Chapter One: 1.1 Background

Assessment of causes leading to an insufficient water supply in Addis Ababa
Chapter one
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Water for drinking purposes has been appreciated by human race from times immemorial. As a
matter of fact, community life developed in the beginning only at places where there was enough
Water to sustain life. People living in the arid and semi-arid regions had to struggle hard in
search of natural springs and shallow wells. They have to dig wells, construct cistern to store
water etc. Wells were common in ancient Egypt, Greece, Syria, Persia, and India. From sanitary
point of view, wells furnish safer drinking water than that could be obtained from surface water
sources. Joseph's well at Cairo in Egypt is one of the most ancient wells. It was excavated in
solid rock to a depth of about 90 m. Besides; wells and underground cisterns for the storage of
rain Water were built in Jerusalem. Stored water was used to be conveyed through masonry
conduits and aqueducts
Water plays a critical role in welfare of societies around the world and affects the livelihood of
every human and it is essential for the maintenance and survival of every human life. Water is
one of the most basic necessities for the existence of living things in general and human beings
in particular, especially potable water in modern big cities like Addis Ababa, there is a need to
properly manage the said vital scarce resource. However, for any metropolitan city, one of the
basic and essential services by all standards is efficient service in water supply. Unless and until
this demand of the city is efficiently met, the health of the community and developmental
activities are highly affected. Since Ethiopia is categorized from among low-income economies
in general and Addis Ababa, the capital, in particular faces the problem of resource management.
At present, the city has two conventional water treatment plants located along the two dams of
Gefersa and Legedadi. However, the plants produce less than their capacities due to the safe
yield of the dam (Legedadi) which cannot provide all the daily raw water requirements of the
treatment plants. Therefore, the total water production of both treatment plants is far below their
design capacities being only 150,000m3 in 1995 versus the design capacity being 180,000.
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia established during the era of Emperor Menlek If in I
1986. It's the center of the country situated at about 90° N latitude & 38° longitudes on at an
elevation between about 2100mts and 3000mts above sea level. The current size of the city is _
about 600km2 with 4.0 million inhabitants.
The people of Addis were making use of water coming from springs & wells. Piped supply of
clean water was a new advent introduced in 1901. The water from high altitude of Entoto I
downhill to the low field near to the Ground palace by means of constructed ditches. The • water
1
was stored in a big pond dug, and constructed with stonewalls stuffed with charcoal and
limestone for filtration purpose. •
Gradually, construction of small dams on rivers was expanded and tap water was being supplied
to quite a number of residents of the different areas of the capital. A major turn took place when
the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA) was established.
The main objectives of the Authorities are stipulated as follows:

1. Supply of safe and adequate water; and
2. The provision of wastewater and sludge disposal service for Addis City
dwellers
The main problem that developing countries are faced to provide access to safe water for their
citizens is shortage of resource. Moreover the capacity of the citizens to pay for water that fully
recovers the cost is very limited. For this reason many developing cities are faced great difficulty
to expand the service and rehabilitating the existing aged pipes. Generally tariffs in developing
countries must not be set well below the level needed to cover even operation and maintenance
costs.
Limited institutional capacity is also one of the bottlenecks that hinder cities of developing
countries for managing their infrastructure asset in general and water supply in particular.
Besides to low coverage, water losses (physical loss) in urban water supply is accounted to more
than 50% of the supplies that mainly arise from
1. Leakage of pipes, joints and valves
2. Overflowing service reservoirs
3. Waste of water through illegal connections
Although leakage is one of the major causes for loss of water in a network distribution system,
the loss of water through illegal connections and non-functioning meters is also contributing a lot
that needs a proper management and monitoring system.
At present, sub-Saharan countries, in general, and Ethiopia in particular, are facing major
Challenges related to the growing competition for water resource. The equitable
Management of available water resources to meet the ever increasing needs of the growing
Population, industry, and agriculture is also of major concern. Agriculture is the backbone of
The economy of these countries, and is rain-fed. Thus, people are at the mercy of the climatic
Cycle.
2
1.2 The Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA)

It was since 1893 E.C (1900 G.C.) that piped water service was started in Addis Ababa. In the
beginning the provision of potable water was delegated to the then Ministry of Works. And
following the defeat of Fascist Italian invaders in 1934, this responsibility was transferred to the
newly established City Hall.
In order to cater for the increasingly growing demand for water and waste water disposal
services there did arise a need for the establishment of an autonomous body that would primarily
focus on the provision of the services. Accordingly, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Service
Authority was set up as per proclamation No. 68/1963, in 1963 E.C. (1971 G.C.). And in 1987
E.C. (1995 G.C.) additional powers were invested on the authority, while being reestablished
with a slightly different name, i.e., Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA).
1.2.1 Structure
AAWSA is led by a general manager who is answerable to a board of directors. There are three
deputy general managers leading the technical, resource and Sewerage units. Since 2009 the
authority has fully implemented Business Process Reengineering (BPR). Hence, now it is
structured into processes unlike the earlier functional mode of organization.
There are two core processes, namely:
1. Water Production, Distribution and Catchment Management Core Process
2. Sewerage Disposal Service Development and Reuse Core Process
Besides the two core processes, support processes were engineered to assist the realization of the
objectives of the two main processes. Also the eight branch offices were reorganized in two sub
processes after the model in the head office.
1.2.2 Basic Services

1.2.2.1 Water Supply Services
Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority has currently over 330,000 registered customers. It
provides 497,000 cubic meters of water each day from surface and groundwater sources. These
include:
1. Geferssa: 30,000 m3 /day
2. Legedadi and dire: 174,000 m3 /day
3. Akaki wells: 191,000 m3 /day
4. Deep wells and other springs and groundwater sources: 66,000 m3 /day
Set up in the early 30s undergoing several upgrading projects, Gefersa is by far the oldest of the
major water sources of the city. It has also been rehabilitated in 2008/2009 budget year after 70
years of service, which has improved its production capacity by 7000 m3 of water daily.
3
Legedadi was commissioned in 1970 (1963 E.C.) with the establishment of the Authority as an
autonomous public utility.
Dire earth dam was built in a crash program in 1995 (1987 E.C.) to augment the production of
Legedadi Dam. Along with Dire the Akaki Ground Water plant was also underway to boost the
city’s water production abruptly.
1.2.2.2 Waste Water Disposal Services
Treated water becomes wastewater after being employed for any one use. This might include
water used for washing, human waste and the residues. In fact, 80% of the water distributed will
end up as waste water.
If liquid waste is not disposed of properly, it would be hazardous to human health. It would,
therefore, be imperative to deal with sewage properly.
The Authority is responsible for collecting, treating and proper disposal of sewage and sludge.
This service is rendered in two ways:
1. vacuum trucks
2. Sewage network
The authority has two waste water treatment plants located at Kaliti and Kotebe areas. The one at
Kaliti is designed to treat both sewage coming through the sewage network and sludge brought
with vacuum trucks. It has a design capacity of receiving 7500 m3 of sewer per diem. Whereas
the one at Kotebe has only sludge drying beds.
4
Source of water
Surface Ground
River lakes ponds impounded reservoir springs Infiltration wells

galleries
Intake works
Treatment works
Plain sedimentation chemical sedimentation Filtration Disinfection
Distribution reservoir
Gravity system Pumping system Dual system
Distribution pipes
Consumers Waste water
Fig 1.1 Typical Water Supply Process in Addis Ababa
5
Chapter two
2 Statement of problem
Addis Ababa is one of the most urbanizing cities in Africa as the population continues to grow at
a rapid rate there is a much shortage of water to satisfy the demand required. Addis Ababa
population water demand and daily water production has a considerable deficit manifested by the
periodic interruption and even longer absence of water in most areas. Thus this study want to
assess the causes that lead to this insufficient water supply.
2.1 Research question
This research is intended to answer the following research questions in line with the topic and
objectives of the study:
 What method is AWSAA using to supply water?

 What kinds of demand are there in the sample area?
 How can we cope up with the high growth of population demand?
 How can losses occur during distribution?
 Why is legedadis daily production of water reducing?
2.2 Objective of the study
2.2.1 General objective
The General objective of the study is to identify and assess the major causes leading to an
insufficient water supply in Addis Ababa
2.2.2 Specific objectives

