Water auditing: the case for statutory requirements

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 597-601
Author(s):  
J. Schlafrig ◽  
J. Sturman ◽  
G. Ho ◽  
K. Mathew
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Structural Water ◽  
Systematic Process

Drought across swathes of Australia, highlights our need for water conservation in addition to seeking new sources of water (demand and supply-side resource options). Water conservation or efficiency improvement is currently a non-systematic process along the lines of ‘if we do such and such then we will save so much water’. Such an approach is ad-hoc and only has the appearance of being ‘quantitative’. We would class it as qualitative, or maybe advanced qualitative water conservation. True quantitative or structured water auditing of non-domestic water consumption is an iterative, systematic and documented process of obtaining reliable use data, validated by a closure approach. Opportunities are identified for water use reduction, water reuse, recycling and for water resource substitution. Financial assessment of savings in cost against cost of measures will provide a payback period. A water management strategy or Water Management Plan (WMP) as it is known in Victoria, Australia, is devised which is consistent with legal requirements, the enterprise's environmental policy and its movement towards sustainable development. Regulators have legislated for mandatory WMPs and audits in Victoria, but this is the only state so far to do this. Mandatory water auditing should be an uncontested choice as it can only provide a win:win situation regulation to the private sector. We argue that only the systematic process provided by structural water auditing constitutes quantitative water conservation. Further, statutory obligation for water users to engage in the water auditing process will give the broad, systematic quantitative information, and based upon which optimal water management strategies or WMPs can be devised. This will ensure a rational approach to our future water needs and the needs of our environment. It is anticipated that voluntary auditing in the arenas not mandated will increase in the long term if this is done.

scholarly journals Adaptive Responses to Climate Change: Evaluating the Implementation and Effectiveness of Water Resource Management Strategies in Selected Hotels within the Environs of Lake Naivasha

2019 ◽  
pp. 287-296
Author(s):  
D. N. Kinyanjui
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Lake Naivasha ◽  
Water Sustainability ◽  
Structural Water ◽  
Management Staff

Aims: This study sought to evaluate the adoption of water resource management strategies in hotels in an attempt to attain water sustainability. Specifically, the research sought to assess the current structural and non-structural water resource management strategies adopted by selected hotels in the environs of Lake Naivasha; establish the perceived effectiveness of both the structural and non-structural water resource management strategies adopted to enhance water sustainability; and compare the structural and non-structural water management strategies in terms of their effectiveness in promoting water sustainability in hotels within environs of Lake Naivasha. Study Design: The study adopted a case study design. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in hotels within the environs of Lake Naivasha between May and December 2010. Methodology: A census of 30 Class (A) registered hotels was conducted, and purposive sampling was used to select 120 respondents from the management staff within the selected hotels. Convenience sampling was used to select 8 managers of water management bodies who acted as key informants during personal interviews. Primary data was collected from the hotel management staff using questionnaires and from managers of water management through personal interviews. Data from questionnaires were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to derive descriptive statistics on the implementation of WRM strategies. Results: Findings revealed that a majority of the sampled hotels had embraced water resource management strategies through the development of alternative water resources, use of water saving technology, treatment of recycled water and use of water saving manuals. Further, the structural water resource management strategies were perceived to be more effective as they impacted more on reducing the operating costs, promoted environmental conservation and were more preferred than the non- structural strategies despite being more expensive to implement.  Conclusion: It is concluded that water sustainability is however achievable through a combination of a variety of WRM strategies.

Investment strategy for California Water

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 89-94
Author(s):  
M. McIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Budget Deficits ◽  
Groundwater Pumping ◽  
Groundwater Treatment ◽  
California Water ◽  
Competing Interest

For 150 years California met water needs primarily through expensive surface water reservoirs and increased groundwater pumping. This approach to water management was emulated around the world. Today, however, budget deficits, climate change and competing interest all strain California's ability to meet new needs for a growing population, the economy and the environment. Water for California and the Planning & Conservation League led an effort to assess viable options for California under these new realities. The resulting Investment Strategy for California Water identifies cost-effective, environmentally beneficial and socially acceptable water management strategies for meeting these needs. The Strategy demonstrates how California can more than meet water supply needs with locally planned and implemented programs such as water conservation, recycling and groundwater treatment. As with past California approaches to water management, this Strategy can be useful to other regions facing similar challenges.

