1 PLANNING OF WATER SUPPLY & WASTEWATER

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
1.1 Introduction/Definitions
Planning A sequence of anticipated actions that are to be executed for a purpose.
System A series of related processes which achieve a certain end.
Management Decisions and actions, which govern the working of a system.
Project A series of actions governed by objectives, targets, methodologies, implementation,
operation, maintenance and evaluation, e.g., for a water supply project the different aspects of planning are:
i) Objectives, which may be:
• To provide safe water to the community in adequate quantities and at reasonable costs;
• To supply safe and wholesome water to the community and thereby control and combat diseases e.g.
cholera, dysentery etc;
• To promote hygiene;
• To make water easily available to consumers;
• For industrial purposes.
ii) Targets would be for example coverage – where you consider providing a given quantity of water to a
given population by a given date e.g. 80lpcd to 70% of the population by the year 2020. Targets depend
on the level of service.
iii) Methodologies: These include
• Verification of the source (quantity and quality)
• Determination of the demand
• Choice of the treatment units, materials, equipment and identification of means of distribution
etc.
iv) Implementation: At the implementation stage, considerations include the cost of the project (capital/
investment costs), manpower, financial, infrastructure (roads, buildings, etc), topography, legal aspects
etc.
v) Operation and maintenance: The major aim is to achieve sustainable utilization of the project. Issues to
consider include: operation and maintenance daily schedules, decisions on manpower to be used,
identification of spare parts and other materials that will be routinely required etc.
vi) Evaluation of the project: This involves an assessment of the impact of the project on the target
community groups to see whether the objectives have been satisfied/met e.g.
Prevalence of disease

Normal course
Impact
Course after implementation
of the project

-5yr 0yr t Time

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -1-

 Course after implementation of the
85%
project

Water coverage
Impact

Normal course
40%

2002 2005 2020 Time

The impact of the project is the difference in results brought about by project implementation.

Note: That there are also negative impacts of projects e.g., Irrigation – Schistosomiasis, Hydropower –
Dracunculiasis or river blindness, Displacement of people.
1.2 Types of Planning
There are basically three levels/types of planning: comprehensive community/general planning,
comprehensive functional planning (also known as preliminary or feasibility study) and definitive or project
planning.
a) Comprehensive Community/General Planning
This is the study of the total region or part of the region within the context of the total region to identify
priority projects. It involves a study of the different aspects of public health and their inter-relation. These
may include water supply, wastewater management, solid waste management, community health
services, etc. It is a multidisciplinary activity involving the participation of politicians and policy
makers, health and social workers, hydrologists, engineers, architects, planners etc.

A comprehensive community planning process includes:

• A statement of the goals and objectives
• Basic studies, mapping and data analysis
• Plan preparation
• Plan implementation
• Public information and community action
• Re-evaluation and continual planning
b) Comprehensive Functional Planning/Preliminary or Feasibility Study
After the identification and selection of priority projects from the comprehensive community planning a
comprehensive feasibility study is carried out to consider in some detail, the several ways (alternatives) in
which the project can be executed, together with approximate costs. No detailed engineering or architectural
construction plans are prepared at this stage, but engineering, political, legal, economic and social feasibility
or acceptance of each alternative is presented, with advantages and disadvantages, environmental impact,
recommendations and cost estimates/source of funding. The study should be sufficiently complete to enable
decision makers (politicians) decide as well as NEMA and public information needs.
c) Definitive/Project Planning
After the decision makers give a go ahead for the project, the next step is the establishment of the legal
entity to administer the project as provided for by the state or local law. This is followed by acquisition of
necessary rights, resolution of any legal constraints, rate setting, financing of the operation and maintenance,
debt repayment, etc. The consulting engineer is then selected, followed by the preparation of plans,
specifications, contract drawings, advertising of bids and subsequently awarding of contracts.

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -2-

Supervision is carried out by a consulting engineer (not necessarily one who initially drew plans,
specifications etc.). A site engineer is also employed to take charge of the construction at the site. The
consulting engineer provides updated drawings/manuals and guidelines to the municipality and/or
community as well as to the operation and maintenance personnel and trains staff to take over full operation.

