American Journal of Water Resources

Water is life, but getting safe water is a question of scarcity. In addition, water sources are being affected by extreme weather and climatic events creating pressure on quality of and access to fresh water. Therefore, it is urgent to know what are the easiest and well-managed ways of ensuring drinking water for everyone, how does the social structure influence the water management at community level. This study explores the importance and influence of societal structure in drinking water management. Results show that cconflict arises during the collection of water between the households and within the household and it has impact on the social connectedness and responsibilities of the community people. Initiatives should also be taken, so that the community management process ensure the equality and equity of access to drinking water as a basic human right.

American Journal of Water Resources. 2015, 3(3), 92-99. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-3-3-4
Pub. Date: July 30, 2015

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Water Resource Management through Isotope Technology in Changing Climate

by Bhavtosh Sharma, Rakesh Singh, Prashant Singh, DP Uniyal and Rajendra Dobhal

Original Research

The water system plays an indispensable role on the planet earth for the survival of living species as well as for the sustainability of ecosystem. However, numerous factors like population growth, industrial activities, rapid urbanization, depletion of aquifers, climate change, several anthropogenic activities, geogenic activities etc. influence the water system. Therefore, the proper management of water resources has become the need of the time because its management and study will be much helpful to cater the safe water for the increasing population globally. In such direction, isotope technology has been emerged and established as an efficient scientific tool to combat the water related issues like ground water recharge studies, its quality management, surface water studies, salinization and contamination studies etc. The present paper highlights the importance of isotope technology for the management of water resources in changing climatic conditions.

American Journal of Water Resources. 2015, 3(3), 86-91. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-3-3-3
Pub. Date: July 27, 2015

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Spatial and Seasonal Variations of Heavy Metals in Water and Sediments at the Northern Red Sea Coast

by Ahmed S. Abouhend and Khalid M. El-Moselhy

Original Research

The spatial and seasonal variations of heavy metals concentrations (Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, Co, Mn, Fe) in water and sediments of different sites at the Northern Red Sea coast during the year 2012 were investigated. The results revealed a small range of variation and regional irregularities. Site III (Hurgaha Harbor) recorded the highest metal concentrations in water and sediments except Co during the different seasons. The annual means of metal concentrations in water were 0.14 ± 0.04 - 0.42 ± 0.03, 0.39 ± 0.11 - 4.71 ± 0.87, 0.16 ± 0.04 - 2.15 ± 0.10, 0.94 ± 0.07- 12.07 ± 2.78, 0.73 ± 0.43 - 5.84 ± 0.74, 0.10 ± 0.02 - 0.42 ± 0.01, 0.06 ± 0.04 - 0.39 ± 0.07 and 8.68 ± 0.80 - 36.53 ± 2.76 µg l^-1for Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, Co, Mn and Fe, respectively, while in sediments were 1.73 ± 0.36 - 4.40 ± 1.99, 8.5 ± 0.37 - 111.3 ± 23.89, 16.20 ± 1.39 - 39.00 ± 1.95, 19.23 ± 3.01 - 190.33 ± 13.02, 16.00 ± 0.82 - 80.33 ± 4.19, 10.10 ± 1.68 - 19.23 ± 2.47, 106.00 ± 10.20 - 323.33 ± 46.35and 4172.00 ± 430.37 - 14222.33 ± 691.02 µg g^-1, respectively. According to different standard marine water and sediments quality guidelines, heavy metals concentrations at the most of studied sites appeared within the normal range.

American Journal of Water Resources. 2015, 3(3), 73-85. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-3-3-2
Pub. Date: July 10, 2015

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Rainwater Harvesting in Ibadan City, Nigeria: Socio-economic Survey and Common Water Supply Practices

by Omolara Lade and David Oloke

Case Study

The largest environmental challenge that Nigeria is facing today is water scarcity. Current water use already exceeds renewable supply. Many methods have been suggested to increase the sources of water supply; and one of these alternative sources is rainwater harvesting (RWH). Rainfall harvesting from rural/urban catchments has received little attention in Nigeria. To better understand common practises in the RWH community and motivation for collecting harvested rainwater a socio-demographic survey was conducted in the 11 local government areas of Ibadan city in Nigeria to determine the rate of water consumption and supply from current water sources. The methodology adopted was the mixed method approach, involving a detailed literature review, followed by a questionnaire survey of 1067 household respondents. The data collected through the survey were analysed using SPSS and selected statistical methods such as Chi-square test. The survey was carried out from July-September 2012 and a response rate of 89% (950 households) was recorded. The survey questions focused on the socio-economic characteristics of households and the sources of water supply, catchment materials, rainwater harvesting technology, purpose of RWH, demand and usage of water, effectiveness of management strategy and environmental health. The most commonly reported source of water supply is groundwater with>83.8% of respondents depend on it as their main source of supply, which are vulnerable to drought and pollution while only 6.6% harvest rainwater. 69% of the respondents have corrugated iron sheet while <14% of the respondent’s roof are made of roofing tiles and cement concrete respectively. 54% of those with roofing tiles use the harvested water for drinking, while 43% of those with cement roofs use it for cooking and drinking respectively. A larger proportion (61.2%) of respondents chose prevalence of typhoid fever in the study area; some have a prevalence of diarrhoea (19.4%), while few of respondents’ water sources is free from water-borne diseases (2.3%). This indicates that there is a prevalence of 97.8% of water-borne diseases. Over 77.1% of respondents did not receive water at all from Water Corporation of Oyo State, while few of respondents did receive water supply. This survey provides critical data about current potable and non-potable RWH practices in Nigeria and can serve as guidance for future RWH research. In particular, the inadequacy of water supply in the City should be investigated further as the demand for sustainable RWH system in Nigeria continues to grow.

American Journal of Water Resources. 2015, 3(3), 61-72. DOI: 10.12691/ajwr-3-3-1
Pub. Date: June 30, 2015

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