What is Water Supply Management?

Water resource management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the
optimum use of water resources. It is an aspect of water cycle management.

Water is essential for our survival. The field of water resources management will have to continue to
adapt to the current and future issues facing the allocation of water. With the growing uncertainties of
global climate change and the long-term impacts of management actions, the decision-making will be
even more difficult. It is likely that ongoing climate change will lead to situations that have not been
encountered. As a result, alternative management strategies are sought for in order to avoid setbacks in
the allocation of water resources.

Ideally, water resource management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and
seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands. As with other resource
management, this is rarely possible in practice.

One of the biggest concerns for our water-based resources in the future is the sustainability of the
current and future water resource allocation. As water becomes scarce, the importance of water
management grows vastly—finding a balance between humans' needs and the essential step of water
resources sustainability in the environment.

Water is an essential resource for all life on the planet. Of the water resources on Earth, only 2.5 percent
of it is fresh. Two-thirds of the freshwater is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. Of the remaining one
percent, a fifth is in remote, inaccessible areas and much seasonal rainfall in monsoonal deluges and
floods cannot easily be used.[3] As time advances, water is becoming scarcer; having access to clean,
safe, drinking water is limited among countries. At present, only about 0.08 percent of all the world's
fresh water[4] is exploited by mankind in ever increasing demand for sanitation, drinking,
manufacturing, leisure and agriculture. Due to the small percentage of water remaining, optimizing the
fresh water we have left from natural resources has been a continuous difficulty in several locations
worldwide.

Much effort in water resource management is directed at optimizing the use of water and in minimizing
the environmental impact of water use on the natural environment. The observation of water as an
integral part of the ecosystem is based on integrated water resource management, where the quantity
and quality of the ecosystem help to determine the nature of the natural resources.
As a limited resource, water supply poses a challenge. This fact is assumed by the project DESAFIO (the
acronym for Democratisation of Water and Sanitation Governance by Means of Socio-Technical
Innovations), which has been developed along 30 months and funded by the European Union's Seventh
Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration. This project faced
a difficult task for developing areas: eliminating structural social inequity in the access to indispensable
water and public health services. The DESAFIO engineers worked on a water treatment system run with
solar power and filters which provides safe water to a very poor community in the state of Minas Gerais.

Successful management of any resources requires accurate knowledge of the available resources, the
uses to which it may be put, the competing demands for the resource, measures to and processes to
evaluate the significance and worth of competing demands and mechanisms to translate policy
decisions into actions on the ground.[citation needed] Overall, the new management participants need
to create new experiences and share their experiences with outsiders to spread the government's
message to make these new policies.

For making water as a resource, this is particularly difficult since sources of water can cross many
national boundaries, and the uses of water include difficulties to assign financial value and may also be
difficult to manage in conventional terms. Examples include rare species or ecosystems or the very long
term value of ancient groundwater reserves, sometimes known as fossil water.

Agriculture is the largest use of the world's freshwater resources, consuming 70 percent.[7] As the world
population rises it consumes more food (currently exceeding 6%, it is expected to reach 9% by 2050),
the industries and urban developments expand, and the emerging biofuel crops trade also demands a
share of freshwater resources, water scarcity is becoming an important issue. An assessment of water
resource management in agriculture was conducted in 2007 by the International Water Management
Institute in Sri Lanka to see if the world had sufficient water to provide food for its growing population
or not .[9] It assessed the current availability of water for agriculture on a global scale and mapped out
locations suffering from water scarcity. It found that a fifth of the world's people, more than 1.2 billion,
live in areas of physical water scarcity, where there is not enough water to meet all their demands. A
further 1.6 billion people live in areas experiencing economic water scarcity, where the lack of
investment in water or insufficient human capacity make it impossible for authorities to satisfy the
demand for water.

