的水消费，以评估清洁水的需求相对于其他可用水源。低耗水量是明显的，在所有研究城镇，这表现在时间和空间上。与降雨量呈负相关的用水量的时间变化是雨水偏好的一个指标。此外，我们的研究结果表明，在接近替代水源，如溪流和手挖威尔斯的立管遭受进一步减少用水量。定性数据表明，在研究城镇的消费者需求似乎更多地由水量，可及性，和感知的美学水质相比，微生物水质或价格。在长期未充分利用改良水源的环境中，应优先考虑通过家庭连接增加用水需求，改善水质，使其口味和适合洗衣，并教育居民使用自来水的健康益处。持续的消费需求和足够的创收是供水服务的重要属性，可确保供水服务长期运作。我们的研究结果表明，结合定性方法分析现有计量PWSs的用水量，可以更有效地规划以社区为基础的供水，并支持可持续发展。
Continuous access to adequate quantities of safe water is essential for human health and socioeconomic development. Piped water systems (PWSs) are an increasingly common type of water supply in rural African small towns. Despite providing the highest and most flexible level of service with better microbiological water quality to their users, these systems remain vulnerable to rural water sustainability challenges. We assessed temporal and spatial patterns in water consumption from public standpipes of four PWSs in Ghana in order to assess clean water demand relative to other available water sources. Low water consumption was evident in all study towns, which manifested temporally and spatially. Temporal variability in water consumption that is negatively correlated with rainfall is an indicator of rainwater preference when it is available. Furthermore, our findings show that standpipes in close proximity to alternative water sources such as streams and hand-dug wells suffer further reductions in water consumption. Qualitative data suggest that consumer demand in the study towns appears to be driven more by water quantity, accessibility, and perceived aesthetic water quality, as compared to microbiological water quality or price. In settings with chronic under-utilization of improved water sources, increasing water demand through household connections, improving water quality with respect to taste and appropriateness for laundry, and educating residents about health benefits of using piped water should be prioritized. Continued consumer demand and sufficient revenue generation are important attributes of a water service that ensure its function over time. Our findings suggest that analyzing water consumption of existing metered PWSs in combination with qualitative approaches may enable more efficient planning of community-based water supplies and support sustainable development.