The following specific objectives are set toward the achievement of the main objective:
a) Determine the population in the sample area
b) Forcast the population to know future water demand
c) Analyze the distribution system
d) Analyze the demand
6
e) Analyze the source
Chapter three
3. Literature Review
3.1 Water supply in India
Insufficient water supply is a serious problem affecting the environment, people and their
activities on different levels ranging from managing crop production, upholding hygienic
standards to the availability of clean drinking water. A country facing this problem is Honduras,
where the average precipitation decreases from coastal regions towards the interior due to its
mountainous terrain. Tegucigalpa, the capital and with more than one million inhabitants is the
largest city of Honduras, and located in the interior mountainous terrain. The metropolitan area
of Tegucigalpa is composed of two cities, Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, which are separated
by the Choluteca River.
In the following paper, Tegucigalpa will refer to the metropolitan area that comprises both
cities. The combination of a mountainous terrain and pronounced climatic seasonality represents
a challenge for the water supply of Tegucigalpa which is served by two main water reservoirs:
Concepción with a storage capacity of 33 millions of cubic meters (M m3) and Los Laureles with
a capacity of 12 Mm3. Additional minor water resources are represented by springs (Picacho),
rivers, and wells, all of which partially dry up during the dry season. However, these combined
sources of drinking water are insufficient to meet the needs of Tegucigalpa’s population and
have led to a permanent water shortage with only 52% of the required drinking water currently
available during the dry season in Tegucigalpa. As far back as the 1980’s SANAA, which is the
agency in charge of operating the water distribution in Tegucigalpa since 1961, introduced an
intermittent water supply in order to cope with the permanent water shortage during the dry
season. Currently the population receives water for 4 to 12 hours per day during the rainy season
and only every second or third day for 6 to 8 hours during the dry season.
It is thus clear that water shortage in Tegucigalpa is a systematic and chronic problem that
cannot be easily reduced to a single factor. The extent of this crisis raises questions about the
contributing factors and the approaches used to address them. As the authority in charge of the
water sector throughout the water shortage SANAA has not found the means to improve the
supply of drinking water to full coverage. Thus the objective of this paper is to investigate the
factors that hinder a comprehensive water supply management of Tegucigalpa.
7
On the 26th of April 1961, SANAA was created as the authority for the development and
operation of the water supply and sewage systems for Honduras. By then SANAA realized that
Tegucigalpa needed a reservoir to guarantee water supply for the 164,941 inhabitants. In May of
the same year the construction of a new water reservoir in the Guacerique River was proposed as
the best solution and in 1972 SANAA decided to build the reservoir. However, the project faced
financial difficulties and it never came to fruition thus leaving Tegucigalpa with an unsatisfied
water demand.
In 1973, 12 years after the Guacerique reservoir had been proposed for first time, the situation
was becoming so critical that the “Emergency Plan Los Laureles” was initiated for the
construction of a water reservoir for Tegucigalpa. The resulting reservoir, Los Laureles, was
finished in 1976 with financial support from the Central American Bank of Economic Integration
(BCIE). The reservoir was built downstream of what would have been Guacerique and with a
smaller storage capacity than the original plans from 1961. This diminished capacity together
with an increased population meant that soon after its finalization Los Laureles was insufficient
to satisfy the water demand of the 305,387 inhabitants. As a result of the continuing water
shortage SANAA introduced an intermittent water supply during the 1980’s. It was not until
1991, when the deficit of water had reached 37% during the dry season and the population had
increased to more than 576,661, that an additional source of water was incorporated to supply
Tegucigalpa. This new reservoir, Concepcion, was financed by Italy and although supposed to
cover the water demand until 2004, SANAA was forced to re-introduce an intermittent water
supply by 1998. Since the construction of Concepción, no considerable sources of water have
been added to Tegucigalpa’s water supply while the population has almost doubled and was
close to one million in 2007. Groundwater has been added to the water supply, but only in small
quantities. Concepción reservoir now receives additional water from the Ojojona River and
floodgates were built above the spillway increasing the storage capacity of the reservoir by 3.0 M
3
m . In Los Laureles, a 3.5 m high inflatable curtain was incorporated in 2002 to increase water
storage by 3.5 Mm3. More water has been derived to Picacho and in 2010 the capacity of water
treatment plants was increased by 200 l/s. Nevertheless, the storage capacity of Los Laureles is
decreasing by 2% annually as the reservoir is silting up. The inflatable curtain, which is about to
reach the end of its service, was not operated in 2010. A new project, an update of the previously
proposed Guacerique, now called Guacerique II, is a priority to the SANAA management as a
solution for the continuing water crisis in Tegucigalpa.
The historical analysis reveals a pattern of last minute measures to cope with a growing crisis of
the water supply in Tegucigalpa. This is further confirmed by the performed interviews. In the
course of the interviews 13 distinct problems were independently identified by the interviewees.
The following presentation is based on the opinions of the interviewees.
8
Rainfall Uncertainty - The uncertainty over the extent of the dry season or if the
amount of rain during the rainy season will be sufficient to fill up the reservoirs represents a
challenge for SANAA. In the current situation, where an intermittent water supply is even in
practice when the reservoirs are at full capacity, an extended dry season results in a decrease of
the hours of water supply.
Increasing Water Demand - While the population continues to grow, water
resources remained largely constant since the construction of Concepción in 1991. As one
interviewee expressed, “It is a redistribution of what we have, that is all what we can do”.
Settlements in High Areas - The city is largely growing in an unorganized and
unplanned way and increasingly occupying more mountainous areas. Areas above an elevation
of 1,150 meters above sea level represent a problem for SANAA as piped water would need to
be pumped for which no funding is available.
Deterioration of Sources of Water - Catchments with potential to produce water
have been deteriorated by deforestation which has increased erosion and also because of the
presence of settlements. Settlements are a source of pollution due to improper disposal of waste
water. Furthermore, in case of the construction of a dam, the inhabitants settled in the flooding
area will demand compensatory payments, therefore increasing the costs of the project.
Competing Needs - Apart from drinking water, water is needed for agriculture,
industry or for other municipalities within the same catchment. Water used for these competing
needs will not necessarily be available for drinking water.
Lack of Cooperation from the Municipality- Interviewees mentioned a
conflicting relationship between SANAA and the municipality, for example, when the
municipality authorizes settlements in high or in protected areas of the city. Also, SANAA has to
invest resources creating and updating a database of the new constructions in the city,
information handled by the Municipality. “The municipality and SANAA have traditionally been
antagonists, and there has been little cooperation” expressed one of the interviewees.
Subsidized Tariff- The price of the water service is so low that SANAA is not
able to expand or maintain its distribution network or to incorporate and fund new sources of
water to the system. Water prices are controlled by the National Government and increases are
only approved when SANAA is unable to pay the salaries of its employees.
Number of Personnel - SANAA employs more personnel than needed (14
employees per 1000 connections in Tegucigalpa; average in other cities in Honduras is 4) [18].
One of the main reasons for this situation is that with every change of government, new
employees are recruited for political reasons and the trade union (SITRASANAAYS) protects
already recruited employees from being fired. This excess of personnel is draining financial
resources and compromises overall efficiency.
9
Lack of Financial Support from the Central Government - SANAA is directly

financed through the water tariff and benefits from a variety of subsidies through the Central
Government. But, because the price for water is controlled by the national government, SANAA
is not financially independent. SANAA’s current financial situation does not allow for necessary
maintenance of the existing water infrastructure. Financial support from the national government
had only been granted in the case of the unusually long dry season of 2010.
Physical and Commercial losses - Unquantifiable amounts of water are lost in the
distribution network either by theft or leakages and create a financial burden to SANAA and
substantially compromise the overall water distribution. Lack of Decentralization - On a national
level SANAA is divided into seven regional branches. Income from the SANAA sub-branch for
Tegucigalpa is used to subsidize smaller non-profitable services in other municipalities.
Loss of Continuity of Programs - With every new national government the
president of Honduras will assign a new senior management to SANAA. The frequent changes to
the senior management hamper the development of a sustainable long-term strategy for existing
challenges in the water sector.
Dependence on international financial aid - Projects targeting the improvement and
maintenance of the water infrastructure depend on finding international funding.
The dominant trend of the interviews was to explain the deficient water supply service with the
financial limitations of SANAA, particularly the low price of the water service (18.8%) and the
high number of SANAA’s employees (14.6%). Figure 3.1 depicts all the mentioned problems
that hinder a comprehensive management of the water supply.
10
Fig 3.1 Relative frequency of the identified problems contributing to the sustained
water shortage of Tegucigalpa.
3.1.1 Rainfall uncertainty

Tegucigalpa receives about 1,100 mm of precipitation per year, but this is distributed unevenly
over the year with as low as 4 mm during months of the dry season (November – April) and 163
mm during months of the rainy season (May – October). Ideally, existing reservoirs should fill
up during the rainy season and last throughout the dry season. Delays in the onset of the rainy
season increase the stress on water resources use.
The catchment areas with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa have a capacity to produce 180
Mm3 per year of surface water. Water storage during the rainy season is the most effective way
to assure water availability during the dry season. It is evident that if SANAA has opted to use an
intermittent water supply, then the storage capacity is at this moment considered insufficient to
provide an efficient supply to Tegucigalpa. There is an urgent need to incorporate a new
reservoir to the water supply of Tegucigalpa
3.1.2 Impacts of uncontrolled population growth for planning and water

supply
Tegucigalpa is growing in an unorganized and unplanned way occupying the high mountainous
areas and the protected areas with water supply potential. The population growth means an
11
increase of the demand for water, but the amount of the supply has remained constant. Related to
population growth is the area towards which the new urban spaces are expanding and its
consequences for SANAA. Despite the fact that Tegucigalpa is located in an area which is not
favorable for urban expansion (i.e. surrounded by mountains, a highly irregular topography,
prone to landslides, and few valleys), the urban area has more than tripled in size over the past 25
years. The growth has followed the trend of informal illegal settlements growing at the edges of
the urban core, in areas with steep slopes, and irregular land tenure. Although the Municipality
has the responsibility to control these settlements, they lack the power to do so. This has led to
the situation that 60% of the land in Tegucigalpa has no clear ownership, 46% of all current
residential properties were obtained through illegal land invasion, 8% of the settlements are in
areas higher than the legal limit of 1,150 meters and urban expansion has already started to
penetrate protected areas with water supply potential, such as the Guacerique River watershed.
Piped water will not be provided to these settlement unless legal land tenure can be
demonstrated. Protection of catchments, according to the General Law of the Environment of
1993, is a shared responsibility among different governmental agencies called National Network
of Hydrographical Catchments. Even though SANAA forms part of the Network, it has been
powerless to prevent authorized housing constructions in the protected sub-catchments, such as
La Tigra and Guacerique. For example, the Guacerique catchment was declared a protected
forestry zone in 1973. In 1986 this status was temporarily removed and the construction of a
low-income housing project known as Ciudad Mateo on the hill slopes fringing Los Laureles
Reservoir was approved by the National Congress. The project was stopped when 2,300 houses
had already been built. The houses have remained uninhabited ever since and now are the focus
of controversy over whether they should be occupied or demolished because of the risk of
pollution to Los Laureles Reservoir . Declaring the catchment areas with water supply potential
protected has created a problem to the habitants of those areas. A consultancy work performed
by the Italian Engineering Society narrates how the population who depended on the forestry
industry had to shift to agricultural practices. Excessive amounts of fertilizers and pesticides
have allowed that land suitable for forestry is now used intensively for crop production leading
to soil degradation and water pollution, especially to Los Laureles reservoir in the Guacerique
catchment. Thus Tegucigalpa lacks a coordinated and comprehensive water planning capacity.
3.1.3 Conflict of legal and planning interests

When it comes to new legal construction or urbanization, the owner must obtain the
authorization to start building from the Municipality and from SANAA. The Municipality, as
well as SANAA face the same problem of owners failing to comply and legalize the
constructions. The Municipality as well as SANAA should apply fines to punish evaders. This
rivalry could also be explained from the historic perspective, given by the Reform of the Water
Sector. In the case of Tegucigalpa, several attempts have taken place to reform water
administration by moving the authority from the national to the municipal level. Beyond the
12
particular problems of water availability in Tegucigalpa, the process of municipalisation started

in 1990 when the National Congress of Honduras passed the Municipal Law bill. The devolution
of power from the national to municipal levels was aimed at improving the overall living
standards as different municipalities faced different problems that needed different solutions. As
part of this law, municipalities became responsible for constructing, administering and
maintaining the networks of piped water and sewage, functions that were the responsibility of
SANAA.
Therefore, the Municipal Law resulted in a duplication of functions. In 1994, when the process
of municipalisation of the water networks had already started, the director of SANAA argued
that SANAA could become profitable and functional by reducing its personnel and creating
regional centres. By 1996, the lack of a solid national alliance among the different actors
(municipalities, donor governments, users, and politicians) in favor of the reform led to its failure
and only a few networks were municipalized. Another attempt to reform the water services took
place in 2003 when the Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Sector Framework Law was
approved. The WSS Sector Framework Law created CONASA and ERSAPS. CONASA is
responsible for establishing policies, developing strategies and investment programs, as well as
coordinating the activities for improving the water and sanitation sector at a national level.
ERSAPS role is to regulate and control the providers of the sewage and water services at a
national level and the regulation of water tariffs according to their criteria, methods and
procedures. The WSS Sector Framework Law reinforced that the responsibility for providing the
service of drinking water and sewage falls to the municipalities. Unlike the law of 1990, this law
specifically stated that SANAA should transfer gradually, free of any debts, all systems and all
their assets to the municipalities within five years. As part of the reform, the Framework Law
also demands that SANAA pays compensatory work benefits to all of its employees who will be
dismissed from their duties. The financial resources to cover these compensation costs were
supposed to be made available by the President of Honduras. By 2008 the funding of these costs
was still unresolved and a modification to the WSS Sector Framework Law was issued
identifying the need to find a way to finance the compensatory work benefits, as well as
strategies for the technical-administrative training of the new providers of the service. An
extension of five more years was granted to finalize the municipalisation of the water sector in
Tegucigalpa and to pay the work benefits of the employees which add up to more than 65 million
US$.
3.1.4 Financial limitations