The report found that it would be possible to produce the food required in future, but that continuation
of today's food production and environmental trends would lead to crises in many parts of the world.
Regarding food production, the World Bank targets agricultural food production and water resource
management as an increasingly global issue that is fostering an important and growing debate.[10] The
authors of the book Out of Water: From abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water
Problems, which laid down a six-point plan for solving the world's water problems. These are: 1)
Improve data related to water; 2) Treasure the environment; 3) Reform water governance; 4) Revitalize
agricultural water use; 5) Manage urban and industrial demand; and 6) Empower the poor and women
in water resource management. To avoid a global water crisis, farmers will have to strive to increase
productivity to meet growing demands for food, while industry and cities find ways to use water more
efficiently

MANAGING WATER IN URBAN SETTINGS

The carrying capacity of the Earth is increasing greatly due to technological advances and urbanization,
which are caused by an increase in economic opportunities. This rapid urbanization occurs worldwide
but is mostly seen in new rising economies and developing countries. Holding many of the wolds
megacities (cities or urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants), China and India are both
developing at very high speeds.[12] The number of megacities is projected to continue risking, reaching
approximately 50 in 2025.[13] Within developing economies, water scarcity is an extremely common
and prevalent issue.[14] Global freshwater resources dwindle in the eastern hemisphere even faster
than the poles. Currently, millions of people live with insufficient fresh water. This is caused by polluted
freshwater resources, overexploited groundwater resources, insufficient harvesting capacities in the
surrounding rural areas, poorly constructed and maintained water supply systems, the high amount of
informal water use, and insufficient technical and water management capacities.

In the areas surrounding urban centers, agriculture competes with industry and municipal users for safe
water supplies. Through this competition, traditional water sources are becoming polluted with urban
runoff. As cities offer the best opportunities for selling produce, farmers often have no alternative to
using polluted water to irrigate their crops. Depending on how developed a city's wastewater treatment
is, there can be significant health hazards related to the use of this water. Wastewater from cities can
contain a mixture of pollutants. Wastewater from kitchens, toilets, and rainwater runoff usually contain
excessive levels of nutrients, salts, and a wide range of pathogens. Heavy metals may also be present,
along with traces of antibiotics and endocrine disruptors, such as estrogens.

Developing world countries tend to have the lowest levels of wastewater treatment, although in some
desert cities of developing countries innovative public- private collaboration has increased wastewater
treatment to more than local reuse capacity.[18] Often, the water that farmers use for irrigating crops is
contaminated with pathogens from sewage. The pathogens that pose the largest threats are bacteria,
viruses and parasitic worms. These pathogens directly affect farmers’ health and indirectly affect
consumers if they eat the contaminated crops. Common illnesses include diarrhea, which kills 1.1 million
people annually and is the second most common cause of infant deaths. Many cholera outbreaks are
also related to the use of poorly treated wastewater. Therefore, efforts to reduce freshwater
contamination play a large role in the fight for global health.

Scientists have been working to find ways to reduce contamination of food using a method called the
'multiple-barrier approach'. This involves analyzing the food production process from growing crops to
selling them in markets and, eventually, consuming them. Then, considering where it might be possible
to create a barrier against contamination. Barriers include introducing safer irrigation practices,
promoting on-farm wastewater treatment, eradicating pathogens, and effectively cleansing crops after
harvest in markets and restaurants.

Urban Decision Support System (UDSS)

Urban Decision Support System (UDSS) – is a data-driven urban water management system that uses
sensors attached to water appliances in urban residences to collect data about water usage. The system
was developed with a European Commission investment of 2.46 Million Euros to improve the water
consumption behaviour of households. Information about appliances and facilities such as dishwashers,
showers, washing machines, taps – is wirelessly recorded and sent to the UDSS App on the user's mobile
device. The UDSS is then able to analyse and show homeowners which appliances are using the most
water, and which behavior or habits should be avoided in order to reduce the water usage.This allows
people to manage their consumption more economically. The UDSS is based in the field of Management
Science, at Loughborough University School of Business and Economics, particularly Decision Support
System in household water benchmarking, led by Dr Lili Yang, (Reader).

Nigeria is blessed by nature with a lot of natural resources amongst which water is one of them, WORLD
HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) confirmed that Nigeria was blessed with abundant water resources, the
excess of which has been causing flood and erosion in many part of the country. However, the
distribution of this water resources was not evenly spread over the country, life and other agricultural
activities every year irrespective of the draught that frequently occur in the Northern part of the country
of course, man had been obtaining water for domestic and other purposes since man’s creation. Water
supply can therefore be said to be as old as man itself.

Inspite of the availability of resource, WHO (1976) maintained that “its supply to the majority of the
population especially, the rural areas is very much inadequate”.
Enugu state of Niger Ediet No. 16 (1978) simply defined rural water supply as a wide category of scheme
ranging from a well width buchet supplying water to a few isolated but to river pumping scheme from
such a simple treatment as communal stand pipes to tap in individuals homes and provisions for
linestock and vegetable gardens.