Without households, water management is not integrated

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Harriden
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Household Water ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Management Policies

With the institutional and personal relationship building vital to integrated water resource management (IWRM) in practice stopping at the community scale, households and householders are largely neglected from the framework. Domestic water users are viewed as a homogenous group requiring only continuous, single-use potable supply, with equal, unproblematic access to the supplied water. Reflecting the reality of few households, this construct contributes to the development of inappropriate and ineffective institutional water management policies and practices. Using evidence from Water Diaries conducted in the ACT region, including household adoption of water conservation practices and acceptance of water restrictions, this paper demonstrates that householders are active water managers. Outlining the benefits to IWRM of incorporating household water management expertise, this paper argues it is appropriate to formally include this sector in the IWRM framework.

Integrated water cycle planning for towns in New South Wales, Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Schneider ◽  
A. Davison ◽  
A. Langdon ◽  
G. Freeman ◽  
C. Essery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Use ◽  
State Government ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Urban Centre

Integration means different things to different people and as a consequence appears to only partially deliver on promised outcomes. For effective integrated water cycle management these outcomes should include improved water use efficiency, less waste, environmental sustainability, and provide secure and reliable supply to meet social and economic needs. The objective of integration is the management and combination of all these outcomes as part of a whole, so as to provide better outcomes than would be expected by managing the parts independently. Integration is also a consequence of the Water Reforms embarked on by the NSW State Government in 1995. The key goals of the reforms are clean and healthy rivers and groundwaters, and the establishment of more secure water entitlements for users. They are also essential for meeting the Council of Australian Government (COAG) water management strategies. The policies and guidelines that formed the NSW Water Reforms were the basis of the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) (WMA) which is the legislative framework for water management in NSW. The NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation has developed an approach to integrated water cycle management for rural centres in NSW based on a catchment and policy context. This approach includes consideration of catchment wide needs and issues, environmental sustainability, government policy and community objectives in the development of an integrated water cycle plan. The approach provides for a transparent assessment of priorities and how to deal with them, and while specific to urban centres, could easily be expanded for use in the management of the whole of the catchment water cycle. Integration of the water cycle is expected to offer benefits to the local environment, community and economy. For instance, any unused proportion of an urban centre's water entitlement, or an offset against this entitlement created through returned flows (such as via good quality sewage effluent discharge to a river), can provide a surplus which is available to be traded on an annual basis. Further, improved demand management within an urban centre can be expected to result in a reduction in abstraction against the licence entitlement. This may result in the increased availability of in-stream water for environmental or other purposes and is expected to increase the economic value of returned water. Improved water use efficiencies are also expected to result in reduced capital works (and their associated costs) as the efficiency of service delivery and resource use improves. In this paper an example of the application of this process is provided and the outcomes discussed.

scholarly journals Public Water Supply and Sanitation Authorities for Strategic Sustainable Domestic Water Management. A Case of Iringa Region In Tanzania

J ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-466
Author(s):  
Mesia Lufingo
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Sustainable Water Supply ◽  
Mandatory Service ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Water supply is a mandatory service for the majority from respective legal public water utilities, and its sustainability reflects implementations of best management strategies at a local level. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess current approaches used in water quality and quantity management and (ii) propose a sustainable domestic water management strategy. This was achieved through secondary water data trends, on-site water quality assessments, visits of water supply and sanitation authorities, and assessment of their performances. It was observed that water supplied in rural-based authorities was quite different from that supplied in an urban setting as far as quality and quantity are concerned; urban-based supplies are more affordable to users than rural ones. A new strategy on water management is presented for sustainable water supply; it is based on controlling groundwater abstractions and preference of surface water in public water supplies. Rural water supply management must learn several practices realized in urban supplies for the betterment of services for the majority of the users.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING THE PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AROUND HOMES

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basant MAHESHWARI
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Water Management ◽  
Start Time ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Irrigation Systems

This study examines factors that affect the efficiency of outdoor home irrigation in the Sydney Metropolitan Area (SMA). The irrigation systems of 50 home sites were monitored, over a five-month period for flow rate, start time, duration and irrigation date. The monitoring was for quantification of the water use for lawn, garden and other garden areas, understanding of the issues and factors that affect the performance of irrigation. Results show that hand watering was the most common method, accounting for 35% of the areas irrigated by homeowners. Both portable sprinklers and microjets accounted for 20% and fixed sprinklers and drip irrigation accounting for 11% and 8% respectively. The study has implications for developing suitable urban water management strategies, and significant opportunities exist for water conservation through appropriately designed educational programs and the installation of improved irrigation systems, especially for the areas that are smaller or used for home gardens.