According to the interviewees, SANAA has not been able to build a new reservoir because of
financial constrictions including the little financial support the Central Government has offered
on this matter. The origin of the financial problems of SANAA’s limitations varied among the
13
different interviewees. An important reason is SANAA’s inability to change water prices, which
has led to a situation where running costs are higher than income.
Researchers have addressed the issue of the low price of the water service in Tegucigalpa and
have recognized that SANAA has no opportunity to either expand or maintain the distribution
network. Strand analyzed the following consequences of the low prices of water:
(a) SANAA is not able to cover even its variable costs through water tariffs;
(b) Low prices reduce SANAA’s incentive to extend coverage to new consumer groups;
(c) SANAA has low incentives to collect water bills;
(d) Low prices discourage maintenance improvements in the distribution system;
(e) Low prices mean little incentive for expanding existing water sources or opening up new
ones;
(f) Income distribution
3.1.5 Influence of the Central Government in the water sector

Interviewees pointed out a close interrelation between the financial limitations and the influence
of the Central Government due to the power the government has on establishing the price of
water. Other aspects of the influence of the Central Government are indirect. For example, a
newly elected president will reward those who supported him during the election campaign by
offering them administrative offices, including the position of the manager of SANAA. This type
of recruiting system is known as the spoils system. The spoils system has led to
(i) a loss in continuity of the running and planned programs,
(ii) the recruiting of the job seekers who worked during the elections for the victorious
party in positions that were not vacant, therefore increasing the payroll and
weakening SANAA financially and
(iii) The lack a sense of identity between employees and the company who realize their
job would be threatened in the next electoral period.
This assessment has shown that a comprehensive management of water supply in Tegucigalpa
does not exist. The public water company SANAA lacks financial resources to cope with
growing water supply demand. Also the uncontrolled growth and development of Tegucigalpa
puts SANAA in a difficult situation. This is not likely to change before the overall planning
situation of Tegucigalpa is improved and the so called spoils system is abandoned
14
3.2 Ethiopia water supply

An urban area is a very developed meaning there is a density of human structures such as
houses, commercial buildings, roads, bridges, and railways. Addis Ababa is one of the most
urbanizing cities in the Africa. Problems in providing satisfactory water supply to the rapidly
growing population specially that of the developing countries is increasing from time to time.
Water supply systems in urban areas are often unable to meet existing demands and are not
available to everyone rather some consumers take disproportionate amounts of water and the
poor is the first victim to the problem. The developing cities have great difficulty both financial
and technical to develop and expand water supply projects and some of the difficulties are
managing and reducing losses of water, managing and reducing population growth rate,
managing water sources, supplying water to highly elevated settlements and etc.
As a result of the overall shortage of water many cities are faced a problem in distributing the
available water impartially among the residents. Beside to this poor management of the existing
infrastructure asset increases the level of water loss in water supply.
Ethiopia is endowed with abundant source of water with an amount of 122 Billion meter cube
surface runoff per year excluding the subsurface resource. Around 80 to 90 percent of this
resource is found in the western part of the country in which only 30 to 40 percent of the
country's populations live. The unbalanced distribution of the resources and their inconsistent
seasonal availability are the major characteristics of the water resources of the country. As a
result of this and the economic constraints, only 24% of the populations have access to improved
drinking water sources. The corresponding figures for urban and rural are respectively, 77% and 13%.
The city has started getting water supply in 1901. During the years between 1942 and 2001,
many water supply projects have been implemented that the construction and upgrading of the
lagadadi dam and treatment plant, improvement of the distribution, ground water and spring
development are among them.
Currently around 525,000m3/day of water is produced from different sources that among the
others are Gafarsa and Legedadi treatment plants that have design capacity of 30,000 and
150,000 m3/day respectively. The Gafarsa water line consisting of two 400mm steel pipes and
the Legedadi line partly comprising of 1400mm (6.8km) and other a combination of two parallel
lines of diameter 900mm and 1200mm (11.5km) are the main transmission lines that convey
water from the treatment plant to the respective reservoirs.
Water for drinking purposes has been appreciated by human race from times immemorial. As a
matter of fact, community life developed in the beginning only at places where there was enough
Water to sustain life. People living in the arid and semi-arid regions had to struggle hard in
search of natural springs and shallow wells. They have to dig wells, construct cistern to store
15
water etc. Wells were common in ancient Egypt, Greece, Syria, Persia, and India. From sanitary
point of view, wells furnish safer drinking water than that could be obtained from surface water
sources. Joseph's well at Cairo in Egypt is one of the most ancient wells. It was excavated in
solid rock to a depth of about 90 m. Besides; wells and underground cisterns for the storage of
rain Water were built in Jerusalem. Stored water was used to be conveyed through masonry
conduits and aqueducts.
Since the distribution of water resource in the world is not in coherence with the demand
spatially and temporally; well planned, constructed, operated and maintained water supply
scheme implementation is becoming a prior question, especially in urban areas. Although once-
safe supplies have been rendered, environmental pollution results from human activity. Sewers
are primarily intended to carry storm water, but when storm sewers were built, it was not unusual
to prohibit their use for household wastes. It becomes evident that prompt removal of waterborne
wastes was an important factor in public health. This, by itself, lead us to the conclusion: a well
collected, treated and disposed wastewater which can be achieved by implementing a carefully
designed, constructed and operated sewerage system should be provided, specifically in highly
dense population area. The most important aspect of any water supply scheme is the choice of
source of supply. The source should be permanent, reliable, and should provide water with
minimum impurities. Lakes, streams, impounded reservoirs, and springs, are the surface sources;
whereas, wells, springs, and infiltration galleries, are the ground Sources. After the selection of
the source of water, the next step is to construct suitable intake works to collect and carry water
to treatment plants, for treatment. The treatment of water depends on the source of supply, and
the amount and nature of impurities present in it. Water generally has suspended, dissolved, and
colloidal impurities. Underground waters are compulsively clear, cool, and free from bacteria.
However, the treatment may be necessary to remove hardness, iron and manganise. Surface
waters may require chemical treatment with coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation, prior
to filtration through sand fitters.
Water is carried through pipes from source to treatment plant, and then from treatment plant to
distribution system. Distribution system consists of large arterial mains, distribution mains,
miner distributors, and appurtenances, including valves, meters and hydrants. Treated water is
stored in clear water reservoirs. From there it is distributed to the consumers through distribution
system of pipes. In low level areas water will flow directly under gravity but for high level areas,
elevated tanks and pumps will have to be installed.
The major causes for the insufficient water supply are;
3.2. 1. Source
Some water sources are listed below
16
 Ground water: Open well, tube well/bore well, hand pump are sources which make
water available from ground.
 Open Well: Where ground water is available at low depth (less than 15 meters - and
water is available all year round, open well is used.
 Hand Pump: Where safe ground water is available upto 60 m depth, hand pump is ideal
choice for a cluster or habitation.
 Bore Well/Tube Well: Where ground water is at greater depth and open wells or hand
pumps are not viable, bore well or tube well is installed.
 Surface Water: River, pond, dam site are sources where surface water is available.
Moreover, rain water can be harvested and stored directly in storage tanks. This water is potable
after first rain and can be used for drinking purpose also.
Classification of Water based on its Availability
A. Local Source: Sources which are available at village/town level like river, pond, open wells
and bore wells.
B. Distant Source: When perennial reliable and safe source is not available, pipeline from distant
sources can be laid. This bulk water is available from river, pond, dam, bore wells or storage
tank itself, where water is available.
A. Ground water
Ground water is defined as water that is found underground within rocks. Its presence depends
primarily on the type of rock. Permeable rocks have tiny spaces between the solid rock particles
that allow water and other fluids to pass through and to be held within the rock structure. The
layers of rock that hold ground water are called Aquifers. The depth that ground water is taken
from and the types of permeable rock it has passed through are important factors that affect its
quality. Groundwater particularly from deep sources may provide water of good microbiological
quality. This is because bacteria, protozoa, virus and others are filtered from the water as it
passes through the layers of soil and rock. Groundwater sources are therefore preferable to
surface water source. However, groundwater can contain chemical contaminants.
Some of Addis Ababa’s ground water sources are
 Akaki ground water 1,2,3

 Legedadi ground water
17
Fig 3.2 Hand pump
B. Surface water
Surface water is water on the surface of continents such as in a river, lake etc. .The quality and
quantity of surface water varies from one place to another and overtime, due to factors such as
geology, climate and surrounding land use.
C. Rainwater
In regions where rainfall is abundant and frequent, rainwater can be a good source of water
supply for individual families and small communities. The storage of rain water is particularly
important in areas with a long dry season, or where groundwater or surface water is difficult to
obtain or polluted. The term rainwater harvesting is sometimes used. It simply means collecting,
or harvesting, rainwater as it runs off from hard surfaces and storing it in a tank. Rainwater has
several advantages it’s free, relatively clean and usually reliable and etc.
Rainwater can be collected in several ways:
18
Roof catchments
Rainwater can be collected from house roofs made of tiles, slate, (corrugated) galvanised metal
or equivalent. Pipes feed water from the roof and gutters into a collection tank where it can be
stored until needed
Rainwater is collected from the roof of this rural health post and stored in a covered, watertight
cistern.
If rainwater is used for water supply, it is important to ensure that it is not contaminated by
improper methods of storage, or by bird droppings and leaves from the roof that it is collected
from. Rainwater may be also be contaminated by pollutants in the air, dust, dirt, paint and other
material on the roof or in roofing materials. All of these contaminants can be washed into the
storage tank or cistern.
To protect the water, various precautions are needed. The tank must be completely covered and
well-maintained. The roof and gutters should be cleaned regularly, especially before the start of
the wet season. It may be necessary to divert the first rainwater away from the tank so that dust
and dirt are washed away. Leaves and other larger debris can be prevented from entering the tank
by placing a mesh screen between the guttering and the pipe that leads to the tank; the mesh
screen will need to be cleaned regularly.
Fig 3.3 Roof catchment
19
Ground catchments
These are systems that collect and store rain falling on an area of ground. The amount of
rainwater that can be collected depends on whether the area is flat or sloping, and on the
permeability of the top layer of the ground. These systems require space so are only appropriate
in rural areas, where they can serve small villages and households for livestock and vegetable
growing.
Fig 3.4 ground catchment
Advantages of rainwater collection system over the other water supply sources are:
 The quality of rainwater is high.

