AN ANALYSIS OF THE DOMESTIC WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY

AN ANALYSIS OF THE DOMESTIC WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Water is essential to life and its supply, consumption and spatial distribution are closely associated with economic growth and the development of society. Apart from air, water is indispensable to life it is a foundation for human prosperity because adequate and high quality water supplies provide a basis for the growth and development of human social, economic and culture of people (Ward, 1975, Young, 2006). The importance of water to man cannot be overemphasized, it holds the most important benefit to man‟s sustenance beside shelter, food and clothing (Ajadi, 1996).

According to Amin and Mahmud, (2011) it is recognized all over the world that water is a vital resource to human existence and that is a major factor in commanding the progress of civilization. Water is essential in sustaining quality of life on earth, the sustainability of socially sensitive goods such as water depends on effective and efficient use of available water resources. Amin and Mahmud, (2011) also reported that the extensive use of water has increased globally and the efficacy of supply side measure is questionable owing to drastic increase in population, technological advancement and economic growth; the demand for water supplies is continuously increasing, numerous researchers have emphasized on water demand management rather than the supply side management. The water demand study in relation to water supply enables us to estimate how much the increase in demand for water supplies.

Water demand is the quantity that the treatment plant produce in order to meet all water needs in the community. Water demand includes water delivered to the system to meet the need of consumers, water supply for fire fighting and system flushing. On the other hand water supply refers to system for the collection, transmission, treatment, storage and distribution of water Admassu M. (1996).