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CIV 3202 | Assignment One

Table of Contents
Introduction.....................................................................................................1
Questions Answered........................................................................................1
Methodology....................................................................................................1
Planning Summary...........................................................................................2
Assumptions and Considerations.....................................................................2
Planning Procedure......................................................................3
Water Requirements...................................................................3
Research and Reconnaissance......................................................................4
Hydrological Survey......................................................................................5
Planning of well development.......................................................................5
Network planning..........................................................................................6
Measurement................................................................................................6
Monitoring.....................................................................................................6
Is the total global water quantity decreasing?................................7
Is the global fresh water supply decreasing?..................................8
References.......................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Safe and healthy water supply is perhaps the most important resource
in a community based habitual plan. It ensures proper water for drinking,
cooking, hygiene, and many other domestic activities. As a result, ensuring
that communities and housing areas have adequate water supplies is
becoming a major concern globally, with threats placed on the availability of
conventional ground water systems.
For a developing country like Guyana, stresses related to ground water
are less common, but the need to establish economic and environmentally
friendly ground water supply systems should be a suggested path of
operation for upcoming engineers in the field.
This report highlights the elementary steps that should be followed to
undertake the task. It begins by describing the steps involved in the planning
of a ground water supply system (GWSS) for a new housing scheme. In this
the description, the researcher mentions various assumptions that will be
utilised throughout the report since the GWSS is hypothetical. In this
description, a detailed step can be found on how to determine the demand
for the housing scheme, which is a report requirement as seen on the
questions answered section below. Following this is the answers to two
essay type questions regarding the global total and fresh water supplies.

Questions Answered
1) Describe the steps taken to plan a ground water supply system
for a new housing scheme (pages a b )
2) Describe how you would go about determining the water demand
for the housing scheme (with the description for question one,
page c )
3) Is the total global water supply decreasing? (page d )
4) Is the global fresh water supply decreasing? ( page e)

Methodology
The information in this report was compiled utilizing a number of
credible sources. Information gathering took the following chronological
outline, which lead to a final research and compilation of data:

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1) Scheduled interview with past Project Manager (new plants),

GWI1 Mr. Shimbhudyal Naitram (PMP, MSc.)
2) Internet related search on topics revised in interview
3) Internet and library search on technical aspects of plant design
Planning Summary
The successful development of any ground water supply system
depends heavily on the availability of the resource at the intended location. If
the area of interest has a considerable about of water that is easily obtained,
then the possibly of re-planning is minimized, thus reducing the expenditure
of additional resources. However, in areas of water scarcity, critical planning
is necessary and planning requirements maybe needed, such as priority
given to a specific hydrological survey.
The following are suggested steps in planning:
1) Determine water requirements (demand)
2) Research on history of water resources in the area
3) Conduct a hydrological survey to assess the presence of water in
the area
4) Planning of well drilling and development
5) Development of primary and secondary service networks plans
6) Evaluation of measurement
7) Monitoring of the working system

Assumptions and Considerations

It is essential to establish the following assumptions in this
hypothetical planning phase of the water supply system in questioning:
1) The property and its elements are state owned and is used
thereof, say GWI1
2) The housing area is small to medium scale, on the magnitude of
approximately 800 households/house-lots

1 GWI Government owned, Guyana Water Incorporated primary

corporate employers supplying water and its resources to the nation.
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3) Assume standard water requirements per capita2 unless

measured otherwise take domestic 180 liters per capita per day
(for a household of four recommended for use by GWI)
4) Assume no excess capacity apart from side of supply
5) Assume priority of land use for development
6) Assume water is sufficiently pure and requires only minimum
treatment e.g. aeration and chlorination
7) Assume a standard pressure head in service line of 6 meters,
unless otherwise determined
8) Assume peak demands of water between the times of 5AM to
8AM and 4PM 9PM, unless otherwise measured
9) Take electrical power supply from GPL3 and no use of external
back-up power
10)
Assume sources of no industrial, farm or livestock water
use in housing scheme, thence to increase water demands
11)
Assume that housing scheme is now in the planning and
allotting stages and minimum houses (45 maximum) have been
constructed.
12)
No considerations placed on drilling next to an existing
well, in close proximity
13)
Consider drilling until capacity is achieved.

Planning Procedure
Water Requirements
Gathering of data
The gathering of information that is critical in the calculation of
water demand is an important aspect of the design. Information
on the speculated size of households could be useful given and
variations from the predicted value of four. One key factor that is
revealed in this stage is the expected rate of development of the
area, regarding the optimum supply of water. A slow
development rate could mean overproduction of the plant in
which case a smaller water pump will be useful, or a larger
storage unit (see well development page), in order to buffer
excess water produces.