 The collection system is independent.
 Local materials and craftsmanship can be used in rain water system construction.
 No energy costs are needed to run the system.
 Ease of maintenance by the owner or user.
 Convenience and acceptability of water. Valuable time is saved in collecting
water.
Some disadvantages or limitations are:

The high initial capital cost may prevent a family from buying the system. The water available is
limited by rainfall and roof area. For long dry seasons, the required storage volume may be too
high
3.2.2 Addis Ababa background

Addis Ababa was established as the capital city of Ethiopia in 1886 and has grown to become the
largest urban and commercial center in the country. During its early years, the principal sources
of water were the numerous springs located at the foot of the Entoto mountain range and hand
20
dug wells located in the lower areas. The larger springs were tapped and fed into a number of
small tanks for local distribution.
Continued growth necessitated the construction, in 1938, of a plant at the foot of Entoto to treat
water from a number of springs and the nearby Kechene River, and in 1944 the original Gefersa
dam located North West of the city was completed.
The Gefersa Dam was raised and a treatment plant built in 1960, while many of the springs were
taken Out of service because their quality was deteriorating.
In 1966, the raw water storage capacity in the Gefersa watershed was increased with the
construction of another small dam north of the existing dam. This dam was also assumed to
assist as a sediment trap.
At this time primary source of Addis Ababa’s water supply relied on the Gefersa facilities. The
supply from Gefersa was transmitted via twin 400mm pipelines to nine service reservoirs for
distribution.
The next major phase of expansion of the water supply facilities commenced in 1970 with the
commissioning of the Legedadi Dam and treatment plant, which was located on the Akaki River
east of Addis Ababa. The plant’s output of 50,000 m 3 /day was transmitted via 900 mm pipe
line to the Terminal Reservoir on the city’s Eastern edge and to Meskel Square in the city’s
center. To transfer and distribute this additional water additional reservoirs, pumping stations and
pipelines were constructed in the eastern and northern areas of the city. These facilities came to
be known as the Stage I Water Supply Project.
Further development of the water supply facilities was pursued during the l980s under the Stage
II Water Supply Project.
The First phase included expansion at the Legedadi treatment plant, construction of a new
transmission pipeline into the city, the rehabilitation of the Gefersa treatment plant and the
construction or upgrading of several reservoirs and pumping stations throughout the city.
The second phase included extensive primary and secondary pipeline installations and
improvements to the distribution network.
The capacity of the supply facilities, of 150,000 and 30,000 m 3 /day respectively for Legedadi
and Gefersa were projected to be adequate to serve the need of Addis Ababa up to 1992.
Planning for a Stage III water supply program commenced in the early 1980’s, when a
reconnaissance study was undertaken of all potential water supply sources located within a 50km
radius.
In 1991, feasibility studies and preliminary designs were completed for the development of a
number of sources to serve the city to the year 2020.
21
The initial part of the scheduled development was identified as Stage III A and includes those
components described later in Section 3.
The delay in the implementation of Water Supply Stage Ill-A (WSS Ill-A) project called for an
emergency program to fast-track the development of two water supply projects. These are part of
the Akaki well field and the Dire dam, which are now under construction, In addition, a program
of spring rehabilitation and bore hole drilling has provided improved water supplies to outlying
areas of the city not vet serviced by the distribution network Additional programs are underway
to reduce leakage losses and to improve operational efficiencies.
Implementation of the WSS Ill-A project will quadruple the supply of potable water over
existing capacity and will enable the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA) to
meet the needs of the city for some time in an economical and financially sustainable manner .
22
Fig 3.5 Main water sources for Addis Ababa
23
Fig 3.6 Legedadi dam
Fig 3.7 Legedadi treatment plant
24
Due to Improper management of this sources Addis Ababa is suffering from shortage of enough
water supply. In other words there is a big gap between the supply and the demand.
Main features of legedadi
 Main dam with concrete buttress

 Secondary dam with rockfill
 Water treatment plant (v-design =50,000m3/day)
 Steel pipeline (900mm diameter , length =24km)
 Reinforced concrete storage tank (v=20,000m3)
 Spillway (Qmax des=1,250m3/s)
 Intake and outlet works
3.3 Distribution and water loss

Collection and Distribution of Water
• Deals with the transport of water from the source through the treatment plant to the consumers.
It requires
▫ Intake structures,
Intakes are structures constructed at the entrance to the conduit and thus helping in protecting the
conduit from being damaged or clogged by ice, trash, debris etc. Intakes are provided whenever
water is withdrawn from a surface source such as a lake, a river or a reservoir
▫ Transmission lines,
▫ Distribution pipe networks and other essential accessories
. A good distribution system should satisfy the followings:
 Adequate water pressure at the consumer's taps for a specific rate of flow (i.e, pressures
should be great enough to adequately meet consumer needs).
 Pressures should be great enough to adequately meet firefighting needs.
 At the same time, pressures should not be excessive because development of the pressure
head brings important cost consideration and as pressure increases leakages increases too.
Note: In tower buildings, it is often necessary to provide booster pumps to elevate the
water to upper floors.
25
 Purity of distributed water should be maintained. This requires distribution system to be

completely water-tight.
 Maintenance of the distribution system should be easy and economical.
 Water should remain available during breakdown periods of pipeline. System of
distribution should not such that if one pipe bursts, it puts a large area without water. If a
particular pipe length is under repair and has been shut down, the water to the population
living in the down-stream side of this pipeline should be available from other pipeline.
 During repairs, it should not cause any obstruction to traffic. In other words, the pipelines
should not be laid under highways, carriage ways but below foot paths
3.3.1 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

A. Branching pattern with dead end.
B. Grid pattern
C. Ring system.
D. radial pattern
A. Branching Pattern with Dead End
Fig 3.8 Branching pattern with dead end

 Similar to the branching of a tree.
 It consists of Main (trunk) line , Sub-mains and Branches
 Main line is the main source of water supply. There is no water distribution to consumers
from trunk line.
 Sub-mains are connected to the main line and they are along the main roads.
 Branches are connected to the sub-mains and they are along the streets.
26
 Lastly service connections are given to the consumers from branches.
Advantages:
 It is a very simple method of water distribution. Calculations are easy and simple to do.
 The required dimensions of the pipes are economical.
 This method requires comparatively less number of cut-off valves.
 However, it is not usually favored in modern water works practice for the following
disadvantages.
Disadvantages:
 The area receiving water from a pipe under repair is without water until the work is
completed.
 In this system, there are large number of dead ends where water does not circulate but
remains static. Sediments accumulate due to stagnation of the dead end and bacterial
growth may occur at these points. To overcome this problem drain valves are provided at
dead ends and stagnant water is drained out by periodically opening these valves but a
large amount of water is wasted.
 It is difficult to maintain chlorine residual at the dead ends of the pipe.
 Water available for fire-fighting will be limited since it is being supplied by only one
water main.
 The pressure at the end of the line may become undesirably low as additional areas are
connected to the water supply system. This problem is common in many less-developed
countries.
B. Grid Pattern
Fig 3.9 Grid pattern

 In grid pattern, all the pipes are interconnected with no dead-ends. In such a system,
water can reach any point from more than one direction.
27
Advantages:
 Since water in the supply system is free to flow in more than one direction, stagnation
does not occur as readily as in the branching pattern.
 In case of repair or break down in a pipe, the area connected to that pipe will continue to
receive water, as water will flow to that area from the other side.
 Water reaches all points with minimum head loss.
 At the time of fires, by manipulating the cut-off valves, plenty of water supply may be
diverted and concentrated for fire-fighting.
Disadvantages:
 Cost of pipe laying is more because relatively more length of pipes is required.
 More number of valves are required.
 The calculation of pipe sizes are more complicated.
Ring system
Fig 4 Ring system
In this system, a closed ring, either circular or rectangular, is formed by laying feeder mains
around the distributing area instead of through the area. The distribution area is divided into
rectangular or circular blocks. This system is very suitable for well-planned towns and cities
having well planned roads. The advantages as well as the disadvantages of this system are the
same as gridiron systems. Sometimes, this system is used as a “looped feeder placed centrally
28
around a high demand area” along with the grid iron system, and will improve the pressure at
various points. It is also known as Circular System
Radial pattern
Fig 4.1 Radial pattern
If a city or a town is having a system of radial roads emerging from different centers, the
pipelines can be best laid in a radial method by placing the distribution reservoirs at these
centers. In this system, water is therefore taken from the water mains, and pumped into the
distribution reservoirs placed at different centers. This method ensures high pressure and
efficient water distribution
3.3.2 Methods of distribution

Distribution systems in urban areas are generally best laid out on a gridiron or ring main pattern,
mains being interconnected at distances not exceeding about 600 m. With this arrangement,
water can be fed to any point in the system by more than one route, thus providing greater
flexibility in meeting the demand and also enabling repairs to be carried out with the minimum
disruption to supply
The main aim of a distribution system is to develop adequate water pressure at various points of
the consumer’s taps. Depending upon the level of the source of water and the city, topography of
29
the area, and other local conditions and considerations, the water may be forced in to the
distribution system in the following three ways:
1. by gravitational system,
2. By pumping system, and
3. By combined gravity and pumping system.
1. Gravitational system: In this system, water from the high leveled source is distributed to the
consumers at the lower level, by the mere action of gravity without any pumping. This method is
the most economical and reliable since no pumping is involved at any stage. However, it needs a
lake or a reservoir as a source of supply. Such a system can be adopted for cities, which are
situated at the foothills, and the source of supply is available somewhere in the hill at sufficient
elevation of the city. High pressure for firefighting may require use of motor pumping trucks,
and low lying areas may need to be isolated to prevent excessive pressure. The gravitational
system is designed so as to leave only the minimum permitted available head to the consumers,
and the rest is consumed in frictional and other losses.
Fig 4.2 gravitational distribution system

2. Pumping without storage system:
In the pumping system, the treated water is directly pumped into the distribution mains without
storing it anywhere. High lift pumps are required in this system, which have to operate at
variable speeds so as to meet the variable demand of water. A continuous attendance is needed at
the pumping station, so as to ensure the desired flow in the distribution system. This method is,
30
therefore, generally not used as a distribution system. It is the least desirable method of
distribution, since it provides no reserve flow in the event of power failure and pressures will
fluctuate substantially with variations in flow. Since the flow must be constantly varied to match
an unpredictable demand, sophisticated control systems are required. Peak water uses and thus
peak power consumption’s are likely to coincide with periods of already high power, increasing
power costs. Systems of this kind have the advantage of permitting increased pressure for
firefighting, although individual users must then be protected by pressure reducing valves.
Fig 4.3 pumping without storage distribution system

3. Combined gravity and pumping system:
In this system, the treated water is pumped at a constant rate and stored into an elevated
distribution tank, from where it is distributed to the consumers by the mere action of the gravity.
Sometimes the entire water is first of all pumped into the distribution reservoir and then
distributed among the consumers. Many a times it is pumped into the distribution mains and
tanks simultaneously. The excess water during low demand period gets stored in the reservoir
and gets supplied during high demand periods. The pumps work at a constant rate, which is
adjusted in such a way that the excess quantity of water stored in the reservoir during low
consumption nearly equals the extra demand during high consumption. This type system is
invariably and almost universally adopted because of its following advantages. The pumps are
worked at uniform rate and thereby operating them to their rated capacities with high efficiency.
31
Fig 4.4 combined pumping and storage distribution system
3.3.3 Pipelines and appurtenances

The selection of pipe materials is based on carrying capacity , strength ,ease of transportation
and handling , availability , quality of water ,cost (initial and maintenance)
Various types of pipes are used for water supply system including metallic and non-metallic
pipes. Most common types of pipes used for water supply system are:
a. Galvanized Iron Pipes – metal pipe
b. Mild Steel Pipes metal pipe
c. Poly Vinyl Chloride pipes - nonmetal pipe
d. High Density Poly Ethylene Pipes - nonmetal pipe
e. Ductile Iron Pipes
For water mains, mainly GI and MS pipes or even large HDPE pipes are used, while for
branch/service pipes, most commonly used are galvanized iron and HDPE/PVC pipes. DI pipes
are used for both purposes.
1. Mild Steel Pipes

• Number of joints are less as they are available in longer length.
• Pipes are durable and can resist high internal water pressure and highly suitable
for long distance high pressure piping.
• Flexible to lay in certain curves.
• Light weight and easy to transport. Damage in transportation is minimal.
• Pipes are prone to rust and require higher maintenance.
• Require more time for repairs and not very suitable for distribution piping.
32
• Available in diameter of 150-250 mm for water supply and cut lengths of 4 - 7 m

(2.6-4.5 mm wall thickness).
• Steel Pipes are joined with flanged joints or welding.
2. Galvanized Iron (GI) Pipes
• Cheap in cost and light in weight.