scholarly journals Public Water Supply and Sanitation Authorities: A Sustainable Domestic Water Management Strategy in Tanzania

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mesia Lufingo
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Sustainable Water Supply ◽  
Mandatory Service ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Water supply is a mandatory service for Tanzanians from respective legal public water utilities, and their sustainability reflects implementations of best management strategies at a local level. The objective of this study was to assess current approaches used in water quality and quantity management in Tanzania. This was achieved through secondary water data tends, on-site water quality assessments, visits of respective water supply and sanitation authorities, and assessment of their performances. It was observed that water supplied in rural-based authorities was quite different from that supplied in an urban setting as far as quality and quantity is concerned, urban-based supplies being of assistance to users over rural ones. A new strategy on water management is presented for sustainable water supply in Tanzania; it is based on controlling groundwater abstractions and preference of surface water in public water supplies. Rural water supply management must learn several practices realized at urban supplies for the betterment of respective majority water users.

scholarly journals Water Use Behavior in a Multicultural Urban Area in Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8603
Author(s):  
Atefeh Dadvar ◽  
Krushna Mahapatra ◽  
Jörgen Forss
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
World Population ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Individual Measurement ◽  
Visualization System ◽  
Use Behavior

The increasing world population and climate change are major concerns for the supply of water needs. Understanding user behavior facilitates the development of effective strategies of domestic water management. This research applied a questionnaire survey and data analysis methods to analyze the water consumption behavior of tenants in a multicultural urban area, dominated by immigrants of different ethnic origins, in the city of Växjö in Sweden. Results showed that the majority of the studied participants perceived themselves to be environmentally friendly. They reported to be engaged in water conservation activities quite often, but analysis showed that they did not have accurate perceptions of their water consumption. Positive attitudes towards water conservation and self-reported water conservation activities significantly but negatively influenced respondents’ actual water consumption, i.e., water consumption was higher. Subjective norms did not have a significant influence. The results also revealed that individual measurement and debit positively influenced, i.e., reduced, actual water consumption. Therefore, water management systems should include an individual measurement and debit system combined with a visualization system to enable tenants to monitor the quantity and cost of their water consumption.

scholarly journals Water use, reuse and treatment in the food industry: A theorical study

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. e79
Author(s):  
Tatiane Valeria Rodrigues ◽  
Alexandre Meira de Vasconcelos ◽  
Denize Demarche Minatti Ferreira ◽  
Alessandra Rodrigues Machado de Araujo ◽  
Hans Michael Van Bellen
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Wastewater Management ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
The Usa

This paper aims to analyze the scientific literature produced on water use, reuse, and treatment, in the food industry during the period between 2008 and 2018. The study considered articles indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, as well as Brazilian theses and dissertations. The research used content analysis to explore the corpus, which was formed by the publications’ abstracts, and the software Iramuteq was used to support the analysis. The content was separated into two lexical blocks: a) “water management,” explained by the classes “water consumption indicators,” “rational use of water,” and “environmental management;” and (b) “wastewater management,” explained by the classes “fluent management” and “measurement and monitoring.” The study pointed to four emergent research opportunities on the theme: “water conservation;” “water reuse;” “new productive standards,” and “empirical studies.” The results show a high interest of Chinese, Indian, and European researchers in water management in all cycles of use, and scarce studies in highly industrialized countries with a strong projection of water stress, such as the USA, Japan, and Russia. Also, it is possible to observe that there is a growing interest in this subject due to the projection of water stress in the near future.

scholarly journals Promising Water Management Strategies for Arid and Semiarid Environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adel Zeggaf Tahiri ◽  
G. Carmi ◽  
M. Ünlü
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Market Growth ◽  
Arid And Semiarid

Water is the most limiting factor for crop production in arid and semiarid areas. The search of promising water management strategies is foremost for achieving highly productive and sustainable agriculture. Irrigation water management, water conservation, and nonconventional water use for agriculture are key issues to be considered by the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in these areas. According to climate change scenarios and population growth predictions, these countries will undergo even severe water scarcity levels. Failure of resolving food production challenge will exacerbate tensions between countries, wars, and illegal immigration and compromise human, social, economic, and sustainable development in these areas. However, the search for innovative solutions to water scarcity must comply with societal values, environmental sustainability, and market growth.

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