2 As recommended by the IADB Inter-American Development Bank,

and WHO World Health Organisation
3 GPL Government owned, Guyana Power & Light
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Determining water requirements

A properly designed water system should adequately provide
water to meet the daily needs throughout the serviceable lifetime
of the plant. It must be capable of delivering water fast enough
to satisfy peak demands. Also, a minimum steady supply of water
to cater for small fires is desirable and must be taken into
account in this phase. If a daily requirement of 180 liters per
capita is taken, and a housing scheme of 800 households, then
the water system must be capable of supplying well over:
Capacity of GWSS=Daily requirement Number of households

180 L
/day 800
capita

144000 L /capita /day

Additional capacity: At this stage, it is important to consider

capacity losses, capacity due to preliminary industrial works,
such as house construction and landscaping and additional
capacity regarding fire suppression, e.g. a number of fire
hydrants cross-community. A final total is suggested to be
considered in the following paragraph.
Expansion scheme: Well enough, there should exist provision for
a small future growth of the population size and ultimately, the
water demand. Additionally, the average number of persons in a
household may vary largely from four, leading to the plant underproducing in this case. An aim to reduce the possibility of
establishing a second plant is considered thoroughly in this
stage, since a second plant may have to see a remote location
and will be divergent from planned budgets. An expansion
scheme catering for 30% increase in capacity should be
implemented and executed when required. This increase will up
the capacity requirement to: 144000L/capita/day x 130% =
187200L/capita/day. Factoring fire suppression and industrial
loses, a grand rounded total of 190,000L/capita/day is a capable
value at peak demands. This will be the final water requirement
of the GWSS.

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Research and Reconnaissance

Existing plants: Research into the existence of wells near the
area is helpful in the planning stages, since you could obtain
drilling depths requirement, yield and water quality information.
In some cases, the capacity required can only be achieved if
drilling is done farther below the prescribed depths, which is not
explicitly revealed in the hydrological survey.
Pollution and contamination issues: An insight into possible
sources of industrial contamination and pollution is critical for the
planning and feasibility of the GWSS. Good and safe water supply
free from unacceptable chemical contamination is of importance,
since treatment is only available to a certain level of
contamination. If the water table is being infected, then
development alternatives will have to be assessed.
Social and economic study
A properly designed water system should adequately provide
water to meet the daily needs

Hydrological Survey
The presence of ground water in the area of questioning is a limiting
factor in the planning stages of the GWSS. In its absence, the engineer may
have to consider alternative options. The hydrological survey will reveal the
presence of water in the area, and how well the location of the aquifer best
influences the position of the well.
Well location
It is optimum for the well to be located in the center of the
housing scheme, since this would reduce water travelling
distance to the residents, and improve the systems efficiency in
general. This location will also influence the network layout of the
primary mains. The well is expected to be located where ground
water is readily accessible, and where drilling depths are short. A
radius of possible location spots can be overlaid on the site plan
of the area and the optimum location can be determined.

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Planning of well development

The aim of this stage of planning is to measure and compare the actual
capacity of the well to the demand required. The question to answer is
whether or not the well can provide the capacity. It is recommended that
drilling is done until the capacity is achieved, but there is no guarantee that
a number of years after drilling, the well will maintain full capacity. In some
cases re-drilling is required in the event of a change in the water table
(ground water depletion), since this is not usually catered for initially. If the
assumption is made that one well is adequate for supply, then the need for
secondary drilling is discarded. If not, however, then considerations can be
placed on a well cluster, where a number of small wells are established and
the water is pumped to a central location for treatment and distribution.
Equipment and apparatus
All of the state owned wells and treatment systems are predetermined and is employed on the basis of the magnitude of the
plant and will not be considered in detail in this report. It is
recommended that a standard set is used in the planning and
development phase so as to minimize time spent on testing and
maintenance evaluation.
Pump location
The location of the pump is determined from the actual location
of the well and aquifer. The idea is to set up the water pump to:
firstly, conduct a pump test where the capacity of the well is
measured and secondly, remain in place for service.

Network planning
For sufficiently pure ground water, there are only mandates for
the aeration and chlorination of water. The planning of the network
between the pumping phase, to the treatment phase, to distribution,
thence to the consumers, requires the use of primary and secondary
mains. Based upon the initiation time of the system, a storage buffer
tank will need to be pre-installed to cater for downtime due to off peak
times.
Network plan: An efficient network plan will promote permissible
service to the customer, reduce water losses by leaks and improve the
systems productivity. The advent of information technology has led to
the use of software tools such as WaterGems in the planning of water
supply networks. Employing this tool will be useful.

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Measurement
The objective of measuring the output and consumption of the system
is compare the actual production to the planned production. If the plant is
under producing, then it would be important to consider upgrading of the
planning process or investigating the population consumption.