• Light in weight and easy to join.
• Affected by acidic or alkaline water.
• GI pipes are highly suitable for distribution system. They are available in light
(yellow color code), medium (blue color code) and heavy grades (red color code)
depending on the thickness of pipe used. Normally, medium grade pipes (wall
thickness 2.6-4.8 mm) are used for water supply system. Normally, 15-150 mm
size pipes (nominal internal diameter) are used for distribution system. They are
available in length of 3 m. • GI pipes can be used in non-corrosive water with pH
value greater than 6.5. • GI pipes can be used for rising main as well as
distribution.
• GI pipes are normally joined with lead putty on threaded end
3. Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC unplasticised) Pipes

• Cheap in cost and light in weight.
• Economical in laying and jointing.
• They are rigid pipes.
• Highly durable and suitable for distribution network..
• Free from corrosion and tough against chemical attack.
• Good electric insulation.
• Highly suitable for distribution piping and branch pipes.
• Less resistance to heat and direct exposure to sun. Hence, not very suitable
for piping above the ground.
• PVC pipes weigh only 1/5th of steel pipes of same diameter.
• Certain types of low quality plastic impart taste to water.
• Available in size 20-315 mm (nominal internal diameter) for water supply
with pressure class of 2.5, 4, 6, 8 & 10 kg/cm2 for water supply. Ideally pipes
with 6 kg/cm2 should be used. • Classification of pipes is done according to
its pressure class.
3. HDPE
33
• Light in weight.
• Flexible than PVC pipes.
• HDPE pipes are black in color.
• Suitable for underground piping and can withstand movement of heavy traffic.
• Allows free flowing of water.
• Highly durable and suitable for distribution network.
• Free from corrosion..
• Good electric insulation.
• Useful for water conveyance as they do not constitute toxic hazard and does not
support microbial growth.
5. Ductile Iron Pipes
• Ductile Iron pipes are better version of cast iron pipes with better tensile strength.
• DI pipes are prepared using centrifugal cast process.
• DI pipes have high impact resistance, high wear and tear resistance, high tensile
strength, ductility and good internal and external corrosion resistance.
• DI pipes are provided with cement mortar lining on inside surface which provides
smooth surface and is suitable for providing chemical and physical barriers to
water. Such pipes reduce water contamination.
• The outer coating of such pipes is done with bituminous or Zinc paint.
• DI pressure pipes are available in range from 80-1000 mm diameter in lengths
from 5.5-6 m.
• Available in thickness class K7 and K9 with barrel wall thickness ranging from
513.5 mm. Also available in pressure class (Like C25, C30, C40 etc.).
• They are about 30 percent lighter than conventional cast iron pipes.
• DI pipes lower pumping cost due to lower frictional resistance.
3.3.4 Pipe Appurtenances

Valves:
▫ To isolate segments of a pipeline, to regulate rate of flow, to control pressure, and to allow
release or entry of air from pipe system.
Factors considered in the selection of valves:
 include purpose and operation,

 Capacity required,
 Head loss and rate of flow,
 Cost,
 Availability, etc.
34
1. Sluice Valve It is used for control on water flow in pipeline. It is fixed in main line and at
start of branch line. It is also used as scour valve for cleaning of pipeline. They are provided in
straight pipeline at 150-200 m intervals. When two pipes lines interest, valves are fixed in both
sides of intersection.
2. Air Valve -Air valve are fixed in order to allow air circulation in pipeline. It is placed in
pumping main line and distribution line mainly which are at higher levels. Air valves may be
placed at every 1000 m for pipe lines up to 600 mm dia.
Water Meters
• These are devices installed on pipes to measure quantity of water flowing in
particular area. These are installed to keep control on water usage in case of
metered water supply.
• Meters installed to measure household consumption are called domestic water
meters.
• Water meters having sizes from 15 mm to 50 mm are considered for domestic
water meters.
• Water meters are made normally of cast iron/brass/plastic body and plastic gears.
• Meters are classified according to the operating principle, type of end
connections, the standard by which the same are covered, constructional features,
method of coupling between the counter and primary sensor, the metrological
characteristics etc.
• Automatic water meter reading system are used now in order to collect data from
all the meters at central point through GSM/internet. This help in saving time for
collecting data from each individual place. This system helps in collection,
displaying and processing of data at one single place. It also helps in monitoring
of data daily.
Flow Meters
• Flow meters are devices installed mainly to measure velocity/speed of water and
also derive quantity of water.
• Flow meters are placed near water intake/head works, transfer mains, storage
tanks/reservoirs, distribution network like branch/main/sublines etc.
• Various type of flow meters are available based on characteristic and performance
line accuracy of measurement, range, resolution etc
35
Difference of water meter against flow meter
 Water meter is a quantity meter and not a flow rate meter.

 Water meter is a mechanical device whereas flow meter is mechanical or an
electronic device. • Water meter is always specified in two accuracies i.e.
lower range and upper range accuracies whereas a flow meter it is specified in
a single range accuracy.
Type of Pipe Fittings

Pipe fitting are important component of pipelines as they connect pipes and control pipe
leakages. Various pipe fitting are used for distribution piping system. Choose the diameter of the
fitting based on the size of pipe. These fitting are available with threading, mainly for metallic
pipes. For PVC pipes, non-threaded fittings are normally used for smaller diameter pipes. For
HDPE pipe fitting special flanged fittings are available for joining pipes.
 Socket or coupling - It is used to connect two straight lengths of pipes. The outer
diameter of pipe will be equal to inner diameter of socket after threading.
 Elbow – It connects two pipes of same diameter at an angle, normally 90 degrees.
 Tee - it will fit two straight pipes and will have an outlet at right angle.
 Union - It is used for joining the ends of two pipes which cannot be rotated. They are
used in long stretches of straight pipes in the beginning of a pipe system and near all
appliances along stop valves.
 Reducer - It is used to connect two pipes with different size (diameter) to reduce the size
of pipe. Reducer can be a socket, elbow or a tee as per required distribution network
requirement.
 Nipple - it is tubular pipe fitting, mainly in 300 mm length. It is used for extending
pipeline.
 Plug - It is used to plug the flow of water at dead ends.
3.4 Water loss

Regardless of the magnitude that greatly varies from city to city or from one area to another,
water loss is a problem experienced in all water distribution systems. The first and most common
cause of water loss is leakage. Water put in to inappropriate uses may also be considered as a
loss. Water that is unaccounted because of measurement errors, including inaccurate meters,
forgotten users are also some causes for water loss
36
Causes of water loss

o Leakage
o Meter error
o Illegal connection
o Due to pressure
o Accidents in the road way
o Aged pipes
3.4.1 Leakage-
is a result of either lack of maintenance or failure to renew ageing systems. Leakage may also
be caused for poor management of pressure zones, which result in pipe or pipe-joint failure.
Total water loss describes the difference between the amount of water produced and the amount
which is billed or consumed .leakage is one of the components of total water loss in a network,
and comprises the physical losses from pipes, joints and fittings.
The amount of leakage varies from location to location, due to difference in construction
methods, age and condition. The condition of the pipe system is affected by soil movement,
corrosive conditions, pipe material, workmanship, age, supply pressure, number of joints and
connections and etc. leakage reduction as a whole is a complex task which requires coordinated
actions in different areas of the water network management such as detection and repair of
existing leaks, pipe rehabilitation program, pressure control system and etc.
3.4.2 Pressure and leakage

In many water network systems, even though the total demand and the total loss of water can be
known rather easily, information about the possible influence of local pressure upon demand is
sadly lacking that as a result creates difficulty to assess and compare the demand and loss of
water in its spatial distribution. Pressure distribution system on the one hand contributes to the
increase of leakage, when it is more, on the other hand when it is low it contributes to the
shortage of water that as a result creates or causes an equal distribution of water among residents.
Pressure variation in distribution network is caused, among others, by changes of demand of
users. The demand usually reaches a peak in the morning when people are at home and preparing
their meal and its second peak in the evening. Frequent starts and stops of pumps, closure and
opening of control valves that induce water hammer are also some of the causes to be mentioned
for pipe break and water loss through leakage.
37
Distribution losses is the sum of losses from four different parts of the distribution system; trunk
mains, service reservoirs, distribution mains and communication pipes. The combination of these
assets in individual companies and supply areas are widely variable, as the variation of pressure
which is known to affect leakage.
The elevation at which it is desirable to position a service reservoir depends up on both the
distance of the reservoir from the distribution area and the elevation of the highest buildings to
be supplied. If the distribution area varies widely in elevation it may be necessary to use two or
more service reservoirs at different levels, so that the lower areas do not receive an unduly high
pressure. Generally, 45 to 75 meters static pressure is that which best suits the domestic
distribution system. Pressure below 45 meters will be likely to cause trouble in supplying
extensive distribution areas pressure above 90 meters tends to result in excessive leakage loss.
Reducing pressure may make existing leaks more difficult to find , because they make less
noise , or do not come up to the surface. Therefore pressure reduction should be coordinated with
leakage detection and repair operations.
3.4.3 Ages of pipes and leakage

Pipe age and material are important factors contributing to the burst probability of pipes that as a
result cause lots of water loss.
3.4.4 Corrosion of pipes

Corrosion is the problem that is created as water supply pipelines are in continuous contact with
soil surrounding it and the water moving through it. The water itself or the surrounding soil may
cause problems that will affect the performance and life of the distribution pipes in the system.
The majority of the main breaks occur at locations where the pipe wall has been weakened due to
corrosion of metal pipes.
Corrosion of the external surfaces of cast-iron or steel pipes can, under some condition, be a
significant problem. Therefore, ductile-iron or steel pipelines placed in aggressive soils must be
protected by coating with corrosive resistant materials. The characteristics of the soil in which a
pipe is placed affect the rates of corrosion.
Recent estimates indicate that the cost of water main breaks in Canada is about $80 million per
year. One reason that this cost is high is that most water mains in Canada are made from either
38
cast or ductile iron. As these pipes age, they are weakened by corrosion causing an increased
number of breaks. (IRC 1996)
3.4.5 Meter error and water loss

Under registration of customer meters is also one of the causes of water loss. Like the ages of
pipes, ages of meters also has an impact to the increase of water loss. Customer meter errors
include errors due to accounting procedure and errors due to under or over registration of the
meters. Many countries especially developing countries are experienced losses of water due to
under registration of meters.
The cities of Africa appear to use meters for 78% of domestic consumption and the yearly meter
replacement is about 8.8%. Considering that meters typically under read as they age, it is likely
that considerable proportion of water will be lost metering errors.
Domestic water meters tend to under register for two reasons
1. Malfunctioning due to deterioration with use
2. Inability to measure low flows accurately
Much larger under registration can occur where maintenance of meter is poor. An under
registering meters and any meter stoppage could be noted immediately if meter readers are alert
to compare readings of one specific meter with its past readings , but in our case this situation
does not happen.
3.4.6 Factors affecting losses and wastes

Enormous amount of water is lost in leakages, wastes, thefts, etc. The various factors, which
give rise to losses and the measures to control these losses, are summarized below.
 Loosen joints: due to bad plumbing. Usually joints are leaky.