1.3 Some Constraints of Project Planning

1) Lack of resources
• Financial
• Materials and equipment
• Manpower (managerial, skilled workers etc.)
• Land.
2) Infrastructure
• Roads (access to the project site)
• Communication
• Energy
• Water supply.
3) Institutional arrangement
Water supply and wastewater management projects are usually under a ministerial department or NGO,
therefore:
• responsibility at all levels should be ensured
• line of command should be clear
• protocol within institutions should be respected.
4) Political instability
Change of governments may lead to extermination of projects as different governments may have
different priorities.
5) Public opinion
Negative attitudes, ignorance etc of the people may lead to failure of a project.

1.4 Planning Considerations

In general, planning of water supply and wastewater management projects can be divided into three basic
steps:
i) the determination of the current and future needs
ii) the appraisal of all possible means to meet these needs
iii) the selection of the most economic approaches for satisfying the anticipated requirements.

Although the concept may be straight forward, the planning process may be exceedingly complex in
practice. Numerous detailed investigations and studies are usually required. Examples of the most important
of these are:
1. Project site – This could be decided by policy makers (politicians) i.e. decisions about project site are
usually made at a higher level;
2. Size of the project area including information on population, economic land use, and other associated
planning studies essential for the prediction of the water quality and quantity requirements for the
various anticipated uses for the duration of the planning period chosen;
3. Topography of the area – this determines whether the water (in case of water supply) flows by gravity
with respect to distribution thereby reducing costs. Wastewater flow by gravity to its disposal
site/treatment plant is also determined by topography and this should be utilised as much as possible
since pumping of wastewater is very costly;
4. Hydrologic investigations to provide estimates of the quantities of fresh surface water and groundwater
entering the basin and of the temporal distribution of these supplies. It is often the case that sufficient
data on the meteorological and hydrologic characteristics of the basin are not available. Therefore
additional field measurements and statistical analyses must frequently be relied upon to yield the
required information;

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -3-

 5. Comprehensive field investigations to evaluate the physical, chemical, radiological and biological
characteristics of the surface waters of the basin. The information determined will indicate (a) the
degree to which the water will have to be treated in order to be subjected for various purposes, (b) the
ability of the watercourse to assimilate waste discharges while continuing to sustain fish and wild life,
and (c) the recreational and aesthetic values of the waters;
6. Studies of the storage capacities and uses of existing and proposed reservoirs in the basin. In some
cases, it will also be necessary to make detailed studies of the topography and geology of the basin with
the object of determining additional reservoir sites of a satisfactory nature. Storage estimates for these
potential storage locations would also be required;
7. Investigations to determine the location and extent of ground water storage, aquifer characteristics and
the quality of the underground supplies;
8. Studies to provide information on existing and anticipated sources of wastes that will be introduced into
surface and underground water bodies. Knowledge of the characteristics and volumes of these wastes
will be necessary. Information on the optimum treatment that these wastes could be expected to
undergo will also be required;
9. Estimates of water requirements to be used to augment low flows for quality and quantity control of
surface water bodies. Low-flow augmentation can play an important role in fish and wild life
preservation and in combating pollution;
10. Public health information on the area – such would include information on what kind of water related
diseases e.g. water washed (quantity related) or water-borne (quality related). Information on the kind
of prevalent diseases assist in the selection of water treatment requirements. This information may also
be important in soliciting funds e.g. from WHO, UNICEF, AMREF e.t.c.
11. Standards of living (socio-economic status) – this affects the water use and consequently the quantities
of wastewater generated;
12. Availability of local materials for construction – this affects construction costs;
13. Legal aspects – Activity should not violate laws of the land. Examples of legal instruments that need to
be considered for projects are; Public Health Act, National Environment Statute, WHO drinking water
quality standards, Discharge standards for wastewater etc.
14. Manpower availability – both skilled and unskilled;
15. Construction, operation, maintenance and repair should preferably be within the competence of local
technical staff. The available skills in the local community need to be utilised and improved, if required
e.g., through training;
16. Evaluation of the benefits that will result from the proposed water supply and wastewater management
project. In arriving at conclusions regarding benefits, it is important that the optimum economic or
socially desirable development water projects be based on studies of all practical combinations and
alternatives of objectives.

