Best Water Management Practices Case Study

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates faces water shortage due to a lack of adequate rainfall, which contributes to low aquifer recharge. The country is among the nations with the highest per-person water use globally (Saif, Mezher, & Arafat, 2014). Thus, there is a need for the UAE to come up with efficient water management practices to minimize shortage.

Residential

In the UAE, the residential sector accounts for at least 24% of the country’s water consumption. The majority of households have air conditioning systems that require a lot of water. Additionally, the state records high levels of water misuse in residential areas (Shahid, & Ahmed, 2014). The use of spray irrigations to water gardens contributes to the loss of water. The government has introduced the following measures to mitigate water wastage in residential areas.

• It has come up with a new tariff system to discourage people from wasting water. All residential houses are equipped with meters that record the amount of water consumed.
• The government has invested in the creation of public awareness of the various water conservation strategies. People are informed about the different ways of water conservation such as recycling wastewater.
• There has been the introduction of modern modes of irrigation. The government has introduced efficient methods of irrigation like subsurface drip irrigation.

Agriculture

The agricultural sector accounts for over 67% of water consumption in the UAE. Rapid population growth has contributed to the high demand for food in the country (Capodoglio, Ghilardi, & Boguniewicz-Zablocka, 2016). In return, there has been an increased use of inefficient methods of irrigation to grow crops. The government has adopted the following measures to avert a water crisis.

• It encourages farmers to use drip irrigation, which is an efficient method of farming. It consumes less water than the traditional modes of irrigation.
• It has also shifted from growing water-intensive crops. Experiments are underway to determine how farmers can use wastewater to irrigate their crops (Nair & Kumar, 2013).
• Leasing farms in countries with sufficient rainfall. Currently, the UAE government grows food crops in Ethiopia.

Non-Revenue

The government encourages farmers to use wastewater to irrigate lawns and public parks (Shahin & Salem, 2015). Additionally, people are advised to water grass and parks at night to minimize evaporation.

China

China accounts for at least 20% of the global population. The country has less than 6% of the world’s clean water, making it hard for the government to meet domestic water demand (Dong et al., 2013). The increase in agricultural activities and the growth of urban centers have intensified the water crisis in the country. The Chinese government has devised measures to mitigate the water crisis.

Agriculture

The Chinese government has introduced water-saving irrigation regulations meant to mitigate wastage.

• It has invested in water infrastructure like irrigation canals to ensure that farmers have sufficient water.
• It also digs dams to facilitate harvesting of rainwater for use in irrigation.
• The government has introduced cropping pattern optimization to reduce the amount of water used for irrigation.
• Previously, Chinese farmers considered water as a public resource (Lu et al., 2015). The public awareness regarding the importance of conserving water has led to farmers treating this critical resource as an economic good. It has become easy for farmers to collaborate with the government in the implementation of water management strategies.

Residential

China establishes urban water management strategies through state laws and policies. The county, prefectural, and provincial governments are mandated with the implementation of the systems. The government has made the following arrangements to guarantee efficient water use in residential areas.

• In Beijing, an administrative division knows as the Beijing Water Affairs Bureau oversees rural and urban water management (Zhang & Anadon, 2014).
• The water used for domestic purposes is released into the sewerage system and collected at a centralized desalination plant. It is treated and discharged back into the supply system.
• China has introduced the on-site water management system, which facilitates the collection and treatment of rainwater and wastewater for use on-site.

Non-Revenue

In China, water loss through leakage contributes to wastage. Therefore, the government has come up with measures to minimize water leakage.

In Changchun, “the government conducts leak detection and localization on earthbound drinking water pipes” (Zhang & Anadon, 2014, p. 161). The exercise helps to minimize cost attributed to non-revenue water and ensure that the province has sufficient water to supply to the public.

Romania

Teodosiu, Barjoveanu, and Kruijf (2013) hold “Romania covers a third of the Danube river basin surface area” (p. 1053). Despite the high rainfall received in the area, the country experiences drought every 15-25 years. Hence, it is regarded as equally wealthy and poor in water resources. The government has introduced water allocation mechanisms to guarantee efficient use of the resource.

Agriculture

• The National Administration manages water allocation via permits that set the maximum amount of water that an individual can use. The government does not allow the use of groundwater for irrigation purposes.
• The government uses a pricing strategy to regulate the use of water. The prices vary based on the application.
• Ene, Teodosiu, Robu, and Volf (2013) aver, “The economic instrument for farming is the “water supply tariff for irrigation”, which involves contribution for using the water resource” (p. 127).
• Farmers are charged for using harmful chemicals and releasing them into the surface water. It discourages farmers from using toxic pesticides and fertilizers.

Residential

The government of Romania has initiated projects aimed at rehabilitating wastewater treatment plants with a view of increasing the amount of water supplied to the public.