 Pressure in the distribution system: higher pressure in the distribution system leads to
higher leakage losses. This happens when a scheme is designed to serve multi story
buildings. Thus such buildings are encouraged to develop their own storage.
 System of supply: In intermittent system of supplies, the leakage loss is reduced, as it
does not occur for the whole daylong.
 Metering: In metered supply, wastage is considerably reduced because people become
more careful in using water as they pay for it.
 Illegal connections: People connect their personal pipes illegally to the system
39
3.4.7 Leakage monitoring and control

The losses of water are inevitable in the process of supplying thousands of costumers spread
through Addis Ababa started from reservoirs at the treatment plants, through a complex network
to the individual customer.
Leakage monitoring and control in pipe reticulation system is critical in insuring the efficient
performance of the system. Pipe systems are commonly used in Addis Ababa for distributing
water to areas of consumption. If pipes are worn out, large volume of treated water may be lost
through leakage as a result of high pressure of flow. Leakage control is one of the most difficult
task for the water engineer or other authority.
Water leak detection is a systematic method of locating visible and non-visible leaks in a
distribution system through;
 Visual inspection
 Leak detection equipment
Visual inspection
In this method only those leaks that become self- evident are located and repaired. A leak may
be self- evident because water shows on the surface or may become concerning following
consumers complain such as poor pressure.
Leak detection equipment

Most of the water is lost through numerous small holes, which are very difficult to identify or
locate as the pipes are laid underground that usually need special equipment to locate the leak
and repair.
3.5 Population growth and water demand

High population growth and development of urban centers depend on limited water resources.
The current global population is estimated to be 6.9 billion people, of which 82% live in
developing countries, yet the water resources have remained constant, and receiving an
increasing load from growing population (UN-Habitat, 2009). Urban areas are increasingly
facing challenges of providing water services for the growing urban population and economic
activities. Growing population will further increase the demand for water and there are limited
cost-effective water supplying augmentation options. Water supply augmentation requires a
40
number of years for planning, huge amount of capital, trained man power to have reliable water
supply. Worldwide are facing perceived water shortage due to increasing demands on water from
all sectors .This indicates that, water is becoming scarce and its demand is increasing over for
various uses
Fig 4.5 Addis Ababa growth population
Population growth is one of the major causes for the shortage of water supply we are facing at
the moment. Ever year the population grows with a high rate which will also increases the
demand with a higher rate. Addis Ababa has grown from a small village to become the
predominant and largest urban center in Ethiopia since being selected as the capital in 1886. The
city has grown from an area of some 16 Km with an estimated population of about 100,000, prior
to the Italian occupation, to its current size of about 532 km2 and 2.36 Million residents (1997).
The first comprehensive municipal census was carried out in 1961 and indicated a population of
450,000. A subsequent municipal census in 1967 reported a population of 680,000. A national
41
census carried out in 1984 and 1994 reported the population of Addis Ababa to be 1,417.200 and
2,112,700 respectively.
3.5.1 Water demand

Water demand is defined as the volume of water requested by users to satisfy their needs.
We need demand data for two basic reasons:
1. To manage existing systems, demand data is very important.
2. It is a necessity to have demand data in order to plan new works to meet future demand.
One of the difficulties faced by the water authority is determining the accurate water demand of
the city as the consumption during the past years that should have been used as a base is far
below the actual demand due to shortage of water. Consumption of water for the city is therefore
estimated based on the amount supplied rather than the actual demand.
Factors affecting water demand
 Size of the city

 Climate conditions
 Living standard of people
 Industrial and commercial activities
 Pressure in the distribution system
 System of supply
 Cost of water
 Policy of metering and method of charging
The various types of water demands may be broken down into the following classes:
 Domestic Water Demand

 Industrial water and Commercial Water Demand
 Demand for Public (Institutional demand)
 Fire Demand
 Demand for losses
3.5.2 Domestic water demand

It includes the quantity of water required in the houses for drinking, bathing, washing hands and
face, flushing toilets, washing clothes, floors, utensils, etc.
42
The amount of domestic water consumption per person shall vary according to the living
conditions of the consumers.
Based on this fact there 5 major connection types
 Traditional source users

 Public tap users
 Neighbor users
 Yard connection
 House connection
Currently the two connections dominate Addis Ababa due to urbanization of the city, yard and
house connection. People having house connections that are estimated about 4% of the total
population use water on average between 80 and 110 liter per capital per day. While the
remaining population with access to safe drinking water are served by yard connection and uses
between 15 and 40 liter per capital per day.
Table 1 Estimation of per capital demand for piped water in l/c/d (1997) for population of greater
than 30,000
No Activity House connection Yard connection
1 Drinking 3 3
2 Cooking 9 7
3 Washing hands 9 7
4 Washing dishes 7 4
5 Laundry 16 8
6 House cleaning 6 3
7 Bath and shower 20 4
8 Toilet 10 2
Total 80 38
Source –Ministry of water resource of Ethiopia
In most countries the domestic demand accounts about 50 to 60% of the total demand. The total
domestic water demand shall be equal to the total design population multiplied by per capita
domestic consumption.
3.5.3 Industrial and commercial water demand

This includes the quantity of water required to be supplied to offices, factories, different
industries, hotels, hospitals etc. This quantity will vary considerably with the nature of the city
and with the number and type of industries and commercial establishments present in it. The use
43
of water in industries is usually for cooling. Major industries use their own supply (>10,000
m3/day) for reasons of not degrading the city’s water supply and cost.
In supply estimation, to include or exclude industrial demand is a problem in that if design
includes, the industry later may say that it would have its own and if it is ignored, and industrial
development may be discouraged. Hence on average a margin of 20-25 % of the total water
demand may be taken for design.
3.5.4 Demand for Public (Institutional demand)

It is the water required for public buildings and institution such as schools, hospitals, public
parks, play grounds, gardening, sprinkling on rods, etc. Usually the demand may range from 2-
5% of the total demand.
Table 2 Commercial and Institutional demand
Categories Typical rate of water use per
day
Day school 5lit/student
Boarding school 90lit/student
Hospitals 50-75lit/bed
Church/Mosque 5lit/visitor
Cinema house 5lit/visitor
Hotels 25-60lit/bed
Public bath 30lit/visitor
Restaurants 10lit/seat
Offices 5lit/employee
Abattoir 150lit/cow
Workshop/shops 5lit/person
Prison 30lit/person
Source Design criteria guide line of MWR (2006)
3.5.5 Fire demand

The quantity of water required for extinguishing fire should be easily available and always kept
stored in storage reservoirs. Fire hydrants are usually fitted to the water mains and fire-fighting
pumps are connected to these mains by the fire brigade personnel when a fire breaks out.
Fires generally break in thickly populated localities and in industrial area and cause serious
damages of properties and sometime life of people are lost. Fire may take place sue to faulty
electric wires by short circuiting, fire catching materials, explosions, bad iterations of criminal
44
people or any other unforeseen happenings. If fires are not properly controlled and extinguished
in minimum possible time, they lead to serious damages and may burn the cities.
3.5.6 Unaccounted for Water

These include the quantity of water due to wastage, losses, thefts, etc, i.e.
• Waste in the pipelines due to defective pipe joints, cracked and broken pipes, faulty valves and
fittings
• Water that is lost when consumers keep open their taps or public taps even when they are not
using water and allow continuous wastage of water.
• Water that is lost due to unauthorized and illegal connection while estimating the total water
demand of water for a town or city, allowance for these losses and wastage should be done.
Generally, 15 – 40% of the total quantity of water is made to compensate for lose, thefts and
wastage of water.
3.5.7 Per capita Demand

Per capital demand is the annual average daily consumption of a person.
If ‘Q’ is the total quantity of water required by various purposes by a town per year and ‘P’ is
the population of town, then per capita demand will be
Q
per capital demand= Liters/day
p∗365
The following are the main factors affecting per capita demand of the town:
 Climatic condition: The requirement of water in summer is more than that in winter. The
quantity of water required in hotter and dry places is more than cold countries because of
the use of air coolers, more washing of clothes and bathing etc.
 Size of the community: Water demand is more with increase of size of town because
more water is required in street washing, running of sewers, maintenance of parks and
gardens.
 Standard of living: The per capita demand of the town increases with the standard of
living of the people because of the use of air conditioners, room coolers, maintenance of
lawns, use of flush, latrines and automatic home appliances etc.
 Industries and commercial activities: As the quantity of water required in certain
industries is much more than domestic demand, their presence in the town will
enormously increase per capita demand of the town. As a matter of the fact the water
required by the industries has no direct link with the population of the town.
 Quality of water: If the quality of water is good, the people will consume more water. On
the other hand, if the water has unpleasant taste or odor, the rate of consumption will
down.
45
 System of sanitation: If a town is provided with water carriage system of sanitation, the
per capita demand increases because the people will use more quantity of water for
flushing sanitary fixtures.
 Cost of water: The higher the cost, the lower will be the per capita demand and vice
versa.
 Use of water meters: If metering is introduced for the purpose of charging, the consumer
will be cautious in using water and there will be less wastage of water. So per capita
demand may lower down.
 System of supply: The supply of water may be continuous or intermittent. In the former
case, water is supplied for 24 hour and in the latter case water is supplied for certain
duration of day only.
It is claimed that intermittent supply system will reduce per capita demand. But sometimes, the
results are proved to be disappointing, mainly for the following reasons:
 During non-supply period, the water taps are kept open and hence, when the supply
starts, water flowing through open taps is unattended and this results in waste of water.
 There is tendency of many people to through away water stored previously during non-
supply hours to collect fresh water. This also results in waste of water and increase per
capita demand.
Table 3 overview of urban water supply for southern Africa largest cities
Country Largest city Population of largest Water production for

city (Million) the largest city
(l/person/day)
Angola Luanda 4.0 30
Botswana Gabarone 0.13 286
Lesotho Maseru 0.27 81
Mozambique Maputo 0.97 133
Namibia Windhock 0.27 -
Zambia Lusaka 1.21 225
Zimbabwe Harare 2.38 156
Source- water supply coverage and water loss in Addis Ababa
3.5.8 Timely Variation in Demand

 Seasonal variation: such variation occurs due to larger use of water in summer season,
lesser use in winter and much less in rainy season. This also occurs in industries, which
are involved in processing of cash crops at the time of harvesting.
46
 Daily variation: Day to day variations reflect household and industrial activity. For
example water consumption is high on Sundays and holidays.
 Hourly variation: Hourly consumption usually attains peak value between about 7 A.M.
to 10 A.M. and then again from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M
Chapter Four
Methodology
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter we will try to see the study area, what kinds of methods we used to collect the
necessary data, what kinds of data we collected and what methods are used to analyze the data.
4.2 The study area