1.5 Design Considerations

1.5.1 Introduction

Prior to the design of a water treatment plant, thorough investigations must be carried out to determine the
QUANTITY of water (Yield of the source) and whether it would be feasible to use alternative sources with
better raw water QUALITY. In the next sections, the various considerations required before attempting to
design water supply and wastewater management scheme are described.

1.5.2 Basis of Volume

These are parameters, which are used in the determination of the design/future demand/volume. Design of
water supply and wastewater management systems is a function of the design demand (design volume). The
factors that determine the design volume are: Design period, design population, economic status, which
affects the level of service and the per capita income, etc.

1.5.2.1 Design Period

This is the time within which the project will be serving satisfactorily. It depends on the following factors:
4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -4-
 i) Project size/cost – this is especially important when the source of funding is a loan. High interest rates
corresponds with shorter design periods
ii) Running (operation and maintenance) costs
iii) Population growth
iv) Financial constraints
v) Durability (“service life”) of the different components of a water supply scheme
vi) Future extensions

Normally, water demand projections should be made for the “Initial year”, the “Future year” and the
“Ultimate year”. The “Initial year” is the year when the water supply scheme is expected to be
commissioned into operation, which may be assumed to be 5 years from the date of commencement of the
feasibility studies. The “Future year” is 10 years and the “Ultimate year” is 20 years ahead of the “Initial
year”.

A water supply scheme should normally be designed for the “Ultimate year” demand. However, phasing of
the implementation will often prove necessary from the financial point of view, and the possibilities of
phasing should therefore be examined against the background of the “Initial year” and the “Future year”
water demand projections.

Electrical and mechanical equipment is normally designed for shorter periods than civil engineering and
building works, a reflection of the different “service life”/”Economic life” periods for the different water
supply scheme components as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Typical design periods for selected systems in water supply

Component Design period/Economic life (years)
Dams 40

Intake works, including boreholes, mass concrete structures such as intakes, underground pits, culverts etc 40
Boreholes and wells 20
Pumps 10
Diesel Engines 10
Electrical motors, cables and switch gears 10
Piping of all types 30
Treatment works: Treatment works in masonry or reinforced concrete 30
Storage tanks in masonry or reinforced concrete 30
Storage tanks, sectional steel including towers 20
Storage tanks, corrugated galvanised steel (C.G.S) on timber stands 10
Water kiosks, latrines, licensed retailer points etc 20
Water meters 10
Chemical dosing gear 10
Instruments and testing apparatus 5
Fences, G.S wire or mesh on timber 10
Fences, G.S wire or mesh on concrete posts 20
Source: DWD Water Supply Design Manual, 2000.

1.5.2.2 Design Population

This refers to the projected population for the design period. A useful formula commonly used for future
population projections is as follows
n
 r 
Pn = Pi 1 + 
 100 
Where:
Pn = Projected future population after n years, the “design population”
Pi = Initial population in the “base” year
r = Estimated annual population growth rate – in %
n = Number of years/Design period
4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -5-
Population projections can also be estimated by other methods such as the graphical/extrapolation methods,
the ratio and correction method, the least square method etc.

NB:
1. The projection of future population can be quite difficult. Therefore, all available demographic
information should be collected and evaluated. The following sources of information, wherever
applicable, will be useful in determining the likely future population growth rates:
• The growth in population, which has taken place in the past. Compare figures of the 1969, 1980,
1991 and 2002 censuses and the respective intercensal population growth rates
• District Development Plans
• Town council physical development plans
• Official projections by the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning
• Opinions of the Local Administrators.

2. The present populations in a proposed water supply scheme area should be estimated based on the
latest (2002) census figures. However, the results should be crosschecked with information obtained
from other sources such as the local council (LC) authorities.

