TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS AND SUPPLY COVERAGE /CASE STUDY OF BODIT TOWN, DAMOT GALE WOREDA, WOLAITA ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA REGION

Abstract

Water is the primary need to sustain life every citizen in the country has the right to have access to potable water. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the technical analysis of water distribution systems of Bodit Town using WaterGEMSv8i software. Both secondary and primary data sources were used for this study. Moreover, to analyze existing water distribution system a model was developed by using WaterGEMSv8i software. Modeling results showed violation of minimum pressure and velocity criteria at different junctions and pipes. After optimizing the existing water distribution system service reservoir, 93% of the junctions are in the recommended pressure range and 74.29 % of the pipes are in the recommended velocity range. The water loss of the town was 34.28% from the total water production. The analysis showed that the current total domestic water demand in town was 3535.64 m3/day and average per capital domestic water consumption was 23.49 l/c/day. Hence, this result indicates there is a big gap between demand and supply. Generally, the result of the analysis showed that, the overall hydraulic performance of water distribution of the town was poor and, it is therefore significant to improve the water distribution system capacities, changing the diameter of the pipe to get the proper level of pressure and velocity. Therefore, providing more attention to water losses reduction policies and strategies are vital for remedial measures, and this also helps to get clean water at house hold level. Drilling additional borehole water sources, to narrow the gap between supply and demand in water supply system.