The area that is covered in this study is the major causes leading to an insufficient water supply
in Addis Ababa. Water shortage in Addis Ababa has become common now a days, we will try to
see what main reasons are there behind this insufficient water supply. We have selected a
specific location as a sample to analyze the major causes that location is not getting enough
supply.
4.3 Method of data collection

1. Interview- we have contacted and tried to get some valuable data’s from AAWSA, CSA
and other sources.
2. By asking local communities- to know the demand for residential houses we were able to
gain some information in the sample area.
3. By referring water related lecture notes
4. By referring water related researches
47
4.4 Data collected

1. Population of Addis Ababa
2. Population of sample area
3. Daily water production from water sources
4. Type of pipes in the sample area
5. Distribution map
4.5 Method of data analysis
Starting from the source
 Determining the current water production rate

 Determining the design production rate of the sources
 Identify If there is any negative gap between the two rates
 Reason out the causes for the gap
Population
After determining the population for Addis Ababa and the sample area (for both A.A and sample
area)
 Determine the growth rate percentage

 Forecast the population using geometric and other methods if possible
 Determine the total demand
Demand
For the sample area
 Determine what kinds of demand are there

 Determine the supply
 Forcast the domestic demand
Water loss
 When does water loss occur
48
 Is there visible water loss in the sample area
And other causes will also be discussed
Chapter five
5. Data analysis
In this chapter we will try to discuss about the major causes of insufficient water supply in
Addis Ababa and our sample area.
5.1 Source
Currently around 500,000m3/day of water is produced from different sources that among the
others are Gafarsa and Legedadi treatment plants that have design capacity of 30,000 and
150,000 m3/day respectively. The Gafarsa water line consisting of two 400mm steel pipes and
the Legedadi line partly comprising of 1400mm (6.8km) and other a combination of two parallel
lines of diameter 900mm and 1200mm (11.5km) are the main transmission lines that convey
water from the treatment plant to the respective reservoirs.
i. Geferssa: 30,000 m3 /day

ii. Legedadi and dire: 174,000 m3 /day
iii. Akaki wells: 191,000 m3 /day
iv. Deep wells and other springs and groundwater sources:
66,000 m3 /day
This sources are not able to provide sufficient water to the highly growing demand of Addis
Ababa city, due to some reasons which we will try to see. In 2010(e.c) the planned volume of
water to be supplied to Addis Ababa was 691,000 m3 but this level couldn’t be reached,
AAWSA was able to provide total amount of 497,000m3. In contrary the total demand in Addis
Ababa was 866,000m3 so as we can see there is a 369,000m3 amount of water gap between the
supply and the demand.
Table 4 design capacity and current production of water
No Water source Water source production Current water production in

capacity in 2008(e.c) in m3/day
49
m3/day
1 Legedadi surface 195,000 174,000
2 Gefersa surface 30,000 30,000
3 Akaki ground water 25,000 15,000
1(0ld)
4 Akaki gound water 83,000 68,000
2(new)
5 Akaki ground water 3a 70,000 40,000
6 Akaki ground water 3b 70,000 68,000
7 Legedadi deep well 40,000 38,000
8 Other well sources 95,000 64,000
Total 608,000 497,000
Source AWSSA
water production capacity
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
ce l es
ce
ce
1
ce
2 3a 3b el rc
rfa rfa e
ac
e w
su su rfa rfa rf ac rf ee
p so
u
di sa su su su su d el
l
eda f er nd nd d d di rw
g Ge ou ou un un da he
Le i gr i gr ro g o g e t
ak ak ig ak
i Le O
Ak Ak kak Ak
A
Water production in 2008 Water production in 2010 Series3
Chart 1
Table 5 Ground sources water production gap
N0 Ground water Design June September December March

source capacity 2009(e.c) 2010(e.c) 2010(e.c) 2010(e.c)
1 Akaki ground 25,000 14,185 11,414 13,843 14,913

water1
50
2 Akaki ground water 83,000 63,958 60,870 66,897 67,889

2
3a
3b
5 Legedadi deep well 40,000 33,227 34,360 37,960 38,000
6 Other well sources 95,000 48,292 59,854 62,894 64,400
Total 383,000 269,524 272,837 287,561 293,000
Chart Title
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Akaki ground Akaki ground Akaki ground Akaki ground Legedadi deep Other well
water 1 water 2 water 3a water 3b well sources
Design capacity Jun-09 Sep-10 Dec-10 Mar-10
Problems related with water production

As we have seen above in the charts and tables there is a reduction of water production from its
design capacity due to
a. Water turbidity
b. Damaged motors or pumps mainly in ground water
c. Unbalanced proportion of Legedadis main pipe line diameter and the

amount of water that goes through it daily.
51
d. Mostly the pumps will pump water for 24 hours that will put pressure in
the pump motor.
e. Insufficient light
f. Sedimentation problems with in reservoirs
5.1.1 Water turbidity

Turbidity is a reduction in water clarity because of the presence of suspended matter absorbing
or scattering light. Turbidity maybe caused by human activities that disturb land , such as
construction, mining can lead to high sediment levels entering water bodies during rain storms
due to storm water runoff .
In water bodies such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs high turbidity levels can reduce the amount of
light reaching lower depths, which can inhibit growth of submerged aquatic plants.
Turbidity in lakes, reservoirs, channels and the ocean can be measured using a secchi disk. This
black and white disk is lowered in to the water until it can no longer be seen. The depth is then
recorded as a measure of the transparency of the water. However this cannot be used in shallow
waters where the disk can still be seen on the bottom.
A highly turbid water needs time while being treated in the treatment plants so the water that
must be delivered to the city will be reduced because of this factor.
5.1.2 Damaged motors or pumps mainly in ground water

For the past nine month due to shortage of light the pumps have been damaged because of this
problem the water that should have been produced is not produced.
No Ground Wells that June September December March May

water should have
source been 2009(e.c) 2010(e.c) 2010(e.c) 2010(e.c) 2010(e.c)
working
1 Akaki 9 9 7 7 8 8
ground
water 1
2 Akaki 20 18 18 18 15 19
ground
water 2
52
3 Akaki 17 12 12 11 11 12
ground
water 3a
4 Akaki 24 19 18 19 19 19
ground
water 3b
5 Legedadi 9 7 7 7 7 8
deep well
6 Other well 90 80 77 79 82 83
source
Total 169 145 139 141 142 149
Table 6 insufficient light effect on water production
5.1.3 Unbalanced proportion of Legedadis main pipe line diameter and the
amount of water that goes through it daily.
Legedadis water treatment plant can produce 195,000 m3 water per day but the 900mm and
1400mm pipes that transmit water from the treatment plant to the city are not able to transmit
more than 165,000 m3 of water daily.
Gafarsas existing transmission main consists of a twin 400milmetre diameter pipeline one of
which was constructed in 1955 and the other in 1960. The analysis of the existing core-kolfie
distribution system, carried out utilizing the computer model developed has indicated that the
capacity of the transmission mains is limited to a maximum value of approximately 24,000 cubic
meters per day. And also the ages of the mains lines are a big concern too.
5.1.4 Insufficient light

Due to insufficient light supply the amount of water that should have been produced is wasted
Table 7 Water that should have been produced
No Water source Sep-2010(e.c) Dec-2010(e.c) Mar-2010(e.c)

1 Akaki ground water 1 23,993 6,207 48,740
2 Akaki ground water 2 288,259 27,061 94,556
3 Akaki ground water 3a 75,202 32,536 67,126
4 Akaki ground water 3b 131,898 53,888 112,274
5 Legedadi deep well 111,128 114,245 71,243
6 Other well sources 47,198 29,165 58,031
Total 677,678 263,102 451,970
53
5.1.5 Sedimentation problems with in reservoirs

All rivers contain sediments, a river in effect, can be considered a body of flowing sediments as
much as one of flowing water. When a river is stilled behind a dam, the sediments it contains
sink to the bottom of the reservoir. The proportion of a rivers total sediment load captured by a
dam –known as its ‘’trap efficiency’’. As the sediments accumulate in the reservoir, so the dam
gradually loses its ability to store water for the purposes for which it was built. Every reservoir
loses storage to sedimentation although the rate at which this happens varies widely.
Sedimentation is still probably the most serious technical problem faced by the dam industry.
The rate of reservoir sedimentation depends mainly on the size of a reservoir relative to the
amount of sediment flowing into it. A small reservoir on an extremely muddy river will rapidly
lose capacity, a large reservoir on a very clear river may take centuries to lose an appreciable
amount of storage.
Apart from rapidly filling their reservoirs sediment-filled rivers also cause headache for dam
operators due to abrasion of turbines and other dam components.
N.B –The sample area is located at “haya hulet” from golagol building up to worku building.
They get their water supply from legedadi .
5.2 Population and demand

5.2.1 Population
As we all know population is one of the major causes for the shortage of water in the Addis
Ababa city. As the population is increasing highly the water consumption rate is also growing
rapidly, that requires more production from the sources.
Present population
In our sample area the number of the population is 950. As per 2007 (1999e.c) population and
housing census, total population of Addis Ababa was indicated to be 2,739,551 as of year 2007.
Therefore, census 2007 data is taken as most reliable data.
54
Population data- source CSA
5.2.2 Growth Rate

The CSA has established growth rates at five years interval that can be used for urban population
projection of all regions in the country starting from year 1995 up to 2030.
Table 8 population growth rate
Year Urban growth rate % Rural growth rate %

1995-2000 4.3 3.1
2000-2005 4.1 2.8
2005-2010 4.06 2.5
2010-2015 3.88 2.3
2015-2020 3.69 2.1
2020-2025 3.51 1.8
2025-2030 3.35 1.7
Source CSA’s country level population growth rates
55
5.2.3 Population projection (forcast)

Human population is given a great emphasis and studied for various reasons, for example, for
resource allocation, socio-economic development, policy implication, adjust situations to
existing conditions. The base population data (2007) was obtained from the central statics
agency. In this study geometrical increase method was adopted for future population forecast.
Population projection adapted to geometric growth rate model, in which the growing towns and
cities having large expansion
For our study we will project the population with geometric method.
Geometric method
P n= Po(1+ K )n
Where Po = initial population

Pn = population at n decades or years ,
n = decade or year
K = percentage (geometric) increase
This method is mostly applicable for growing towns and cities having vast scope of expansion
Table 8 geometric method
Year Growth rate

% no Population Increase in
population
2007 0 0 2,739,551
2008 4.06 0.04 2,849,134 109,583
2009 4.06 0.04 2,963,099 113,965
2010 3.88 0.0388 3,078,068 114,969
2011 3.88 0.0388 3,197,497 119,429
2012 3.88 0.0388 3,321,560 124,063
2013 3.88 0.0388 3,450,437 128,877
2014 3.88 0.0388 3,584,314 133,877
2015 3.69 0.0369 3,716,576 132,262
2016 3.69 0.0369 3,853,718 137,142
2017 3.69 0.0369 3,995,921 142,203
2018 3.69 0.0369 4,143,371 147,450
2019 3.69 0.0369 4,296,262 152,891
2020 3.51 0.0351 4,447,061 150,799
2021 3.51 0.0351 4,603,153 156,092
56
2022 3.51 0.0351 4,764,724 161,571