3. Populations in principal towns and urban centers should be analyzed separately for different areas
and different categories. “High”, “medium” and “low” income housing populations should be
projected independently.

1.5.2.3 Water Demand (Flows/Loads)

A water supply scheme will almost without exception cater for water demand, which will be increasing with
the years to come. When designing a scheme, a decision has to be taken regarding the time in the future, for
which the various components of the scheme are to be designed.

To calculate the water demand for a water supply scheme, it is necessary to do the following:
• determine the numbers of consumers falling within the different consumer categories at various stages
of the design period
• determine the average day unit water demand figures for the various consumer categories concerned.

There are different types of “water demand”. These include domestic demand, institutional demand
(educational institutions, health institutions etc), commercial demand (shops, workshops, restaurants, bars,
hotels, banks etc), industrial demand, other demands (e.g., irrigation, fire-fighting, livestock demand,
losses/unaccounted-for-water and internal water works demand).

The calculation of water demand can be divided into a number of stages. These include choosing the
boundary of the scheme; choosing an appropriate design life; estimating the population and calculating the
likely water demand in the area. Each stage must be completed before moving onto the next. There is no
single answer, and therefore, it may be necessary to return to previous stages if earlier decisions later
produce unrealistic results. Each stage requires data and assumptions to be made about the future needs.
Provisions can sometimes be made in the design for additional pipes or storage after five or ten years to cope
with population growth. This approach is particularly useful if the population growth rate is unknown.

Designers must cater for the inherent variations in flows and loads. This is done by defining various duration
−
averages, minima and maxima. The average flow Q , (m3/s) for a specified period T, (s) is defined as

∑Q
n
− 1 T −

∫
i
Q= Q(t )dt for continuous data, and Q = i
for discrete data
T 0 n
where n = total number of discrete flow measurements; Q(t) = flow at time t.

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -6-

Similarly, for wastewater loads, the instantaneous contaminant load W(t) is the product of the instantaneous
contaminant concentration C(t) and the instantaneous wastewater volumetric flow rate Q(t) i.e.
W (t ) = Q(t ) × C (t ) for continuous data, and Wi = Qi × C i for discrete data
−
The average contaminant load W , (kg/s) during some interval T, (s) is calculated as
∑W
n
− 1 T −

∫
i
W= W (t )dt for continuous data and W = i
for discrete data
T 0 n
The usual averaging periods are:
• The annual average or daily average
• The maximum (or minimum) 1 hour average
• The maximum (or minimum) 24 hour average
• The maximum (or minimum) 7 day average
• The maximum (or minimum) 30 day average
In each case the database should be of 12 consecutive months.

For water supply, the average daily per capita consumption (ADPCC) is defined as
TAC
ADPCC =
P×n
where ADPCC = Average daily per capita consumption
TAC = Total annual consumption
P = Design population for the area to be served
n = No of days in a year (365days)

NB:
1. Because of uncertainties in developing the design demand, the projected values only set boundaries to
the problem. They set guidelines to maximum plant capacity, storage volume, land area and other
resources that may be required.
2. Water demand for institutions should be estimated based on the situation prevailing at the time of
scheme design (present population) and the future development plans of the institutions (e.g., Ministry
of Health and District Local Government Development plans for Health institutions; Ministry of
Education and District Local Government Development plans for educational institutions etc). Wherever
such data is not available, the assumptions used by the designer to estimate water demand should be
stated clearly.
3. Water demand for commercial enterprises should be based on the situation prevailing at the time of
scheme design, and the expected development based on the area development plans. In this regard, it can
be assumed that future increases in commercial activity will be directly related to the growth in
population.
4. Water demand for industries should be studied in detail by consulting the proprietors concerned and
other relevant agencies, e.g., Planning department of the government, Uganda investments Authority etc.
Areas designated as “industrial areas” in the town council physical development plans, but for which
the exact nature of the industry is not known, should be allocated quantities of water per unit area as
indicated in Table 3. However, realistic time-frames for the gradual development of such areas must be
considered.
5. Normally, water demand considerations should not include provisions for irrigation, apart from very
limited garden watering, which, in any case, is already included in the per capita unit water demand
figures given in Table 3.
6. In principal towns, water demand for fire-fighting should be determined in collaboration with the
relevant fire authorities. For smaller urban centers, it is recommended that the capacity for fire-fighting
should not be less than 10l/s during a period of 2hrs. Normally, there should not be any provision made
for fire-fighting in rural water supply schemes.
7. An allowance of 20-25% of total Average Day Demand should be included to cater for leakage,
wastage, water demand for flushing pipelines, storage tanks and other ordinary internal water works
usage. However, in some cases, these losses may rise to as high as 30-50% of total Average Day Water