Monitoring
Monitoring is post-construction planning that deals with the outside
development of the system. A successful GWSS extends to assessing the
plants performance, intermittently. The need to identify possible sources of
exaggerative water losses, blockages, or inefficiencies would mean a
complete and thorough water system planning. Also considered is the quality
of water that the consumers receive. There is always a need to improve
where possible and the most relevant and excusable time to do so is when
water quality assessments have been made.

Is the total global water quantity decreasing?

A dynamic approach to answer this question is seen in the hydrological
water balance equation, which is used to describe the flow of water in and
out of a system (as seen below). In such an explanation, the Earth is
modelled as the closed system, with several hydrological domains such as
soil pores, drainage basins, rivers, lakes, biota etc.. The general water
balance equation:
P=Q+ E+ S
where

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P = precipitation, Q = runoff, E = evapotranspiration, S =

change in storage in the soil
The water balance equation is made referenced to the hydrological
cycle describing the principles of conservation of mass in a closed system,
whereby any water entering the system (e.g. via precipitation) must be
transferred into either evaporation, surface runoff (eventually reaching the
channel and leaving in the form of river discharge) or stored in the ground.
Then, it is safe to say that perhaps the water that once composed dinosaur
urine thousands of years ago, is, that has been recycled many times, the
water that is now part of that in your reservoir storage. The recycling nature
of water in the earths system is what is responsible for stable (not
decreasing or increasing) of water quantities.
A more scientific approach to the explanation describes the physical
interface at the very extremities of the closed system, which is evidently
taken as the tropopause in the earths upper atmosphere. This layer in the
atmosphere prevents the escape of water from the earth since it is extremely
cold, at an altitude of over 15 kilometers, and a corresponding temperature
of -60Celcius - and water states (dominantly vapour) forms instantaneous
crystals that fall back to the earths surface. This makes the planet very
efficient at keeping its water, and every drop of water that we use continues
through the water cycle.
In concluding, there is no evidence of water entering the earths
atmosphere from asteroids and extra-terrestrial rocks. However, each year
organisations such a NASA4 and RFSA5 release water into space, in the form
of space material (e.g. international space station and satellites). This small
quantity of water is on the magnitude of a fraction of several millionths of
the global water supply, and water can also be artificially created through
the combustion of organic and aromatic compounds (e.g. the burning of
fossil fuels).

Is the global fresh water supply decreasing?

It is important to make reference to the availability of fresh water for use on
the planet earth. Only a mere 2.5% of fresh water exists on earth6, and
nearly 70% of it is frozen in icecaps leaving roughly 1% of the worlds fresh
water for acceptable and accessible human uses. This water is found in
4 NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
5 RFSA Russian Federal Space Agency
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lakes, rivers, reservoirs and natural underground systems. As such, only this
amount is readily and regularly renewed by the hydrological cycle and is
therefore available on a sustainable basis. In fact, a great deal of water
precipitation falls directly in our oceans hereby limiting fresh water renewal
to a near fixed amount, and the process of fresh water recycling through
ground water percolation and filtration is slow and takes a few hundred years
to complete and made available to be tapped from aquifers etc.
The problem with global fresh water supplies is that population is
growing rapidly, putting more pressure on fresh water supply (an ever
increasing demand), and the amount of natural fresh water is being
effectively reduced by pollution, contamination, and ground water depletion
in almost every part of the planet. Therefore, global natural fresh water
quantities are steadily being reduced, at a faster rate than its natural
renewal, and will continue to decrease, especially in the agriculture sector for
an increasing demand for food.
However, with the boom in technological advancements, many
processes have been developed to convert contaminated water back into
fresh water. This is being employed in large cities where sewage water is
being converted back into useable water supplies, thus adding to the global
fresh water quantity. Artificial fresh water recycling will need to be an
adopting mean of obtaining fresh water in the coming years if ground water
supplies continue to reduce.

6 Globalchange.umich.edu, The water resources of Earth,

Globalchane.umich.eduhttp://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply
/freshwater.html

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References
A, Megan. ology blog, ask a scientist. www.amnh.org. [Online] [Cited:
2 19, 2015.]
http://www.amnh.org/ology/features/askascientist/question12.php.
Coleridge. 2006. Human Approximation of the world's Fresh water
Supply. www.globalchange.umich.edu. [Online] University of Michigan , 4 1,
2006. [Cited: 2 23, 2015.]
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwat
er_supply/freshwater.html.
Stewart, Prof. lian. How can our blue planet be running out of fresh
water? www.bbc.co.uk. [Online] [Cited: 2 21, 2015.]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3qdd2p.
Water. www.climate.org. [Online] [Cited: 2 21, 2015.]
http://www.climate.org/topics/water.html.
World fresh water supply. www.worldwildlife.org. [Online] [Cited: 2 23,
2015.] http://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/freshwater-systems.

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