• The public is encouraged to adopt efficient methods of water consumption to promote sustainability. Wastewater from residential houses is channeled to desalination plants for recycling. It is then pumped back to residential homes and used for watering lawns.
• A project is underway to rehabilitate wells and improve chlorination plants and water supply pipes in Dambovita County (Ene et al., 2013).
• The government is restoring reservoirs to make sure that people have adequate water. Construction of six more wastewater recycling plants will enable the country to increase the amount of water supplied to the public.
• Failure to connect most households to the sewerage system has been contributing to the contamination of subsoil and groundwater. The move to rehabilitate and extend the sewage network will help to minimize the pollution of groundwater. It will go a long way towards ensuring that the country has sufficient clean water for domestic use.

Non-Revenue

Cities in Romania are working to minimize water wastage by investing in modern technologies.

• Ploesti Nord Gageni has minimized water wastage by replacing leaking pipes, installing modern pumps, and reducing water pressure at night.
• Most cities use a demand-driven strategy to supply water. It ensures that pumps operate flexibly, thus minimizing breakage.

Singapore

Singapore is one of the countries that are witnessing rapid economic growth. The demand for water in industries and urban centers is on the rise. Hence, the nation has to distribute the limited resources efficiently to ensure that all sectors get their share.

Residential

The increase in population growth, especially in the major urban centers has led to high demand for freshwater. The government has implemented the following water management strategies to guarantee sustainable water use in the country.

• It has learned that people waste a lot of water cleaning their hands. Hence, they are encouraged to use hot towels as an alternative way of washing hands.
• Toilet flushing consumes a lot of water. People are encouraged to reduce the number of a toilet flushing to minimize water wastage (Xi & Poh, 2013).
• Singapore’s Sewerage and Drainage Act (SDA) demands that all households channel their wastewater to sewage for recycling. The country has constructed numerous desalination plants. Today, over 25% of the country’s water comes from plants (Kolokytha, Oishi, & Teegavarapu, 2016).
• The government is in the process of constructing more plants to increase the amount of desalinated water (Tortajada & Joshi, 2013). The figure below shows the level of water consumption in residential areas in Singapore.

Agriculture

• Singapore appreciates the significance of using modern methods of farming. Hence, the country is gradually introducing technology-based farming techniques to reduce water wastage. For instance, it uses drones to monitor farms, irrigate crops, and control smog.
• Tortajada, Joshi, and Biswas (2013) argue, “The Public Utility Board in Singapore “has pioneered a new technology known as ‘variable-Salinity plant’ (VSP) that enables processing facilities to process brackish rainwater collected in outlying catchment areas during the wet season” (p. 15). The farmers can then rely on desalinated water during the dry seasons.

Non-Revenue

In the past, Singapore relied on traditional methods of cleaning essential markets and streets. The ways consumed a lot of water. Today, the government has introduced modern cleaning techniques that are water-efficient. The methods use state-of-the-art machines that require a limited amount of water.

Spain

The high population contributes to water stress in Spain. The problem poses a significant challenge to water management and policy implementation. At least 75% of the country experiences water challenges, and the problem is not expected to end soon (Gonzalez-Gomez, Garcia-Rubio, & Gonzalez-Martinez, 2014). The government has come up with policies to mitigate the water crisis.

Agriculture

• The government of Spain has invested in the improvement of water infrastructure for irrigation purposes.
• The introduction of water allocation schemes has enabled farmers to have a regular supply of water even during dry seasons. Water distribution is based on a permitting system. Gossling (2015) posits, “Water allocation in the agricultural sector is influenced by the water hierarchy, which ranks agriculture third after drinking supply and environmental flows” (p. 236).
• The government uses a water pricing strategy to regulate the use of the resources for irrigation. The pricing depends on the farming technology, type of crops, and accessibility of ground and surface water.
• The application of pesticides and fertilizers affects the quality of water, particularly in the river basins. The government is encouraging farmers to avoid the use of phosphorous- and nitrogen-rich fertilizers that contaminate water. Additionally, farmers are advised to use organic fertilizers to improve not only the quality of water but also soil.

Residential

In Spain, the municipality is responsible for water supply, wastewater management, and sanitation in urban areas.

• It charges the public for water distribution and services attributed to wastewater management.
• Individuals are requested to turn off water taps if not in use, especially when brushing.
• According to Catsillo, Gutierrez, Gutierrez, Gomez, and Garcia-Lopez (2013), “A bath typically uses around 80 liters, while a short shower can use as little as a third of that amount” (p. 533). Hence, families are encouraged to take a short shower to conserve water.
• Most families flush away make-up tissues, cotton balls, and pesky spiders instead of dumping them in rubbish bins. The Spanish government advocates the use of rubbish bins for such wastes to minimize water wastage.
• Families are asked to avoid cleaning fruits and vegetables under running taps. It helps to conserve water, thus making sure that every household gets sufficient clean water. The figure below shows the trend of water consumption in residential houses.

Non-Revenue

• Families are discouraged from using clean water to irrigate grass. Instead, they are advised to recycle bathing water (Ellis, 2013).
• Restoration of broken pipes goes a long way towards minimizing water loss.