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -7-

 Demand/Production; For example, the current unaccounted-for-water by NWSC in Kampala stands at
39% of the total water produced (Sept. 2003).

Average Day Unit Water Demand Figures

The average day unit water demand figures, which are to be used in conjunction with the numbers of the
domestic, institutional, commercial, industrial and other consumers to calculate the “Average Day
Demands” are shown in Table 3. The average day unit water demand figures are represented as guidelines,
which may be adjusted if different figures are shown to be more appropriate in a particular situation. The
figures represent the mean values of water demands for the respective consumer types. For each given
consumer type, there will be considerable variations in water demands from member to member.

Table 3: Average Day Unit Water Demand Figures

Consumer Type Average Day Unit Water Demand
Domestic
Standpipe 20 litres/person/day
Yard tap 40 litres/person/day
House connection 200 litres/person/day; High Income Consumers (with multiple fixtures and a garden tap; includes
car washing and garden watering)
100 litres/person/day; Medium Income Consumers (with a kitchen sink, one or two WCs, showers
and bathtubs and hand wash basins).
50 litres/person/day; Low Income Consumers (with limited fixtures, a WC and one or two taps).

Institutional
Schools – Day (students and staff) 5 litres/person/day
– Boarders (students and staff) 50 litres/person/day
Hospitals – Outpatients and non resident staff 10 litres/person/day
– In-patients and resident staff 100 litres/person/day
Mosques 15 litres/person/day
Churches 5 litres/person/day
Prisons 50 litres/person/day
Commercial
Hotels 100 litres/bed/day
Lodges 50 litres/bed/day
Shops 25 litres/shop/day
Bars/Restaurants 200 litres/day
Offices 5 litres/person/day
Petrol stations/washing bays 200 litres/day
Abattoirs/butcheries 50 litres/day
Industrial
Milk cooling 200 litres/day
Dry processing mills 30 litres/day
Unspecified industrial areas 10,000 litres/hectare/day
Livestock
Livestock Unit 50 litres/head/day
Source: DWD Water Supply Design Manual, 2000
NB: 1 Cattle = 0.7 Livestock Units; 1 Pig = 0.4 Livestock Units; 1 Goat/sheep = 0.15 Livestock Units

1.5.2.4 Peaking Factors

Peaking factor is defined as maximum demand over a given period of time divided by the average demand
over the same period of time.

Qmax
Demand

Qaver

6a.m 12 18 24 6 12 … Time of Day

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -8-

(a) Daily Peaking Factor
This is the maximum daily demand divided by the average annual daily demand. The value is usually
between 1.1 and 1.3. The daily peaking factor reflects the seasonal variation in demand and is used to design
production and storage facilities and bulk supply mains. Its magnitude depends on climatic factors and the
requirement for seasonal uses such as garden watering. In the absence of specific local information, a value
of 1.2 may be taken.

(b) Hourly Peaking Factor

This is the maximum hourly demand divided by the average hourly demand. The value is usually between 2
and 3. This reflects water use patterns through the course of a typical day and is used in the design of
distribution mains. Its magnitude depends on: the number of individual house connections; the number of
standposts; industrial and commercial uses; and the extent to which buildings has their own water storage
facilities. For the design of a distribution system with a continuous or near continuous supply to house
connections, a factor of 2.5 should be taken if local data is not available.

NB: Where water supply is intermittent and less than about 12 hours per day, peak factors are likely to be
30
higher. Where local data are not available, the peak factor in such situations may be taken as , where N is
N
the number of hours of supply during the day.

