| dc.description.abstract | The pressure experienced on the limited water resources in the city of Nairobi continues to persist, making adequate planning and documentation of water and sewer systems for proper maintenance and management indispensable. The focus has been on strategies of making more efficient use of existing water resources through demand management which also has economical and environmental benefits. Some Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis tools were utilized in addressing Water Demand and Systems Management problem for Buruburu Phase V. This proved to be vital in planning and decision making process of the research, taking cognizance of the interplay that existed between wide range of data in the water supply and distribution network.
IWRM _ MAIN Model was used to forecast the water demand for the study area while applying elasticities of different variables that determine residential water use. The conservation component of the model considered such factors as water prices, housing density and rainfall which tend to affect consumption levels.
Projected annual demands without any conservation measures were 333,489.96 m3 , 407,033.l7m3 and 479,315.65m3 for the years 2006, 2016 and 2026 respectively. The rise was largely due to growth in housing extensions whereby annual consumption for a plot with a single extension increased by between 22.4 and 25.6 percent and between 59.5 and 76.6 percent for those with two extensions. The application of default and modified elasticities, nonetheless, resulted in a decline of the demand to 59,930.02m3 and 145,506.24 m3 , and to 70,519.71m3 and 171,332.18 m3 for 2016 and 2026 respectively.
Mean system pressure of the Phase could also be improved by up to 1.8 m head of water through loop connection. Therefore, using a sustainable and multifaceted approach to demand management in the study area would mean that the current water supply regime would suffice within the forecast period, notwithstanding the 28.1 percent unaccounted for water which is comparatively lower than the 50 percent overall estimate for the city of Nairobi. | en_US |