2023 3.51 0.0351 4,931,966 167,242
2024 3.51 0.0351 5,105,078 173,112
2025 3.35 0.0335 5,276,099 171,021
For the sample area population of 230 using geometric method
Year Growth rate Population Increase in population

2019 230
2020 0.0351 239 9
2021 0.0351 248 9
2022 0.0351 257 9
2023 0.0351 266 9
2024 0.0351 275 9
5.3 Demand
One of the difficulties faced by the water authority is determining the accurate water demand of
the city as the consumption during the past years that should have been used as a base is far
below the actual demand due to shortage of water. Consumption of water for the city is therefore
estimated based on the amount supplied rather than the actual demand.
The main types of water demands may be broken down into the following classes:
 Domestic Water Demand

 Industrial water and Commercial Water Demand
 Demand for Public (Institutional demand)
In the sample area mostly they are domestic demands. We try to analyze the demand in a specific
location from the distribution map of our sample are.
57
Fig 4.7 distribution map of the sample area
58
In our sample area mostly shops, hotels and residential houses are found in a very large area so
we needed to reduce it to a specific area.
5.3.1 Domestic demand

In the specific area we selected there are mostly residential houses. There are two connections in
residential buildings
1. House connection
2. Yard connection
The domestic connection can consist of a single tap on a post, or a system of pipes and taps in a
house these are called yard connection and house connection respectively. A gate valve and a
water meter are normally installed at the entry to the premises.
In the sample area from out of the 12 houses we asked 9 of them are house connections and the
rest 3 are yard connections. In the area we selected there is a total population of 230 and 35
residential buildings in count, Hospital (kidus Gebreal) and 5 shops and 5 bars.
We included the shops to domestic because mostly they use yard connection but they use a little
amount of water per day. For house connection the per capital demand is 110 l/c/d. for yard
connection mostly we use up to 50 l/c/d.
Table 10 for house connection per capital demand
Activity House connection Yard connection

Drinking 5 5
Cooking 7 5
Bath 35 10
Toilet 11 10
Cloth washing 25 10
House washing 15 5
Washing dish 12 5
Total 110 50
5.3.2 Sample area demand calculation

230- Total population
35- Residential which are divided in to two 28 house connections and 7 yard connection
5- Shops
5- Bars
Kidus gebreal hospital – 180 l/bed
59
Residential
28- House connection- 110l/c/d
7- Yard connection-50l/c/d
To know the number of population it is assumed that 1 household have 5 members.
1 household = 5 members
28 household = x
The value of x will be 140 and the same way for yard connection x will be 35.
Total amount of water required per day for house connection = population * per capital demand
140 * 110 l/c/d =15,400 l/c/d
Total amount of water required per day for yard connection
35 * 50 l/c/d = 1,750 l/c/d
Total amount of water required in a year
H. C – 15,400 * 365 = 5,621,000 l/c/d
Y. C - 1,750 * 365 = 638,750 l/c/d
The total demand would be
5,621,000 + 638,750 = 6,259,750 l/y = 6,260 m3/y
Shops
In 1 shop there would a maximum number of two person
So P=10
10 *50l/c/d = 500l/c/d
Total amount of water in a year= 500 * 365 =182,500 l/y = 182.5 m3/y
Bars
50 * 50 = 2,500 l/c/d
Total amount of water in a year = 2,500 * 365 = 912,000 l/y = 912.5 m3/y
60
Hospital – taking 20 beds
20 * 180 = 3,600 l/c/d
Total amount of water in a year = 3,600 * 365 = 1,314,000 l/c/d = 1,314 m3/y
Therefore the total amount of demand in the sample area would be
6,260 + 182.5 + 912.5 + 1,314 = 8, 670 m3/y
The supply for the sample area from golagol building up to worku building gets an average of
600 m3 per month based on the shift. And the supply amount of water for our selected area is not
sufficient because the demand per month of our selected area is 722.5m3.
The forecasted domestic demand will be (2024) assuming all users are H .C
DWD = Pn * Average per capital domestic demand
= 275 * 110 =30,250 l/c/d
The current domestic demand
DWD = 230 * 110 = 25,300 l/c/d
In general this shows there needs to be an improvement in our water supply as the demand will
keep growing.
5.3.3 Demand in Addis Ababa

The demand (consumption) in Addis Ababa in recent years have been given to us and its seems
increasing. Projections of future water demands for domestic, industrial and administrative uses,
together with unaccounted for losses such as leakage were made from current demands for each
water supply subsystem and their aggregated to determine total water demand projections for the
metropolitan Addis Ababa area. The past demands of each subsystem had been derived from
1994-95 water consumption statistics and from the demand-monitoring program carried out in
1995.
61
table 11
Year Consumption total demand

1994 204,000
1995 216,000
1996 230,000
1997 245,000
1998 261,000
1999 277,000
2000 296,000
In 2010 the planned volume of water to be supplied to Addis Ababa was 691,000 m3 but this
level couldn’t be reached, AAWSA was able to provide total amount of 497,000m3. In contrary
the total demand in Addis Ababa was 866,000m3 so as we can see there is a 369,000m3 amount
of water gap between the supply and the demand.
5.4 Water loss

Much is said at the literature review, water loss is another big cause for the insufficient water
supply in Addis Ababa.
Some of the complains we heard at our selected area were
 Pipes explode mainly at night due to pressure

 Illegal connections
 Problems related with valves
 Aged pipes and etc
 Problems related with water meters
This topics are briefly discussed at the literature review, since it is similar with our sample area
there is no reason to repeat.
5.5 Distribution system
62
Gravity method is applied to provide water to our sample area at fig it shows the pipe
distribution of the sample area. Its consists pvc pipes, GI pipes, HDPE pipes and etc
Pipes
Water supply pipes sizes commercially available are given in the following table
Metric sizes (mm) 10 20 25 30 40 50 60 80 100

English (in) 1/2 3/4 1 11/4 11/4 2 21/2 3 4
Source AAWSA
The main pipe in our sample area is 4inch and many of the branches are half inches.
The flow velocity is given as 0.9 m/s, take P.C.D = 110l/c/d
We are going to find pipe diameters for the H.C and Y.C
H. C
Total flow Q = demand * population= 110 * 140 = 15,400 l/d
15,400
=0.000178 m3/s = 0.178 l/s
24∗60∗60∗1000
Pipe area - area = Q/V = πd 2/4
From this equation D = √ 4 Q /Vπ
Then we can get 15.87 mm but since there is no pipe that can match that number we can take the
pipe diameter as 20mm or 3/4 inch.
Similarly the same calculation is applied to yard collection the only difference is the population
and the per capital demand which are 35 and 50l/c/d respectively. And we can get a pipe
diameter of 10mm or 1/2 inch.
Chapter six
6. Conclusion and recommendation
6.1 Conclusion
We have tried to see the basic reasons or causes that lead to an insufficient water supply in Addis
Ababa and some reasons that lead to those causes. As we all know water is one of the most
important reason for our existence and should be provided fairly to all the people of Addis
Ababa. And this study tried to see the inability of the sources to satisfy the demand, losses that
63
occur during distribution, the continuous population growth and the demand, that puts AWSSA
in a difficult situation.
6.2 Recommendation
We tried to identify the major causes for the insufficient water supply in Addis Ababa. Some of
the causes are related with; supply, distribution system, population, demand, and other factors.
This causes must be properly managed to improve the overall supply of water in Addis Ababa
 One major cause is damaged pumps and motors, because of this reason water that
should have been produced and supplied to the city is wasted. So proper maintenance
should be provided on time.
 Development of water sources including both ground and surface water sources
 To cope up with the insufficient light, generators must be readily available when
needed its actually being done by AWSSA.
 Legedadis main transmission pipe line must be suitable for the water incoming to be
transported to the community this includes, checking and replacing aged pipes
 The waters turbidity that enters the treatment plants must be decreased otherwise it
takes a longer period of time to treat the water and provide it to the community on
time.
 Water losses that occur from improper water meter registry must decrease by
checking and fixing in different areas.
 Illegal connections is another bottleneck for water supply so as much as possible by

taking the necessary actions (legally) we can make people not to connect illegally .
 To reduce water pollutant materials that require high treatment in generally
 Accurate projections
 Proper management of water resources
64
Reference
1. Water and supply lecture note
2. Water supply, sewerage and urban drainage lecture notes 2010
3. Assessment of causes leading to an insufficient water supply in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
4. Water supply coverage and water loss in distribution systems the case of Addis Ababa
welday berhe 2005
5. ASSESMENT OF WELKITE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM IN GURAGE ZONE,

SNNPR, ETHIOPIA
6. Basics of water supply system module 1
7. AWSSA files and data’s
8. FINAL YEAR REPORT ON ARBA MINCH TOWN SANITARY SEWARAGE

SYSTEM PROJECT
9. Assessment of Water Supply and Demand of Boditi Town
10. CSA population data
65
66

Chapter One: 1.1 Background

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter One: 1.1 Background

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter One: 1.1 Background

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assessment of causes leading to an insufficient water supply in Addis Ababa

The main objectives of the Authorities are stipulated as follows:

1.2 The Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA)

1.2.2 Basic Services

1.2.2.2 Waste Water Disposal Services

River lakes ponds impounded reservoir springs Infiltration wells

Plain sedimentation chemical sedimentation Filtration Disinfection

Gravity system Pumping system Dual system

Fig 1.1 Typical Water Supply Process in Addis Ababa

 What method is AWSAA using to supply water?

2.2 Objective of the study

2.2.1 General objective

2.2.2 Specific objectives

b) Forcast the population to know future water demand

c) Analyze the distribution system

d) Analyze the demand

e) Analyze the source

3.1 Water supply in India

Lack of Financial Support from the Central Government - SANAA is directly

3.1.1 Rainfall uncertainty

3.1.2 Impacts of uncontrolled population growth for planning and water

3.1.3 Conflict of legal and planning interests

particular problems of water availability in Tegucigalpa, the process of municipalisation started

3.1.4 Financial limitations

3.1.5 Influence of the Central Government in the water sector

3.2 Ethiopia water supply

 Akaki ground water 1,2,3

Fig 3.2 Hand pump

Fig 3.3 Roof catchment

Fig 3.4 ground catchment

 The quality of rainwater is high.

Some disadvantages or limitations are:

3.2.2 Addis Ababa background

Fig 3.5 Main water sources for Addis Ababa

Fig 3.6 Legedadi dam

Fig 3.7 Legedadi treatment plant

Main features of legedadi

 Main dam with concrete buttress

3.3 Distribution and water loss

. A good distribution system should satisfy the followings:

 Purity of distributed water should be maintained. This requires distribution system to be

3.3.1 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

A. Branching Pattern with Dead End

Fig 3.8 Branching pattern with dead end

 Lastly service connections are given to the consumers from branches.

Fig 3.9 Grid pattern

Fig 4 Ring system

Fig 4.1 Radial pattern

3.3.2 Methods of distribution

Fig 4.2 gravitational distribution system

Fig 4.3 pumping without storage distribution system

Fig 4.4 combined pumping and storage distribution system

3.3.3 Pipelines and appurtenances

1. Mild Steel Pipes

• Available in diameter of 150-250 mm for water supply and cut lengths of 4 - 7 m

2. Galvanized Iron (GI) Pipes

• Cheap in cost and light in weight.

3. Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC unplasticised) Pipes