India

India is one of the countries with the highest population. Environmental degradation, coupled with a weak water management system has contributed to the water crisis in the nation (Poddar, Qureshi, & Shi, 2014). The challenge is gradually affecting the social and economic growth of the country. The majority of the freshwater bodies have been depleted.

Residential

Over 30% of people in India reside in urban areas, and the number is expected to increase with time. Changes in lifestyle and economic development are bound to exert pressure on already scarce water resources (Starkl et al., 2013). The government is coming up with measures to mitigate further depletion of water resources.

• The government has initiated an Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) framework that seeks to assist cities in improving their current water management practices.
• The Indian government understands the value of wastewater. Thus, it is teaching the public how to recycle greywater and use it to water grass, grow vegetables, and run industries.
• The government has prioritized infrastructure development. It has invested in modern technology to facilitate water distribution, recycling of wastewater, and sanitation.
• In India, bottling companies like Coca-Cola are looking for a way to minimize water use and to reuse and recycle wastewater. The companies are also collaborating with farmers, non-governmental organizations, other industries, and the public to establish water management programs that will help to conserve the resource.

Agriculture

The northern, southern, western, and central India are experiencing an increased depletion of groundwater. The regions receive a limited amount of rainfall, thus low recharge rates.

• The government has discouraged farmers in the regions from digging additional wells. In states such as Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, farmers have invested inefficient pumps, laser levelers, and micro-irrigation to profit from the available groundwater (Setegn & Donoso, 2015).
• Setegn and Donoso (2015) claim, “There is a separation of agricultural feeders from rural domestic feeders and investments in high voltage distribution systems, which will allow rationing of high-quality power to agriculture, thereby forcing farmers to make more efficient use of groundwater” (p. 17).
• Plans are underway to rehabilitate the surface water, irrigation division. Farmers are being encouraged to adopt innovative farming methods like on-farm water storage to guarantee that they have sufficient water at all times.

Non-Revenue

The Indian government has invested in numerous strategies to facilitate the management of non-revenue water.

• The majority of the households are equipped with bulk flow meters that help to ascertain the amount of water consumed by each family.
• Investment in modern leakage detection technology has helped to minimize water loss.
• Restoration of faulty pines has gone a long way towards reducing the amount of water that is lost due to leakage.
• Most distribution pipes are equipped with pressure control valves. Thus, they cannot burst due to pressure surge, particularly during the day.

Denmark

Denmark has taken the initiative to enhance water management practices across the country. The state relies mainly on groundwater (Jorgensen, Villholth, & Refsgaard, 2017). Thus, the initiative is meant to enable it to realize sustainable groundwater management. Denmark has taken the following measures.

Residential

• In Denmark, groundwater is regarded as an essential national resource. The government prohibits the use of chemicals to treat the groundwater.
• Families are not allowed to drill wells. They have to get a permit from the government (Su, Christensen, & Liu, 2013). Moreover, the government evaluates the wells periodically to ensure that they do not contaminate groundwater.
• The government has imposed water taxes to reduce the rate of groundwater pumping. Additionally, it conducts campaigns to sensitize the public on the importance of preserving groundwater.
• The country has a decentralized management structure, which makes sure that all regions receive adequate water (Bar, Rouholahnejad, Rahman, Abbaspour, & Lehmann, 2015). The profit obtained from selling water is used to enhance service delivery and protect groundwater.
• People are required to use groundwater for most purposes to minimize pressure on surface water. Additionally, they are supposed to report their annual abstraction of groundwater to the government.

Agriculture

• Increased farm mechanization and the release of wastewater to the sea and surface waters led to the exhaustion of water resources in Denmark. The government came up with an action plan aimed at preventing harmful chemicals from reaching the aquifer.
• A Pesticide Action Plan has been implemented to curb the use of pesticides that might contaminate groundwater.
• Farmers have changed the varieties of pesticides that they use on their crops. Additionally, they have abandoned substances that were found to contaminate groundwater.
• Irrigation permits do not go beyond 15 years.

Non-Revenue

• The government of Demark has formulated non-renewable water (NRW) program to facilitate the supply of clean water to the public. The program comprises leakage control systems that minimize spillage. It also constitutes modern technologies like high-quality valves and smart meters. Today, Denmark has one of the best metering and billing systems, which help to reduce NRW. Implementation of an efficient leakage detection system has gone a long way towards facilitating the restoration of broken distribution infrastructures.
• The government uses valves to prevent possible rupture of water pipes due to high pressure.

References

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Catsillo, A., Gutierrez, A., Gutierrez, J., Gomez, J., & Garcia-Lopez, E. (2013). Water consumption in Spanish households. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences,7(3), 532-534.

Dong, H., Geng, Y., Sarkis, J., Fujita, T., Okadera, T., & Xue, B. (2013). Regional water footprint evaluation in China: A case of Liaoning. Science of the Total Environment, 442, 215-224.

Ellis, J. (2013). Sustainable surface water management and green infrastructure in UK urban catchment planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 56(1), 24-41.

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