(c) Weekly Peaking Factor

This is not normally used. It is about 50% of the daily peaking factor.

Note: Peaking factors vary with the population to be served; the smaller the supply area, the larger the peak
factor.
Table 2: Recommended peak factors for water demand (US)

Type of community Averaging Period

30 days 7 days 1 day 1hr
Population greater than 5000, with commerce and industry 1.3 1.5 2.0 3.3
Purely residential and resort 1.9 2.2 2.9 6.2

1.6 Sustainability of Water Supply and Wastewater Management

The concept of sustainability is that activities of the present generation should not compromise the resources
or environmental conditions of future generations. According to Warner (1990), the success or sustainability
of a project is achieved when it meets its objectives and is maintained by its users over a significant period
of time. This definition reflects the fact that the water and sanitation sector is moving through a process of
change in which governments are changing their roles from service providers to facilitators. This implies
that they provide support to organizations at community level, without taking over their roles. On the
contrary, through teamwork, the capacity of the community organizations is being strengthened. This allows
the local level, men, women and children to be better involved in the protection of their water supply and
their interests.

Therefore, a water supply and/or wastewater management system is sustainable when it

− provides an efficient and reliable service at a level that is desired
− can be financed or co-financed by the users with limited but feasible external support and technical
assistance
− is being used in an efficient and effective way without negatively affecting the environment

Sustainability of water and wastewater management systems involves 4 crucial dimensions: the user
community wanting an efficient and reliable service, the technology that has to provide it, the institutional
environment and efficient use of the service. The Figure below, shows the interlink between the key
elements to be matched in sustainable water supply and wastewater management systems.

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes -9-

 Institutional Technology
environment

User community

It is important that the sustainability definition provides for a reliable service over time. There are five
criteria that can be used to establish the quality and level of service of water supply systems. These are:
Coverage, Continuity, Quantity, Quality and Cost. Of the three, coverage, continuity and cost can also be
used for wastewater management systems.

Coverage, refers to the access that the people in the community have to water supply and wastewater
management systems. The water and wastewater management services should be equally distributed to the
greatest number of users possible in an area. If sufficient water is available, people who want to have more
water can obtain this extra service, but at a higher price. For many people, coverage seems to be the most
important indicator, however, to obtain health and social benefits, it is not enough to focus on this aspect
alone

Continuity in service provision is needed in order to help avoid the risk of people returning to contaminated
water sources. This may be the case if hand pumps go out of order and are not very quickly repaired. In
piped water systems where the water supply is sometimes or frequently interrupted, the risk of
recontamination in the distribution network should be investigated very carefully and prevented by making
proper designs and identifying protective actions with the community. In the case of intermittent water
supply it is important to specify the distribution hours in consultation with the users to avoid unnecessary
waiting times. Equally so latrines have to provide continuity as numerous examples exist of latrines being
abandoned when they have filled up. Similarly, latrines have to be in operation 12 months a year, which can
be a great challenge in areas that are prone to flooding.

Quantity of water is an important factor for health improvement. Enough water should be provided and used
for drinking, cooking, food preparation and good personal and household hygiene. Bringing water close to
the user reduces the time and efforts involved in water collection, a benefit that is particularly important for
women and children.

Quality of water is a key factor for public health, for the acceptance by the users and for operation and
maintenance of the water supply system. Water quality can be reviewed by a combination of systematic
observations in sanitary inspections combined with water quality analysis.

Cost of systems will be largely determined by the level of service that is chosen and the type of technology
that can be applied. The implementation technology should, if possible, be in harmony with socio-economic
conditions and above all with the willingness of the users to pay. As a minimum, the tariff should cover
aspects such as operation and maintenance, and, if agreed upon between the financing body and the users,
recovery of the initial investment. Furthermore, if possible, it should be able to cover unforeseen costs and
future expansions. For latrines, the question of ability (and willingness) to pay is an important issue.

4th Year Public Health Engineering Practice, Lecture notes - 10 -