Ilo (1991), however stated that various traditional means of obtaining water has been developed by
individual and communities for many centuries and that some of these systems were very much in use
by various communities both rural and urban.

The United Nations Economic commission for Africa (1973) confirmed that it was only about 20% of the
population of Nigeria that have access to potable water supply. It further stated that majority of these
people are those that are living in the urban and semi urban area of the country and that even the
privileged places that has access to such facilities were not being served sufficiently.

Thus the need for the provision of adequate water supply and sanitation is highly appreciated. And this
had promoted the choice of the topic on the management and operational problems of rural water
supply in Nigeria.

A case study of water corporation Enugu, with a view to recommending solutions which if accepted,
would help to solve these problems and as well, facilitates to the alleviation of the sobering of the
people.

Water Corporation Enugu was establishing as a parastatal under Enugu State of Nigeria Edict No.16 of
(1978). The corporation was originally charged with the statutory responsibility of supplying drinking
water to all the urban as well as the rural communities of old Enugu State. It was formerly the water
section of then East Central State Ministry of Works and Housing. The general manage is responsible of
the day to day running of the corporation, while the board of directors or the commissioner of the
controlling ministry in the absence of the governing board, is responsible for policy matters only.

Umeh (1993) stated that the corporation is presently operating eleven (11) zonal offices in the state
including Enugu. He stated that the corporation is principally maintained from government subventions
and budget allocation for capital projects and from internally generated revenue, water tariffs, sales of
metres, fees etc, for its day to day operations.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Okitipupa is as a growing industrial and commercial town has been without adequate supply of potable
water. This potable water supply inadequacies being experienced in the rural communities of Okitipupa
have been brought about by many factors. Despite the huge sums of money being sum into these rural
water supply, yet water is still very inadequate.

1. It has been difficult for the society to understand the extent of the aims and objectives for setting up
the water corporation.

2. Another problem is whether the resources both human and material are adequate.

3. The attitude of water consumers have also constituted a problems.

4. The instability in government and constant changes in leadership.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this research project on the management and operational problems of rural water
supply in Nigeria. A case study of water corporation Enugu to investigate the followings.

1. To extent to which the aims and objective of rural water supply programme are being achieved in
Nigeria with particular reference to Enugu rural communities.

2. To find out the extent of adequacy and suitability of materials and human resources for change in
rural water supply programme in Enugu.
3. To ascertain the extent to which the changes in government and leadership affect the steady water
supply.

4. To find out the extent to which the management and operational problems affect the functionality of
the rural water supply service in Nigeria with respect to Enugu.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To guide this study five research questions were formulated, they include the following.

1. What are the characteristics of rural water staff and socio-economic characteristic of rural
household?

2. To what extent are the aims and objectives of rural water supply programme being achieved in
water co-operation?

3. How adequate and suitable are the materials and human resources for change in rural water supply
programme in Enugu?

4. To what extent does the management and operational problems affect the functionality of rural
water supply services in Enugu.

5. To what extent does the changes government and leadership affect the management of water
corporation Enugu?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The issue of the benefits in effective and increased water supply in the rural areas of Enugu cannot be
overemphasized as it has been stated earlier. Inadequate water supply coupled by sanitation had been
the bare of rural communities in Enugu.

1. The growing industrial and commercial town of Enugu has been without adequate supply of potable
water since the collapse of the two boreholes at Umuokpu pumping station.

2. It is however hoped that the research the management and operational problems of rural water
corporation Enugu will provide information, which if utilized, will help in finding solution to the above
problem.

3. The information gathered from this study is also expected to serve as a basic for social policy
decisions which will enable the government to designs specific policies that will be beneficial to the
community and will improve and enhances the efficiency of water corporation Enugu.

4. It is also hoped that participation in this research project will help to burden the knowledge of the
researcher, in the field of management & operation.

1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Manaent could be defined as a “social process entailing responsibilities for an effective planning and
regulations of operation of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose or task such responsibilities
involves (a) judgment and decision in determining plans and progress against plans and guidance
integration, motivation and supervision.

Operation means the way something works or come into operation or being used.

Corporation is a business organisation made up of a number of owners who have right to do business as
a single legal unit.